Fargas, Santin Face Full Workload

Seniors Justin Fargas of Notre Dame High and Frances Santin of Taft will be plenty busy today at the Arcadia Invitational track and field meet at Arcadia High.

Fargas will run in the boys’ 100 and 200 meters, and run legs on the Knights’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Santin will compete in the girls’ 100 high hurdles and 300 lows, and run legs on Taft’s 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

The meet starts with the field events at 4 p.m. The running events start at 6:15 p.m.

Fargas, who is headed for Michigan on a football scholarship, is the defending state champion in the 100, but he’s shooting for his first Arcadia title.

He placed behind Miguel Fletcher of Alemany and Andre Ammons of Oakland Skyline last year, but later beat both in the state final.

The USC-bound Fletcher is aiming at his third consecutive Arcadia title in the 100 and his first victory in the 200.

Fletcher ran a wind-aided 10.44 seconds to defeat junior Darrell Rideaux of Long Beach Poly and Fargas in the 100 in the Northridge-Alemany Relays at Cal State Northridge on March 14. But Fargas ran a personal best of 10.55 to defeat Sultan McCullough of Pasadena Muir and Fletcher in the Pasadena Games at Occidental College on March 28.

Rideaux clocked a career-best 10.47 to win the Stanford Invitational the same day. He will be in the race tonight.

Santin won the 300 lows in a then-state leading time of 43.43 at the Pasadena Games.

The girls’ meet will include pole vaulters Bridget Pearson of Hoover and Heather Sickler of Camarillo, and high jumper Schquay Brignac of Cleveland.

Pearson, a junior, is the defending state champion in the pole vault, and Sickler, a senior, holds the regional record of 12 feet 3 1/2 inches.

Freshman Brignac has cleared 5-9 this season.

Junior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon is expected to contend for the girls’ 3,200 title and senior Ryan Meuse of Simi Valley should battle in the boys’ 800.