Mt. San Antonio Relays : Controversy and the Field Follow Hawthorne’s Stiles

Fast times at Hawthorne High almost came to an end this week for one of the nation’s top prep female sprinters.

Tami Stiles, who last year had the No. 1 time in the country at 200 meters and won the State title in the event, was kicked off the team by Coach Kye Courtney after Thursday’s dual meet at Beverly Hills for refusing to run in the mile relay and then leaving the meet without permission. The incident capped a six-day period, he said, that included Stiles skipping the Mt. Carmel Invitational last Saturday in San Diego to take a recruiting trip to Nevada Las Vegas and her missing practice Monday because of a dentist appointment and a meet Tuesday against Culver City because of illness.

On Friday, however, Hawthorne Athletic Director Otto Plum overruled Courtney and put Stiles back on the team. Stiles, meanwhile, claimed she never even knew she was off the team in the first place.

Saturday afternoon, the situation, not to mention a slight Charley horse, didn’t seem to bother Stiles at the Mt. San Antonio Relays in Walnut. All she did was win all four events she entered--the 100, 200 and 400 and 800 relays--and set a national best for 1986 in the 800 relay (1:37.8) along with Tamiko White, Deanna Amy and Dina Thomas. Moreover, her 23.86 would also lead the nation if not for a wind of 2.75 meters per second, over the allowable 2.0.

“I told him he should understand that if I’m hurt, I’m not going to run,” she said. “I have a lot of big invitationals coming and I don’t want to mess things up.

“I was very disappointed because I didn’t think Coach Courtney would go off on me like that. But I feel that he was wrong and I was wrong. Both sides made mistakes. I’m a young lady and feel he should talk to me as a young lady. Next time, I’ll just walk away.”

Said Courtney: “My boss (Plum) tells me what I have to do. My feelings have nothing to do with it anymore.”

Most any other coach would surely be happy with Stiles’ performance Saturday. But Courtney, one of the most successful coaches in California, wasn’t, mainly because he feels Stiles isn’t just any athlete.

“She’s had no conditioning and no workouts this week and she turns in the fastest time in the nation,” he said. “You say ‘What’s wrong with that?’ What’s wrong with that is she could be so much better.”

As Courtney watched the 400 relay, his frustration was evident as Stiles, the anchor, took the handoff from Amy.

“See how she (Stiles) had to slow down there for the pass,” Courtney said. “That’s because there was no practice there this week.”

Courtney shrugged his shoulders. “But that’s one of the fastest times in the nation, so what can I say?”

In other events Saturday:

Eric and Mark Mastalir of Carmichael Jesuit near Sacramento, scheduled to compete in the 1,500 meters, instead ran in San Jose. In their absence, Raul Serratos of Moreno Valley won the race and overtook the state lead with a time of 3:52.89.

Junior Janeene Vickers of Pomona clocked a 13.56 in the 100 low hurdles and 42.82 in the 300 lows to better her national best for 1986 in both. She later ran down Princess Bennett of Compton in the final 50 meters to win the 400 in 53.28, good for the country’s No. 2 time of the year.

Another of the nation’s top juniors, Kamy Keshmiri of Reno, had a meet record and the fifth-best mark ever in winning the discus with a 203-5. Keshmiri’s next-to-last throw hit the back of a chair left by an official, and had to be measured fromthere. Otherwise, it might have gone a foot or two farther.

Sophomore Quincy Watts of Taft won the 200 in 21.03--the second-fastest time in the nation this year-- and the 100 meters in 10.61, the second-fastest time in the state.