Fargas, Williams Lead Impressive Arcadia Field

Angela Williams of Chino and Justin Fargas of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, the defending state champions in the girls’ and boys’ 100 meters, lead an impressive field of local and national competitors who will take part in the 31st annual Arcadia Invitational on Saturday at Arcadia High.

Field events begin at 4 p.m., running events at 6:15.

Williams, Track & Field News magazine’s 1997 national female high school athlete of the year, will compete in the 100 and 200. Last year, Williams won the 100 at Arcadia in 11.50 seconds. Later in the season, she ran 11.14, one one-hundredth of a second off the national prep record set by Chandra Cheeseborough in 1976. Williams will attend USC this fall.

Fargas, who will attend Michigan on a football scholarship, ran 10.55 in winning the 100 at the Pasadena games on March 28. He will race against a field that includes Alemany’s Miguel Fletcher and Long Beach Poly’s Darrell Rideaux.

Last year at Arcadia, Pasadena Muir’s boys and Playa del Rey St. Bernard’s girls set national-leading marks at the time in the 400-meter relay. Both will try to repeat on Saturday. Both schools should also contend in the 1,600 relay.

The boys’ discus field features national outdoor leader Reedus Thurmond of Gardena Serra (192 feet 10 inches), Van Mounts of Bakersfield (181-5) and Richard Legarra of Hacienda Heights Wilson (186-2). Mounts also has the top mark in the nation this year in the shotput at 67-9 3/4.

The girls’ discus features Krista Kier of South Westerville, Ohio, who had a mark of 181-11 last year. The field also includes defending state champion Chaniqua Ross of Elk Grove Laguna Creek (177-1) and state runner-up April Burton of Bakersfield (173-10).

Jon Stevens of Fremont Mission San Jose, the top returning miler in the nation with a time of 4:10.08, and Natasha Neal of Union City Logan, the top girl in the nation in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.53, also will compete.

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Senior right-hander Jeff Bruksch of Beverly Hills struck out a school-record 17 and pitched a three-hitter in a 9-0 Ocean League victory over Compton Centennial on Tuesday.

Bruksch broke the record of 15, set by Bryan Stevens in 1982.