Coaches Put Interests of Proteges 1st : Prep track: Thousand Oaks’ 1,600 relay team pulled from qualifying heat to keep Jones, Hanger fresh for upcoming meets.

The Thousand Oaks High girls’ 1,600-meter relay team withdrew from its qualifying heat Friday in the state track and field championships at Cerritos College so that junior Marion Jones and senior Heather Hanger could be fresh for meets later this month, according to Elliott Mason, Jones’ personal coach, and Thousand Oaks Coach Art Green.

Mason said he did not want to jeopardize Jones’ chances in the U.S. Olympic trials in New Orleans, June 19-28, by having her run too many races in the state meet.

Green said he did not want Hanger too tired for Friday and Saturday’s Golden West Invitational in Sacramento, where she will compete in the heptathlon.

“We felt like we might have been asking too much of Marion and Heather to ask them to run the 1,600 relay twice here,” Green said Saturday. Had the team qualified, it would have had to run in the final Saturday. “Sometimes, you have to look at the big picture. This meet was a steppingstone for Marion. Next it’s the trials and, ultimately, the Olympic Games.”

Thousand Oaks placed fifth in the team standings with 21 points. Long Beach Poly won with 39.

Jones, who won an unprecedented third consecutive state title in the girls’ 100 (11.14 seconds) and 200 meters (22.83) Saturday, would not comment on the decision to withdraw.

Hanger placed sixth in the 300 low hurdles (45.11), but Green said her future lies in the seven-event heptathlon.

Jones, 16, is expected to run in the 100 and 200 in the trials. The top three finishers in each event there qualify for the U.S. team that will compete in this summer’s Olympic Games in Barcelona. The top six finishers in the 100 qualify as members of the 400-meter relay team.

Mason, who has been coaching Jones since August, was evasive when asked why the 1,600-relay team withdrew. “Basically, we figure that there are certain things that are obvious, and the public should be able to figure it out,” he said.

That Thousand Oaks was ranked sixth in the 1,600 relay probably played a part in the decision because a sixth-place finish in the final would have accounted for only one point in the team standings.