Top Prep Thin-Clads Go for State Crowns : Hawthorne Races Its Stars Against Mass of Talent

The best prep track athletes in California will wrap up their season today and Saturday in the state championships at Cerritos College.

Preliminary events will be run today starting with field events at 3 p.m., the running competition to follow at 5. Twenty-eight competitors will fight it out in each of the 16 boys and 15 girls preliminary events.

Nine finalists from each event will advance to the finals Saturday. Field events begin at 5 p.m. Saturday and races at 6.

And, possibly, a new state champion will be named.

“I got us doped with 34 points, but Washington has 38 and San Jose Independence has 40,” said Hawthorne High Coach Kye Courtney, whose boys and girls teams have combined for five state championships in a row.

The Cougars boys teams won three titles in a row from 1983 through 1985; the girls won in 1986 and the boys came back with another championship in 1987.

Courtney has been agonizing over the numbers for a week.

“That’s just how you have to figure these things out, and I’ll tell you,” he said, “and I’ve been figuring them for about a week.”

Courtney figures on 10 points each for firsts in the 400 meters and mile relay, eight points for second in the 100 meters and six points for third in the 200.

Nearly 1,400 athletes will compete, but much of the audience will be concentrating on the intriguing sprint match-ups between City Section and CIF Southern Section competitors.

Hawthorne’s Curtis Conway will be busy and also well tested. Conway will compete in the 100 and 200 meters, then come right back with the mile relay team. He’s run a 10.61 in the 100 and 21.22 in the 200.

Conway will have to run past tough competition. He’ll be matched against San Fernando Valley superstars Quincy Watts of Taft High and Crespi’s Russell White in the 200. Watts is defending champion in the 200, having run 20.50 last year in Sacramento.

Watts is also the defending champion in the 100 but will not compete in the event this year.

White’s best sport is football--and no wonder. He possesses blazing speed, indicated by his 21.60 in the 200.

Another athlete to watch in the 200 is Bryan Bridgewater of L.A. Washington, who just missed breaking Watts’ record by running 20.53 in the L.A. City preliminaries. Bridgewater also qualified in the 100.

The boys 400 also shapes up as exciting with Travis Hannah of Hawthorne taking his top time of 46.84 against Watts’ 46.67 and Morningside’s Ferric Webster’s 47.41,

Dave Scudamore has left an indelible mark on the Palos Verdes High cross-country program, but now he’s trying to establish a reputation as a track and field man. Scudamore ran 9:02.38 in the 3,200 meters to qualify for the state meet.

He also has a simple goal: “I’m just trying to extend my season.”

Morningside (41.60) and Carson (42.09) will run in the 400-meter relay while Hawthorne will join the two in the mile relay. The Cougars ran the relay in 3:11.33; Morningside checked in at 3:16.72 and Carson covered the distance in 3:17.21.

Pomona High, which won the 1987 girls state championship, will be pressed to repeat due mainly to a strong Hawthorne squad.

The 1988 CIF 4-A champion Cougars will be represented in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays and will also have a slew of talented individuals competing.

Sharon Edmonds will compete in the 100- and 300-meter low hurdles and teammate Illana Mazingo will join her in the 300. Keisha Marvin ran 55.06 in the 400 meters to qualify.

Morningside’s Althea Moses may just be coming into top form after missing much of preseason training because she was playing for the basketball team, which made it to the state finals.

Moses ran the 800 meters in 2:14.89 to qualify and became the first girl in Southern California to break the 40-foot barrier in the triple jump. Moses leaped 40-1 1/2 in the divisional finals two weeks ago.

“Althea is just coming into her own,” said Morningside Coach Ron Tatum. “She’s improving every week.”

Jennifer Tully of Torrance qualified in the long jump by going 18-1, and Carolyn Hueth of West Torrance is in the shot put with a qualifying toss of 41-0.