Sprint Kings Converge at Northridge

High school track enthusiasts with a passion for fast-paced action can satisfy their cravings at today’s Northridge-Alemany invitational meet at Cal State Northridge. The all-day meet, which begins at 9 a.m., has assembled attractive fields in every boys sprint race.

Taft’s Quincy Watts, the defending state champion at 200 meters, will be challenged by Muir teammates Corey Ealy and Ricky Ervins and Duarte’s Martin Cannady in the 100-meter race. Watts placed second in the 100 meters at the 1986 state meet and Ealy placed fourth. Ervins defeated Ealy earlier this season and Cannady is the defending Southern Section 3-A champion in the 100 and 200 meters.

In the 200, Cannady will renew his rivalry with Robert Harris of Simi Valley. Harris placed fifth in last year’s state championships and Cannady was sixth.

Watts will forgo the 200 in favor of the 400 meters, in which he meets Harris and Ralph Blanks of Royal. Harris placed fourth in the Southern Section 4-A meet in 1986 and has a personal best of 48.54. Watts has a converted best of 48.27.

Watts also runs the anchor legs on Taft’s 400-meter and mile-relay teams, but the Toreadors will be underdogs to Muir, which ran 40.93 in the 400 relay last season, and Hawthorne, which clocked 41.45 at the Spartan invitational meet two weeks ago.

Hawthorne is favored in the mile relay. The Cougars are the defending state champions in the 1,600-meter relay and ran 3:14.35 in 1986. Muir ran 3:15.89 and Taft clocked 3:17.03 last season.

In girls competition, the hurdles races and the 800-meter race have the best fields. In the 100-meter low hurdles, La Shawn McBride of Long Beach Poly, the defending Southern Section 4-A champion, will be challenged by Staci Leach of Thousand Oaks and Sharon Edmonds of Hawthorne.

In the 300-meter low hurdles, Sharon Manship of Thousand Oaks, the runner-up in the 1986 Southern Section 4-A championships, will be challenged by Edmonds and Hawthorne teammate Illana Mazingo, who placed fifth in the 4-A meet in 1986.

Desiree Joubert of Westlake renews her rivalry with Kim McAllister of Locke in the 800 meters. Joubert placed third in the state championships last year but was edged by McAllister at the Sunkist Invitational in January.

Bryan Dameworth of Agoura (3,000 meters), Christy Farrell of Thousand Oaks (1,500 meters), Tommy Parker of Notre Dame (pole vault) and Dave Swanson of Alemany (high jump) also are scheduled to compete.