Orange County Boys’ Track and Field Championships : Coaches May Need to Phrase Out the Name of Their Game

Although the name implies a conclusive county-wide event, the Orange County Boys’ Track and Field Championships are not quite what they used to be.

“Originally, the whole purpose of the meet was to find out which was the best team in the county and who were the best individuals,” said Bill Crow, a former Mission Viejo coach, who directed the meet from 1973-78.

“Back then, we got most every school in the county. Everyone wanted to take part in it.”

Of the county’s 60 high schools, only half are scheduled to compete in this year’s meet, which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mission Viejo High School.

According to meet director Mike Rush, the number of competitors is down 58% from last year, from 1,200 to 500 athletes.

Why the decrease?

Scheduling, for one. This year, the meet falls on the same day as two other popular local meets--the Tustin Relays and the Valencia Invitational.

The Tustin Relays, in its 29th year, will feature 26 boys’ and 17 girls’ teams from around Southern California. Valencia features more than 3,000 athletes from 37 schools statewide.

Also scheduled Saturday is the prestigious Mt. Carmel Invitational at San Diego. Mt. Carmel attracts many of Orange County’s top individuals, including Edison’s Kaleaph Carter, the nation’s leading shotputter, and David Noel, the state’s leading pole vaulter.

For many years, the county championships were scheduled on the Saturday before spring break. But Rush, who took over the Diablo track and field program and the meet direction last year from Gene Gurule, decided to change the date.

“The thought process was that it would be better for all the kids to have another week or so of training before running a championship meet,” Rush said. “We’ve always traditionally had it on the first Saturday of Easter week. So this year I decided it should be moved back.”

Last year, the meet was scheduled on April 11--the same date as the Arcadia Invitational, considered by many to be one of the country’s best high school meets.

Although Arcadia drew many of the county’s best individuals, last year’s county meet had 44 schools. That was enough to satisfy Capistrano Valley Coach Tom White, whose Cougars won the team championship.

“We’re happy to be Orange County champions,” White said after the meet. “A county championship is a county championship. The trophy isn’t going to say, ‘Some of the athletes participated in Arcadia.’ ”

But this year, coaches find it difficult to become enthusiastic over what many refer to as a “so-called county meet.”

“It used to be a legitimate county championship, no doubt about it,” Tim Butler, Dana Hills coach, said. “But we’re not going for team standings anymore. I mean, if I wanted to, I could double some of our kids. But I’d rather give some of them the chance to break some (personal and school) records.”

Some suggest that the meet has lost some of its luster in the last few years. There once were surprises, such as in 1982, when Gurule arranged for a Marine Corps band to march through the stadium at noon, playing the national anthem.

Crow said: “The one thing I remember is being committed to doing everything first class. Like giving out really high-quality medals. We gave the coaches something other than a handshake like marble desk mementos or (commemorative) clipboards. But, of course, in those days, the cost wasn’t nearly as prohibitive.”

Many coaches say they’d like to see the meet return to its county-wide appeal. But they concede that unless a number of problems are resolved, the outlook is not good for such a change.

“Everyone believes in the concept of having one meet to decide the county champion,” said Rush, who will not coach track and field next year because of a commitment to football. “But it’s real difficult to work out the logistics. First of all, you got to find the right weekend.

“The thing I would consider doing is maybe go to three or four separate divisions (based on school size) to make it more competitive in the county.”

Gurule, who now coaches at Saddleback College, said: “It’s a real tough situation. If I was going to continue doing the meet, I’d add something to it to make it different. I might put the frosh/soph divisions during the day, and run the varsity division as a twilight meet. Kids really like that. It makes it more exciting for them.”

Some coaches point to the county girls’ championships--to be held for the sixth straight year next Saturday at UC Irvine--as an example of what the boys’ meet could be.

The girls’ meet, which is expecting about 40 schools, always has been separate from the boys’ meet. Esperanza Coach Al Britt, the meet director, has from the beginning scheduled the girls’ meet on the same weekend as the Mt. San Antonio Relays at Walnut.

“I found what was really needed was a girls’ county championship with some stability,” Britt said. “My idea was to bring up from what the boys have. But to use a better track, give out more awards . . . try to create a real county championship atmosphere.”

Most coaches, including Crow, think the best solution to the boys’ problem is better communication among themselves. Some say scheduling conflicts should be worked out at least one year in advance, if not two.

“I would like to see the meet make a comeback,” Crow said. “Unfortunately, there’s so many things working against it. Our county can support a lot of invitationals, but it takes some commitment from the coaches to sit down and decide what’s going to be run when.

“Our intent was to develop a meet where we could find a true county champion. I think it can still happen, but it’ll take some sitting down and deciding, ‘Is it worth it, or is it not?’ ”