Granville Surpasses Moore in 800 Meters

The minute he walks onto the track, Obea Moore knows all eyes are on him.

The highly touted junior sprinter from Pasadena Muir has renewed interest in the sport in the Southland to the degree that hundreds of fans chanted his name before he ran his first race Saturday night before 7,500 at Arcadia High.

The pressure and attention, which has noticeably increased the last two years, may be getting to be a bit of a distraction.

Moore, who has already qualified for the Olympic trials in June in the 400 meters, acknowledged he was wired before his first race, the 400-meter relay. That may explain a faulty hand-off between him and Jucorie Tryon that resulted in a dropped baton.

Muir was five meters ahead of second-place Sterling High of Houston when it dropped the baton, a rarity for the defending state champions. The Mustangs didn’t finish the race.

Still fuming over the mishap, Moore seemed distracted an hour later when he took on national leader Michael Granville of Bell Gardens in the 800. Granville, who signed a letter of intent with UCLA earlier in the week, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back to win in 1:48.80. Moore finished second in 1:50.05.

“I was so ready for the 400 relay, I have to believe my mind was still on that dropped baton,” Moore said moments after the 800.

Granville, who hoped to break the national record of 1:47.31, said it’s tough to relax with Moore in the pack.

“You always know he’s there,” Granville said. “I wasn’t sure if that was my shadow or Obea I was seeing on the backstretch, so I really kicked it in.”

Moore redeemed himself in the final event, the 1,600 relay, by anchoring Muir to a 3:08.8, a meet record. He ran a 45.1 split.

Seilala Sua of Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., set a meet record in the girls’ discus of 180-2.

In the girls’ 800, Tara Mendozza of Aurora (Colo.) Eaglecrest also set a meet record in 2:08.02.

Angela Williams of Chino won the 200 in 23.73, the best this season.

Granville and Sua were selected athletes of the meet.