His Is the Voice of Authority at High School Track Meets : Announcer: Dave Hurlburt gives the crowd insight into what’s going on before and after the race.

A few minutes before 5:30 Friday evening, Dave Hurlburt settles into his seat in the press box at Cerritos College.

In front of him are the resources he needs to announce the Masters track and field meet.

Within reach are meet programs, lists of top marks in the nation and the Southern Section and recent newspaper clippings. If someone breaks a national record--as Marion Jones of Oxnard Rio Mesa and Juliana Yendork of Walnut will later--Hurlburt can announce the previous record, when it was set, where and by whom within moments.

He has lists of relay members. If the third runner on Compton’s 1,600-meter relay drops the baton--as he had did the week before--Hurlburt will announce his name.

There are stopwatches and note pads used for recording splits, which Hurlburt finds as interesting as the final results themselves.

A teacher and track and football coach at Loara High School since it opened in 1963, Hurlburt is the best in his field. He has given knowledgeable insight into section championship and masters meets since 1978.

As the years pass, you might forget the athletes’ names and performances, but you’ll always remember that voice: soft, mellow, sometimes excited, but never at a loss for the correct words.

“It’s a labor of love, really,” says Hurlburt, whose blue jeans and print shirt cover a marathon runner’s build. “I love the sport of track. I’m a track-and-field junkie.”

A walkie-talkie, another instrumental tool for Hurlburt, crackles to life.

“Whenever you’re ready, Dave,” a voice says.

It’s show time.

“Introducing the competitors for the discus, a very fine field,” Hurlburt says into the microphone.

It doesn’t seem to matter that only a handful of early-arrivals have trickled through the gates and settled into the stands. It’s Hurlburt’s job, for a variable modest fee, to keep them informed.

This is what he hoped to do when he sat in the stands at championship meets in the early 1970s, listening to Ed Rice of Long Beach Poly.

“He was my idol,” Hurlburt says.

Hurlburt, 53, sent letters to meet directors seeking an announcing job in 1975. At first, he did the Tustin Relays, the Arcadia Invitational and the Empire League championships. Later, he moved up to more prestigious meets.

John Dahlem, an administrator at Kennedy, comes into the announcer’s booth at 6 p.m. Dahlem, along with Dave Smith, a track coach at Loara, will help Hurlburt identify competitors and stay in touch with the field events via the walkie-talkie.

It’s not a one-person job, though Hurlburt often is alone at smaller meets he announces during the season. It’s then that he really must do his homework, talking with coaches and athletes before the meet. It’s the hardest work, but yields Hurlburt’s greatest gift: knowing something about almost everyone.

“He has an amazing mind,” Dahlem says.

Indeed, Hurlburt’s brain is a well-stocked track and field memory bank.

“George Porter of Cabrillo in the 300 hurdles, the Muir girls’ relay team, of course, Ralph Serna at Loara,” Hurlburt says, reeling off some of his favorite performers. “And the great meet in ‘81, the State meet with all those records. I didn’t do that meet, but I was in the stands that night.”

Not everyone remembers those names or their significance, so here’s a little background.

In the 1985 section championships at Mt. San Antonio College, Porter, who ran for Cabrillo High in Lompoc, set a national record in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, winning by almost 25 meters in 35.32 seconds. Six years later, the record stands.

The following season, Lana Cantrell, Linette Wilson, Carrie Franklin and Nikky Cadell of Pasadena Muir swept to a national record of 3:37.69 in the 1,600 relay. It, too, has held up.

In the mid-’70s, Serna was among those who made Orange County a proving ground for distance runners. He went on to compete at UC Irvine with Olympian Steve Scott. In the ‘80s, he once ran the Boston Marathon with his hair dyed bright green and trimmed into a Mohawk, and was as well-known for that as any of his victories.

And the 1981 State meet at Cerritos College featured, among others, a national record by Pete Richardson of Berkeley in the 800 (1:47.31).

“There are so many great kids,” Hurlburt says. “The great thing is to watch them improve in their career.”

By 8 o’clock, the action is in full swing. A crowd of about 4,000 is still buzzing over Marion Jones’ runaway victory in the girls’ 100 meters and an easy victory in the boys’ 100 by Ricky Carrigan of Compton.

Someone hands Hurlburt the girls’ 100 results. It’s a national record for Jones, a stunning 11.28 seconds.

The crowd roars as Hurlburt delivers the news.

Reflection can come later. The boys’ 100 results have come up to the press box. Carrigan has run 10.49 and kept his season-long unbeaten streak going.

The meet rolls on.

The girls’ 3,200 meters, which Hurlburt expected to be one of the meet’s highlights, fizzles as Deena Drossin crushes the hopes of a strong field by breaking out to a 25-meter lead early. There isn’t much suspense, though Drossin finishes strongly in a fast 10:40.88.

Earlier in the evening, there is unexpected excitement in the boys’ 1,600. Hurlburt and others expected it would be another easy run for Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande.

But quickly it’s clear Quintana isn’t interested in simply qualifying for next week’s State meet. He passes 400 in 59 seconds, 800 in 2:00 and 1,200 in 3:01.

“Let’s bring him home,” Hurlburt urges the crowd.

The applause is as much for Quintana as the fans, and maybe even for Hurlburt himself. The last high school runner to break 4 minutes in the mile was Marty Liquori in 1967. Now, it appears Quintana has an outside shot. The section best of 4:04.0 is surely in sight.

Entering the final 100, the stadium is rocking with noise, but Quintana is fading fast and Todd Tressler of San Marcos is closing.

At the finish, it’s Quintana by about a foot in front of Tressler in 4:09.94. In the press box, Hurlburt utters a line made famous by Dick Enberg, but nevertheless appropriate, “Oh, my.”

Now, it’s getting late, the boys’ 1,600 relay has just ended and the fans are heading for the exits and home. But there is still news.

Juliana Yendork has broken her week-old national record in the triple jump by a quarter of an inch, 43 feet 6 1/4 inches. There are only a handful of fans left as Hurlburt reads the results, the last of the night.

He reads them as if the stadium were filled.

“OK, see you next week,” he says to one of the few people who haven’t left the stadium yet.

Another week, another meet. And Hurlburt wouldn’t miss it for the world. After all, the prep track world might miss him.