Sunkist Invitational : Fry Laps Harvath, Pulls Away to Sizzling 9:02.4 2-Mile Win

Thousand Oaks High’s Jim Harvath stayed with Scott Fry as long as he could, which was a lot longer than most of the runners in the boys seeded two-mile race at Friday night’s Sunkist Invitational track meet at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

But by the end of the race, it was apparent that nobody could stay with--much less beat--Fry, the Sandusky, Ohio, native who pulled away from the pack early and cruised to an impressive victory in 9:02.4.

Harvath, the Southern Section cross-country runner-up, was eventually lapped by Fry and finished third in 10:06.2.

It wasn’t a banner night for Valley-area athletes before a sellout crowd of 13,702, but there were some fine performances.

Simi Valley High was the Valley area’s biggest winner. The Pioneers’ Lawrence Nelson won the long jump with a leap of 22-7 3/4, and Simi Valley tore up the boys 8x160 relay with a winning time of 2:16.5.

Dave Richards, of San Fernando, was the Valley’s only other individual winner, taking his boys 500 heat in 60.5.

Louisville of Woodland Hills won the girls 8x160 relay for small schools, besting Valley Christian, the only other team in the race, with a time of 2:44.9.

Thousand Oaks’ highlight came in the girls 640-yard relay, where the Lancers finished second thanks to Stacy Leach’s blazing final leg. Thousand Oaks’ time was 1:18.4. Muir won the event with a high school record-tying time of 1:13.4.

Lisa Rizzo of Hart gave a good effort in the girls rated mile, taking third with a 5:19 clocking.

Rizzo stuck with leader Tammy McCarty of Buena until three laps remained, but then faded. McCarty clocked in at 5:14.2.

Thousand Oaks’ Christy Farrell was scheduled to run in the girls rated mile with Rizzo, but was scratched. The Lancer sophomore, who was Southern Section 4-A cross-country runner-up, had been nursing a bad cold for two weeks.

Saugus’ Rodney Bradshaw, the Valley area’s only double entrant in the Sunkist, had a tough night. He failed to record a legal mark in the long jump, then finished fourth in the boys 60-yard high hurdles, clocking 7.7.

Camarillo’s Rhonda Riber took a fourth in the girls rated 880 with a time of 2:30. Locke’s Angie Sims won the race in 2:23.4.

Macy Moring, a late entry in the girls seeded 880, picked up a fourth in 2:22.3. Millikan’s Kerri Zaleski won in a meet-record time of 2:10.8.

In other relay results, Birmingham and Saugus both finished third in their respective heats of the boys two-mile relay, while Poly High of Sun Valley placed a distant third to Simi Valley in the boys 8x160 relay.

Former Kennedy High star Denean Howard saw her 1981 record fall in the girls 500 when Locke’s Chewauki (Choo Choo) Knighten clocked 1:04.1, knocking a tenth of a second off the former Cougars mark.