Jones Sets Record by Running With the Knight

Derek Knight, the No. 9-ranked 110-meter high hurdler in the United States in 1995, has played a part in the rise of Cal State Northridge senior Marquis Jones this season.

Jones, a 1993 graduate of Hawthorne High, began the year with a personal best of 14.27 seconds in the highs, but he clocked a school record of 13.99 on Saturday to finish sixth in the invitational race of the Fresno Relays at Fresno City College.

The time broke the mark of 14.07 set by Doug Jones in 1973 and by Tyrone Jeffries in 1989.

Northridge assistant Jeff McAuley attributed some of the record effort to the workouts Jones has had with Knight, whose best time is 13.37.

“Marquis had a tendency to lose it if he got left behind at the start,” McAuley said. “His mind would just go blank. But now that he’s worked out with Derek, he’s used to being behind and it doesn’t bother him to catch up.”

Add Northridge: In addition to Jones’ record at Fresno, Matador junior Joe Criner and freshman Brandi Prieto also turned in noteworthy efforts.

Criner clocked a 21.09 in the 200 meters to move into sixth place on the school’s all-time list.

Prieto moved to fifth in the women’s triple jump when she bounded 40 feet 5 inches to place second in the invitational portion of that event.

Trojan conquest: The Southwestern Intercollegiate Golf tournament at North Ranch Country Club has long been considered one of the nation’s top tournaments, but this year’s event was special.

USC’s winning three-day team total of 853 was one over par and second only to Stanford’s 849 in 1994. Stanford won the national championship that year. The Southwestern winner, in fact, has won the national championship twice in the last three years. Arizona State, the 1996 national champion, won the Southwestern last year.

Two individual tournament records were tied: Pepperdine’s Jason Gore won with a three-round total of 207 which tied the mark set by California’s Ben Furth in 1989. Charles Kingsbaker of Oregon State shot a final-round 64 to tie the record set by Ron Commans of USC in 1980. Commans went on to win the national championship.