Arcadia Invitational : Vista’s Jorgensen Sets Two National Bests

Vista High School’s Kira Jorgensen was named the girls’ athlete of the meet Saturday night at the Arcadia Invitational, one of the top high school track meets in the West.

Jorgensen had two of the 15 national bests for 1987 established at the meet at Arcadia High. She won the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes, 51.03 seconds and the 3,200 in 10:24.23.

Among the others recording national bests were Quincy Watts and Kamy Keshmiri of Reno.

Watts, the ’86 sophomore who led Woodland Hills Taft to the state title, won the 100 meters in 10.51 and the 200 in 20.89, the best in the country this year in both. He also anchored the 400 relay team to a second-place finish behind Pasadena Muir and moved the Toreadors from third to second with an impressive last leg in the 1,600 relay.

The field stood firm against Team Keshmiri for a change, which is more than can be said for the national record book, dealt a double blow by the discus competition.

Keshmiri, who had set the all-time record of 214-feet 11-inches two weeks ago at the Stanford Invitational, smashed that standard by almost 10 feet with a best of 224-3, with his second-best toss at 214-6. The record-setting effort came only moments after Dwight Johnson of Tempe, Ariz., had a 212-11, which held up as the No. 4 mark all-time.

Officially, Keshmiri, who is scheduled to compete at Mt. San Antonio College in two weeks, will go atop the record book alone. Unofficially, however, he will insist on sharing it with his father and lifelong trainer, Joe, a four-time Olympian for Iran. Kamy, in fact, had dedicated the meet to his father.

“Once I saw it go through the air, I felt a pull,” Kamy said of the record-setting throw, his last attempt of the night. “As a thrower, when you feel that pull, you know it’s good. I saw the thing keep going and going and going.

“Usually, at the meets, I’m the center of attention with the discus. He (Johnson) came in and did 212, and that made me more anxious to throw farther and show I could clear the field.”

Said Joe: “Last week, he was 73 feet ahead of the second guy. He looked forward to getting some competition, and he got it.”

Keshmiri has already said he will compete at the Mount Carmel Invitational next Saturday, but Johnson will wait until Monday before deciding. If he does go and pushes the favorite again, the game plan is a simple one for Team Keshmiri.

“He’ll be looking for another national record,” Joe said.

Keshmiri, named the boys’ athlete of the meet, came back to win the shot put with a 65-2, making him one of several double winners.