Morse Has Open Invitation to L.A. Indoor Meet

The payoff for Liz Morse won’t come from the digital clock on the Sports Arena scoreboard. It won’t be multiplied by the number of runners she beats, or lessened by those who reach the finish line ahead of her.

When Morse completes the final lap in the open division 800 meters at the 40th Los Angeles Invitational indoor track and field meet Saturday night, the expression on Bill Sumner’s face will indicate whether the Corona del Mar High senior performed well.

“Liz is just shy of a genius,” said Sumner, who coaches the Sea Kings’ cross-country and track teams. “She can read my face and know what happened.”

Sumner has spent 3 1/2 years helping to develop Morse, who began with no running background and is now one of the top half-milers in the nation.

Sumner encouraged Morse to skip the high school portion of Saturday’s invitational in favor of the open race, which is usually reserved for college standouts, former Olympians and those hoping to represent their country in Sydney this summer.

“In the high school race in L.A., I don’t think she has maybe one or two people who can race with her,” Sumner said. “To win races without a good effort won’t do Liz any good now.”

Morse’s allowance into the open race is an indication of her resume, which includes third-place finishes in the 800 at the high school state finals last June and the San Diego Indoor Games last month, where she recorded the fourth-fastest time in the nation for the indoor high school season.

“We don’t let just anybody in the open,” said meet co-chairman Don Franken. “We’ve looked at what she has done the last couple years and she can hold her own.”

Morse, who will run for Princeton in the fall, joins an impressive list of high school runners who have participated in the open division, including former Olympian Mary Slaney of Orange, who set a meet record in the mile (4:24.6) as a 14-year-old in 1982, and University’s Polly Plumer, a three-time state champion in the mile during the early 1980s who briefly held the national high school mark in the event (4:35.42).

Others who have competed in the open races include Edison’s Jon Butler, who set a county record of 8:46.78 in the 3,200 meters in 1981, and Laguna Beach’s Eric Hulst, who set national high school records in the two mile for freshmen (9:04.4), sophomores (8:50.6) and juniors (8:44.9) in the 1970s.

“We get a kid like this at Corona del Mar about once every 10 years,” Sumner said. “But they don’t all listen and they don’t all want to be runners. Liz has the talent, she just needs more maturity and more race savvy.”

At the San Diego meet, Morse showed impressive strength and sharpness, completing the first quarter-mile in 64 seconds before finishing in 2:16.59.

“I was really intimidated at first, but I’m so glad I did it because it was a great experience,” said Morse, whose best outdoor time is 2:11.28. “I really wanted to get in a race that was real fast. That was part of the plan to see what kind of pace I could stand.”

Except for UCLA’s Jessica Marr, who finished sixth in San Diego, Morse will be facing an entirely different field of seasoned competitors, including Grazyna Penc of Poland, the NCAA runner-up in the 1,500 meters at USC last season.

Notes

The women’s 800 is scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m. and will begin the open distance events. . . . Liz Morse’s sophomore sister, Katherine, is running in the girls’ high school seeded mile at 7:45 p.m. . . . Esperanza senior Travis Pendleton, two-time Division I champion and third in the state last season in the discus, is the favorite in that event, which begins 10:30 a.m. at USC. . . . County athletes also have a chance to do well in the pole vault, with Marina’s Logan Odden and Caroline Rebello bringing top marks into the boys’ and girls’ events, which begin at noon and 1:30 p.m. . . . Julie Allen of Fountain Valley, The Times’ Orange County runner of the year in cross-country last fall, is part of a very competitive field in the two-mile at 3 p.m. . . . The best race among county runners figures to be the seeded mile at 6:50 p.m., which will feature Esperanza’s Ryan Bousquet and Villa Park’s Augie Escobar, who should benefit from the absence of Nebraska’s Brian Turner, who had to pull out with a foot injury. Bousquet was sixth in the state in the 1,600 meters during the outdoor season last spring and Escobar was third in the 3,200, but has proven he’s equally dangerous in the 1,600, winning the Orange County title at that distance last year. . . . Santa Ana Valley’s Crystal Davis, the Orange County champion in the 100 meters last season, was scheduled to run in the 50-meter dash but had to withdraw because she plays for Valley’s basketball team, which has a second-round playoff game at Chino Hills Ayala on Saturday night.

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Track and Field

* What: 40th L.A. Invitational indoor track and field meet.

* When: Saturday. The high school portion begins at 9 a.m. with the throwing events at USC. The open events begin with the women’s pole vault at 4 p.m. The first running event is the men’s 50-meter hurdles at 6:20 p.m.

* Where: USC (throwing events only) and Sports Arena.

* Tickets: $23 for reserved seats, $10 general admission.

* County high school participants: Julie Allen, Fountain Valley (two mile); Meghan Atkinson, Santa Margarita (50 meters, 500 yards); Ryan Bousquet, Esperanza (seeded mile); Maribeth Buche, Esperanza (800 meters); Danny Casupanan, Tustin (long jump); Crystal Davis, Santa Ana Valley (50 meters); Christine Eckstaedt, El Modena (two mile); Augie Escobar, Villa Park (seeded mile); Vanessa Kelly, Marina (800 meters); Garrett Milner, San Clemente (800 meters); Clarence Moore, Cypress (triple jump); Liz Morse, Corona del Mar (open 800 meters); Logan Odden, Marina (pole vault); Carolyn Pendleton, Esperanza (discus); Travis Pendleton, Esperanza (discus); Daryl Poston, Edison (50 meters); Caroline Rebello, Marina (pole vault); Jenny Sears, Mater Dei (two mile); Alonso Smith, Tustin (800 meters); Cortney Stafford, Katella (triple jump, high jump); Kristin Thompson, Esperanza (discus, shot put), Kenny Vinh, Katella (50-meter hurdles); Michael Westervelt, Capistrano Valley (triple jump).

* Information: (213) 748-6131