Adrian Will Take a Spin at Sports Arena

If you’re going throw far, you have to think big.

That’s Tim Adrian’s attitude entering his senior track and field season at Moorpark High.

Adrian set a school record of 183 feet 6 inches to finish fifth in the boys’ discus in the 1998 state championships at Cerritos College, but the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Musketeer has bigger goals this season.

He wants to win the state title and break the state record of 213-11 set by Scott Moser of Huntington Beach in 1997.

An improvement of more than 30 feet with the 3-pound 9-ounce discus would be an enormous accomplishment, but Adrian and his father Bill say it’s achievable.

“He’s bigger and stronger than he was last year and his technique is much better,” Bill Adrian said. “He’s already thrown over 200 feet in practice.”

Adrian, who took a recruiting trip to Texas Tech last month and has upcoming trips to Syracuse and Florida State, will compete today at USC in conjunction with the L.A. Invitational indoor meet at the Sports Arena.

The shotput and discus competition will begin at 9 a.m. at Cromwell Field at USC. The boys’ two-mile relay, at 11 a.m., will be the first event at the Sports Arena.

Seniors Lucais MacKay of Hughson, runner-up in the state championships, and Danny Ames of Lakeside El Capitan, who finished fourth, are the leading entrants in a field that also includes junior Travis Pendleton of Anaheim Esperanza, defending Southern Section Division I champion.

“I want to break the meet record [of 185-3 set by Reedus Thurmond of Gardena Serra last year],” Adrian said. “Most throwers won’t throw as far this week as they did at the end of last season, but I’ve been working hard for seven weeks and I think I should be able to throw two feet farther than I did last year.”

Seniors Blaine Bussey of Taft, Lauren Fleshman of Canyon and Bridget Pearson of Hoover are some of the other top athletes from the region who’ll compete in the meet.

Bussey, third in the 400 meters at the state championships last year, clocked hand times of 47.3 and 47.0 in all-comers meets last month. He ran 57.3 to win the 500-yard run in the San Diego Indoor Games on Jan. 23.

The 57.3 clocking moved Bussey into a tie for second on the all-time national indoor list, but today he’ll be shooting for a sub-57 time and a victory over defending state 400 champion Mike Ryan of Beverly Hills.

Bussey will also run the anchor leg on Taft’s mile relay team.

Fleshman, runner-up in the national cross-country championships in December, will renew her rivalry with senior Trina Cox of Santa Rosa in the girls’ two-mile.

Cox finished third and Fleshman was fourth in the 3,200 meters in the state track championships last year, but Fleshman beat Cox for the state Division I cross-country title in December and also finished ahead of her in the West region and national championships.

Pearson is entered in the girls’ pole vault.

She won the 1997 state title, but finished seventh last year after being hampered by a lower-back injury for most of the season.

Sophomore Porchea Carroll of Rio Mesa, junior Oliver Jackson of Royal, junior Lisa Wygant of Camarillo and senior Tiffany Burgess of Birmingham will also compete.

Carroll, defending Southern Section Division II champion in the girls’ 100 and 200, will compete in the 50-meter dash and long jump.

Jackson, 1998 Southern Section Masters Meet champion in the boys’ long jump, will compete in that event.

Wygant, defending Southern Section Division I champion in the girls’ high jump, will compete in that event and in the 50 hurdles.

Burgess, three-time defending City Section champion in the girls’ 1,600 meters, will run in the seeded mile against a field that includes the top three finishers from the state meet last year.

Junior Josh Spiker of Ventura, 14th in the national cross-country championships, will run a leg on the Cougars’ two-mile relay team.

WHAT: L.A. Invitational indoor track and field meet.

WHERE: Sports Arena.

WHEN: Today. High school events start at 11 a.m. Open events begin at 4:55 p.m.

FAST FACTS: More than 1,500 high school athletes--including six defending state champions--will compete in events ranging from the 50-meter dash to the two-mile run to the triple jump. The girls’ 500-yard run, featuring the top four finishers from the 1998 state championships in the 400 meters, will be the most talent-laden field.