MASTERS MEET TRACK PREVIEW : Dameworth, Jones to Lead Pack Seeking State Berths

Agoura High distance runner Bryan Dameworth and Rio Mesa sprinter Marion Jones will attempt to enhance their sparkling records tonight in the Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

The top five finishers in each event advance to the state preliminaries, to be held June 1 at Cerritos College.

Dameworth has lost just once this season at 3,200 meters and is the national leader at 3,000 in 8 minutes 24.5 seconds. As a junior he won the Masters 3,200 title and finished second in the state championships a week later.

The Charger senior recorded a personal-best 8:53.85 for 3,200 in the Arcadia Invitational on April 7 in finishing second to Andy Maris (8:53.78) of White River (Buckley, Wash.) High.

Meanwhile Jones, a freshman, will adjust her starting blocks next to Pasadena Muir’s Inger Miller, the national leader in the 100 and the 200.

Miller, who has personal bests of 11.48 and 23.57 in the sprints, has beaten Jones in their previous three meetings this season--including a photo finish in the 100 at the Arcadia meet.

Jones also will anchor the Spartans’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Dameworth and Jones are coming off championship efforts in last week’s divisional finals.

Dameworth won an unprecedented fourth 1-A 3,200 title in 9:05.61, shattering the 10-year-old division record of 9:09.77 set by La Salle’s Mark Rueles.

Jones easily captured 3-A championships in the 100 and 200, setting a division-record and personal-best 11.66 in the former in the 3-A preliminaries May 12. She also anchored Rio Mesa’s winning 400 relay team and its runner-up 1,600 relay squad in the finals.

Triple jumper Gabe Higa of Quartz Hill, distance runner Deena Drossin of Agoura and Fillmore’s Nikki Shaw, a specialist in the 800 and the 1,600, also will chase titles tonight.