Fargas: Faster, Farther : Notre Dame Double Threat Strives to Get Better as a Senior

Justin Fargas of Notre Dame High rushed for 2,945 yards and scored 38 touchdowns last fall.

He won the boys’ 100-meter dash in the state track and field championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento on June 7.

So what does Fargas do for an encore?

He improves.

Whether slashing through opposing defenses with a football cradled in his arm or blasting down the straightaway against some of the state’s top sprinters, Fargas wants to do it better as a senior than he did this past year.

“I want to try to take it to another level,” Fargas said. “I’m constantly trying to improve. That’s what it’s all about.”

Fargas, The Times’ 1996 Valley football player of the year, made giant strides in the 100 and his victory in the state championships clinched his selection as the Valley-Ventura County region boys’ track and field athlete of the year over Miguel Fletcher of Alemany.

Fletcher, 1996 region track athlete of the year, defeated Fargas in their first four races of the season but Fargas won the last four, including the state meet in which he clocked a wind-aided 10.52 to Fletcher’s runner-up time of 10.60.

Fargas’ state title, the first by a Notre Dame athlete, was unexpected because Sultan McCullough of Muir and Darrell Rideaux of Long Beach Poly finished ahead of him in the Southern Section Masters Meet the previous week.

But Fargas didn’t seem overly surprised about winning a race in which the favored McCullough pulled up with a strained hamstring he injured during the 400 relay earlier in the meet.

“After the Masters Meet, I was confident,” Fargas said. “When I went up [to the state meet], I wasn’t just going to run. I was going there to win.”

Fargas’ victory was the crown jewel in a season in which he lowered his best in the 100 from 11.24 to 10.58, moving to sixth on the all-time region performer list. He also produced career bests of 21.7 in the 200, 22-8 1/4 in the long jump and 45-5 3/4 in the triple jump to rank sixth, third and third on the yearly region list.

In addition, he ran the anchor leg on a 1,600 relay team that finished third in the state championships with a school record of 3:14.53 and he ran the first leg on a 400 relay squad that clocked a school record of 41.70. Those times moved the Knights to third and ninth on the all-time region lists.

Joe McNab, head track coach at Notre Dame and a football assistant, says a strong work ethic and an intense competitiveness led to Fargas’ state title, but Fargas credits McNab for his success.

“He breaks sprinting down to a science,” Fargas said. “He never gets complacent. He always keeps me motivated. He always points out ways in which you can get better.”

* ALL-STARS: All-Region first and second team at a glance. C14