Prep Notes : Quincy Watts Faces Top Competition at Tucson

Several of the top high school track athletes in the country, among them national 800-meter record-holder George Kersh of Pearl, Miss., and junior standouts Quincy Watts of Woodland Hills Taft and William Reed of Philadelphia, will be competing in the Junior National meet today and Saturday at Tucson.

Watts, a three-time California state champion, will run only in the 200, where he has the nation’s best time at 20.69 seconds, although he also is tied for the best mark in the 100. As was the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA in May, this will be a step up in competition for Watts, since the field is open to anyone who will not turn 20 in 1987. That includes college freshmen.

The age limit in the girls’ division, however, is under 19, which eliminates the best California prep, Janeene Vickers of Pomona. LaShawn McBride of Long Beach Poly and Althea Moses of Inglewood Morningside are expected to compete.

About 500 people who have entered are competing for spots on the national team, which will take one person in each event to a major international meet in Cuba during the Fourth of July weekend and two representatives to meets in Vancouver, Canada, and Pullman, Wash., in the weeks after.

Many of the top high school baseball players from Oklahoma and California--seven from the Southern Section--will start their annual three-game all-star series tonight at Billy Herbert Field in Stockton. The teams also will play a doubleheader Saturday evening.

Among those on the California team, coached by Nick Salerno of El Monte Arroyo and Cas Munoz of San Leandro, are Scott Schanz of Riverside North, Steve Gill and Bret Boone of Placentia El Dorado, Dan Gil of Sun Valley Poly, Manny Cervantes of Whittier La Serna, Greg Colbrunn of Fontana and Tom Redington of Anaheim Esperanza.

The Lakewood baseball team, the Southern Section 4-A champion, is ranked No. 2 in the final nationwide poll by Collegiate Baseball. Anaheim Esperanza, Southern Section runner-up and defending national champion, is No. 5, the only other California representative on the 30-team list.

Sarasota, Fla., which finished with a 31-1 record, is the national champion.