PREP TRACK MT. SAC RELAYS : Jones to Get Push in the 400 Meters

Thousand Oaks High sprinter Marion Jones, the two-time defending state 100- and 200-meter champion, says she likes challenges. Good thing, because she figures to get one, for the third consecutive year, in the Mazda Mt. San Antonio College Relays at Walnut this weekend.

Jones, a 16-year-old junior, has dominated her prep sprint competition for the last three years and is the national record-holder at 200 meters with a time of 22.87. However, when she competes at Mt. SAC, the 400 meters interests her the most.

In her freshman and sophomore seasons, Jones ran for Oxnard Rio Mesa High at Mt. SAC and established personal-best and national age-group marks in the 400. Last year, her winning time of 53.28 was the best nationally among high school competitors. Again this year, she has the nation’s best time, 54.44, in the Pasadena Games last month.

Jones is entered in the 100 and 400 at Mt. SAC and also will run on Thousand Oaks’ 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams. She is expected to run away with the 100-meter title for the third consecutive year, but in the 400, she will face Janice Nichols of Bakersfield, the defending state champion.

“There is more competition for me in the 400 meters this year,” said Jones, who defeated Nichols at the Pasadena Games. “I like running all the events, but I am interested to see how I do in the 400 meters now because I feel a lot stronger this year.”

Last week, Jones showed her strength with impressive victories in the 100 and 200 at the Arcadia Invitational, running 11.51 seconds and 23.43, respectively. She did not run the 400, which Nichols won in 54.7.

More than 200 schools will participate at Mt. SAC, making it the biggest meet in the state. The prep competition will start today at 8:30 a.m. with the boys’ and girls’ long jumps and will continue through Saturday, when the top invitational high school events, among them the girls’ 400 meters, will be held along with the University and Invitational events.

Other top girls’ performers are Shelly Taylor of Huntington Beach Edison, who established herself as the top miler in the country with her victory over Nikki Shaw of Fillmore at the Arcadia Invitational in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:51.98; and the Inglewood Morningside sprint relay teams, which swept the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter relays last year.

The invitational 800 and 1,500 meters will highlight the boys’ competition, with Bryan Woodward of Long Beach Poly and Angel Martinez of San Gabriel.

Woodward served notice to the top 800-meter runners with an impressive victory at Arcadia in 1:50.76. Martinez is looking to repeat at Mt. SAC in the 1,500 meters, after winning last year in 3:56.43.