TRACK AND FIELD : Eagles Don’t Wilt When Heat Is On

Competing in sauna-like conditions, the West Valley Eagles Track Club won the team title in the young men’s division (for athletes born in 1969 and ‘70) at the International Youth championships Sunday at DuPage College in Glynn Ellen, Ill.

With temperatures reaching 106 degrees and the humidity hovering near 90%, conditions weren’t conducive for great performances, but the Eagles didn’t wilt, scoring their second major team title this summer.

“The conditions were terrible,” co-Coach Hilliard Sumner said. “The heat and humidity had kids dropping like flies.”

West Valley, which won The Athletics Congress Youth Nationals last month in Philadelphia, scored 72 points, all in the sprint events.

The Eagles scored 48 points in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, placing 1-2-3 in both events.

Leading both sweeps was Quincy Watts of Taft High. Watts won the 100 in 10.50 and the 200 in 21.21. He preceded his victory in the 100-meter final with a 10.33.

Watts, Brian Bridgewater and Tony Miller teamed with Taft graduate Sean Roberts on the victorious 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Roberts, also was fourth in the 400.

“It was a nice way to end the season,” said Sumner, 41, who was recently hired as head track and field coach at Chaminade High. “It’s nice to go out on a winning note.”