Rio Mesa’s Jones Moves Quickly to Forefront

Not only is Marion Jones of Rio Mesa High the top girls’ sprinter in the nation, she ranks in the top two in the 100- and 200-meter dashes nationally--including four-year universities.

Jones, a 15-year-old sophomore, has run the nation’s fastest high school time this year and a National High School Federation record in the 200 at 22.87 seconds, which also is the fastest time by any female U. S. runner at any level this year. Maicel Malone (23.06) of Arizona State has run the second-fastest time outdoors this season.

While Jones has run the nation’s fastest high school time in the 100 (11.38) this year, she ranks second behind the University of Texas’ Carlette Guidry (11.12).

Jones, who plans to triple in the 100, 200 and 400 when the Southern Section 3-A Division championship meets begin next week, also owns the top high school time in the nation this year over 400 meters (53.89).

Offense: Over the past four games--two each against Granada Hills and Reseda--three El Camino Real underclassmen have been on hot streaks.

Sophomore second baseman Dan Cey is 10 for 16, raising his average to .407; sophomore outfielder Mike Smith is eight for 16 and is batting .345; and freshman outfielder Randy Wolf is six for 12 and batting .395. A key veteran overcoming a slump also has been on a tear. Senior third baseman Greg Lederman has nine hits in his past 12 at-bats to raise his average to .298. . . .

Cleveland, with 120 hits in 415 at-bats and a team batting average of .289, has just 20 extra-base hits. The Cavaliers have 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs. By comparison, Chatsworth shortstop Mitch Root has 13 extra-base hits: five doubles, two triples and six home runs. . . .

Sylmar senior Dereck Ornelas is quietly having one of the best seasons in the area. Even though he ranks only fourth on his team in batting average, he ranks in the top 10 in six offensive categories among Valley City players.

Before last week’s games, he was tied for first in triples with five, tied for second in runs batted in with 23, tied for third in home runs with three, tied for fourth in stolen bases with eight, sixth in runs scored with 19 and 10th in batting. In addition, his four doubles tied him for 15th in the area.

Last week, he improved his batting average to .438 and he had four more RBIs and two more stolen bases. . . .

Newbury Park catcher Robert Fick, a junior transfer from Thousand Oaks, is batting .536 in Marmonte League games and .508 overall. . . .

Thousand Oaks senior second baseman Ryan Kritscher had stolen 29 consecutive bases before Agoura catcher Matt Epstein threw Kritscher out Friday. Kritscher, who has nearly doubled the previous school record of 18, is 34 of 36 this season. Thousand Oaks is 92 of 99. . . .

Brian Vasey’s 11th double, which he picked up Friday, tied Simi Valley’s single-season record, shared by Dave Milstien (1986), Eric Fischer (1985) and Leonard Arvizo (1980). Teammate Steve Bernstein has 10 doubles.

Robb Turner of Crescenta Valley had two triples and a single in a 9-4 win over Glendale. Turner’s triples were his first and second of the year and doubled the Falcons’ total for the season.

Pitching: Poly’s staff has an earned-run average of 1.89. Five pitchers have three decisions or more. Raul Torres (5-0), the team’s win leader, has allowed just four earned runs in 34 innings and has a team-low 0.82 ERA. Rodrigo Dorame (3-1) has 23 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings and a 2.02 ERA. . . .

El Camino Real right-hander Terry Morrow (2-2) threw just 78 pitches in last week’s 18-0 victory over Reseda. Morrow, a senior, allowed three singles, walked none and struck out four.

REGIONAL BASEBALL TOP 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Poly East Valley 20-2 2 2 Simi Valley Marmonte 17-4 3 4 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 14-5-1 4 3 Channel Islands Marmonte 12-4 5 8 Sylmar East Valley 16-5 6 5 Rio Mesa Channel 15-5 7 6 Granada Hills North Valley 14-7-1 8 7 Chatsworth West Valley 14-6-1 9 NR Hueneme Channel 14-6 10 NR Montclair Prep Alpha 14-3

NR--Not ranked.