Watts Heads List of Area Arcadia Inductees

Quincy Watts, the 1992 Olympic champion in the men’s 400 meters, heads a list of five former high school track and field standouts from the region who have been inducted into the Arcadia Invitational Hall of Fame during its first year of existence.

Watts, a three-time state champion at Taft High, was inducted in the boys’ 200 meters. He won the 100 and 200 in the 1987 Arcadia meet.

The region’s other inductees are Lee Balkin, formerly of Glendale High, in the high jump, Anthony Curran of Crespi in the pole vault, Angela Burnham of Rio Mesa in the girls’ 200, and Denean Hill of Kennedy in the girls’ 400.

Balkin, a member of the 1987 U.S. team which competed in the World Championships in Rome, was the 1979 Arcadia Invitational champion in the high jump.

Curran, a three-time Arcadia champion in the pole vault, won state titles in 1977 and ’78.

Burnham was Track & Field News magazine’s female high school athlete of the year in 1988 and ’89. The UCLA sprinter won five state titles (three in the 100, two in the 200) during her high school career as well as five Arcadia titles.

Hill, the former Denean Howard, was Track & Field News’ female athlete of the year in 1981 and ’82 for Kennedy. The four-time Olympian won four state titles during her high school career and won the 100, 200 and 400 in the 1982 Arcadia Invitational.

The inductees will be honored at a ceremony at this year’s Arcadia meet on April 10.

Baseball

West Hills Pony Baseball on Saturday made a $1,000 donation to Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) during its opening-day ceremonies. The Pony League hopes to follow up its donation with exhibitions against RBI teams in the future.