Frankens Are Back on Track in L.A.

After a year away from the big top--well, the Sports Arena--track’s venerable vaudeville act, Al and Don Franken, have returned.

They never did leave, really, even though some of the sponsors did. Which is why, after running for 37 consecutive years, the Los Angeles Indoor track meet disappeared in 1997.

But father and son are nothing if not persistent. The Frankens have plugged along through a host of setbacks--a lack of a title sponsor, son Don’s knee injury (suffered in a skiing accident) and the much-promoted shotput showdown between 1996 Olympic silver medalist John Godina and Randy Barnes that fell through because Barnes never agreed to compete.

Nevertheless, there are a handful of compelling athletes who will be competing tonight at the Sports Arena, among them:

* Tyree Washington, 500 meters: After he beat Michael Johnson in a 400 in 1997, the new kid off the blocks got a little confident. Later, at the world championships in Athens, the 20-year-old Washington thusly declared that Johnson did not have the heart to win.

One solid thrashing later, Washington turned contrite after he finished third to Johnson at the world championships, running 44.39.

Contrite might be too strong a word. Even though the two made up, Washington said the other day that he does not fear Johnson.

* Godina, shotput: The former NCAA shot and discus champion from UCLA won the world title in the shot at Athens when Aleksandr Bagach of Ukraine had his title taken away after testing positive for the banned substance ephedrine.

* Falilat Ogunkoya, 500 meters: The 29-year-old Nigerian proved that you can take off five years and still compete. She returned to top-level competition in 1995, and won a bronze medal at the Olympics a year later in the 400 meters, finishing behind Marie-Jose Perec and Cathy Freeman.

Ogunkoya, who is married to 800-meter runner Tony Oshoku and has a child, led Nigeria to a silver medal in the 1,600-meter relay, running an anchor leg of 48.90.

* Meb Keflezighi, 3000 meters: Considered the greatest distance runner in UCLA history, Keflezighi has applied for U.S. citizenship.

He has a tough decision ahead of him: to run for the United States or his native African country of Eritrea?

Keflezighi finished off a stellar cross-country career as a Bruin by winning the NCAA title in November. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment was winning NCAA titles in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters--which meant running three races in a four-day span.

* Johnny Gray, 800 meters: The Agoura resident is shooting for his fifth consecutive Olympic team, as he tries to qualify for the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Gray, 37, has been ranked among the world’s top-10 runners in the 800 12 times and 17 times among the top 10 in the United States.

Gray, for one, is happy to be able to drive to a meet.

“I don’t have to take a six- or seven-hour flight across the country to just run a race,” he said. “This is the only meet we have left.

“It’s very important that we have it. We have the athletes, we just don’t have the meets.”

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Meet at a Glance

* What: L.A. Invitational Indoor track meet.

* When: Today. High school division starts at 11:15 a.m. (shotput and discus at USC’s Cromwell Field, 9 a.m.); open portion starts at 6 p.m.

* Where: L.A. Sports Arena.

* Miscellany: Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. . . . It is the 38th year of the event, all at the Sports Arena. . . . Details: www.lainvitational.com