TRACK : Watts’ Sacrifice Didn’t Slow Him

Competing in Tulare, Calif., isn’t the same as running in Havana, but Taft High senior Quincy Watts has no regrets after passing up a spot on the U.S. national junior team, which competed against Cuba this summer.

Watts, 17, qualified for the U.S. team in June by placing second in the 200 meters at The Athletics Congress Junior championships in Tucson. He decided not to compete on the team, however, because of a commitment to summer school.

Watts then opted to run for the West Valley Eagles, a youth track club based in Canoga Park.

“It’s no big deal to me,” Watts said when asked about his decision to give up his spot on the junior team. “I had summer school to take care of. That was my first priority. I can always run in the junior meets next year.”

Although his competition hasn’t been as stiff, Watts’ performances haven’t suffered. On Saturday, he won the 100 and 200 meters at the TAC Junior Olympic championships in Provo, Utah.

Taking advantage of Brigham Young University’s superb track and 4,500-foot altitude, Watts clocked personal bests of 10.30 in the 100 and 20.50 in the 200, the fastest high school times in the country this season. He dominated both races, winning the 100 by .21 seconds and the 200 by .40. His 100 clocking qualified him for the 1988 Olympic Trials. Previously, he’d qualified in the 200.

Watts, who ranks ninth individually on the all-time high school list in the 100 and sixth in the 200, said the longer race felt great.

“I’ve been hoping to run that fast all season, however, I wasn’t sure if I would this late in the year,” he said. “But the track there was very fast.”

While Watts was cruising to victories, two teammates were bogged down by bureaucratic red tape. On Thursday, Tony Miller, who runs on the Eagles’ 400- and 1,600-meter relays, wasn’t allowed to run in the relay qualifying heats because he attends Riordan High in San Francisco.

Meet referee Bob Baxter of North Carolina cited rules stating that an athlete from Northern California cannot run for a Southern California club. West Valley co-Coach Hilliard Sumner protested the ruling, stating that he currently resides with the Watts family in Woodland Hills. Baxter agreed that Miller could compete if Sumner produced an affidavit signed by Miller’s parents stating that their son was living in the Valley.

Sumner produced the required paper work on Saturday, but meet officials said teammate Brian Bridgewater couldn’t run because he had competed for the Los Angeles-based West Coast Express Track Club earlier this year.

After consulting the rules book himself, Sumner said he couldn’t find anything prohibiting Bridgewater from competing. He added that West Coast Express Coach Gus Poole had encouraged Bridgewater to West Valley because West Coast didn’t field a relay team in the young men’s division, a claim Poole confirmed Wednesday.

Baxter, however, wouldn’t relent, and Bridgewater wasn’t allowed to run on the relay.

Without Bridgewater, West Valley couldn’t field a team for the relay final Saturday and the East Coast Classic Track Club won a sixth straight Junior Olympic title, clocking 40.30. Was it just a coincidence that the club hails from North Carolina?

Sumner didn’t think so.

“We got screwed,” he said Monday. “They (the officials) did everything they could to prevent us from winning that 400 relay title.”

Conversely, the rules allowed Bridgewater and Miller to compete in individual events. They placed fourth (21.18) and fifth (21.19), respectively, in the 200 on Saturday.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that there was a conspiracy against our club,” Sumner said.