Masters Track Meet : Southern Section’s Best to Compete

The Masters track meet, the last step for Southern Section athletes before the State meet and the first one that combines the best marks from all four divisions, will be held tonight at Cerritos College, beginning at 6:30.

With the top nine performers from last Saturday’s Southern Section finals competing, the 1,600, 3,200, 110-meter high hurdles and triple jump figure to be the most interesting events for the boys. Only the five best from this meet will advance to the State championships June 6-7, also at Cerritos.

Daren and Kirk Stonerock, the twins from Saugus, will double in the two distance races, with the 1,600 stacking up as the most competitive. Jim Zimmer of Simi Valley won the 4-A title with a 4:11.34, while Raul Serratos of Moreno Valley (4:11.15), Kirk (4:12.36) and Daren (4:15.26) went 1-2-3 in the 3-A.

The high hurdles will feature a rematch between Rodney Bradshaw, also of 3-A champion Saugus, and Terry Johnson. When Bradshaw ran 14.02 to beat Johnson last weekend by 1/100th of a second, he broke Johnson’s year-old division record of 14.16 and also handed the Anaheim Katella senior his first loss of the season.

The triple jump, meanwhile, has depth, with three competitors at 49-8 or better from last week. Marcus Hooks of Lakewood, who increased his national lead to 52-3 1/2, leads the way.

The depth in the girls’ events will come in the 3,200 with 4-A winner Melissa Sutton of Newbury Park, 3-A champion Tracey Williams of El Monte Mountain View and 2-A winner Amy Dabul of Temple City. In the high jump, Debbie Orr of Huntington Beach Ocean View, LaShawn McBride of Long Beach Poly and Yleana Carrasco of Anaheim share the state lead at 5-10.

For contrast, there is the senior-vs.-freshman showdown in the 800: Sherri Smith of Irvine Woodbridge, who has the best time in the Southern Section this year (2:11.22), against Kathy Grayson of Mission Viejo, whose 2:11.56 isn’t far behind. Both are division champions.

Hawthorne senior Tami Stiles is expected to compete in the 100, in which Quartz Hill junior Madette Smith is her main competition, and in the 200. Junior Janeene Vickers of Pomona, a four-time winner last Saturday (three individual and one relay) has dropped the 400 to concentrate on both hurdle races and the 400 relay.

Prep Notes Top-seeded Providence of Burbank (22-3) plays No. 3 Linfield Christian of Temucla (21-3-1) for the Southern Section Small Schools Division baseball title today at 3:15 at College of the Canyons. . . . Defending champion Kennedy and Banning will meet in a rematch of last season’s City 4-A baseball final today, but this time it will be in the first round of the playoffs. Kennedy overcame a mid-season slump to win its last six games and finish fourth in the Mid-Valley League, three of those victories coming against the three teams ahead of the Golden Cougars in the standings. Banning is the Marine League champion. Fourteen other first-round games will be played today (seven in the 4-A and seven in the 3-A) with the finals set for June 12 at Dodger Stadium. . . . The softball playoffs, which began May 21, will culminate June 11 at South Gate Park.

Catcher Andy Ruscitto of Placentia Valencia broke the Southern Section record May 16 with his 22nd home run in the Tigers’ 5-4 loss to Edgewood of West Covina. That tops the old mark of Jay Reid, who played for Lynwood from 1976-80. . . . Jesse Hurtado of Huntington Park won the City all-around gymnastics title last Thursday at University, with Evans Nettles of San Fernando winning the pommel horse, Taft’s Aaron Royce winning the parallel bars and Hector Aguilar of Huntington Park and Mark Neighbors of San Fernando tying in the floor exercise. Huntington Park, San Fernando and University finished 1-2-3 earlier in the week for the team title. . . . The second-place finisher for the Southern Section girls’ all-around title was Robin Baker of Marlborough, not Bonnie Baker, as reported May 18.

A little help from their friends: Sophomore sprinter Quincy Watts of Taft said 5 or 10 minutes with Edwin Moses at a track clinic helped him re-work his start and, in turn, set the age-group and class record of 20.97 last Friday at the City semifinals in the 200-meter dash. Janeene Vickers, the junior from Pomona who won four Southern Section titles last Saturday at Cerritos College (three individual and one relay), works out with high hurdler Milan Stewart, a former NCAA champion at USC and a graduate of West Covina, about four times a week.