Track Meet Canceled Because of Disagreement

The Mission Viejo track and field teams will not compete in a dual meet at Santa Margarita today because of a disagreement over whether team scoring should be used.

Santa Margarita was originally to host Long Beach Poly, but confusion over the date forced it to be canceled.

Dave Zeitler, coach of the Santa Margarita boys’ team, then approached Mission Viejo coaches Fred Almond and Mike Hoffman during Saturday’s Irvine Invitational and they agreed to hold a first-ever meet between the schools, both among the top 10 in the county boys’ and girls’ rankings.

But Mission Viejo and Santa Margarita could not agree on whether the meet should be scored, Zeitler confirmed, and the Diablos backed out Tuesday.

Almond said his team is also competing at this weekend’s Katella Relays and is not yet at full strength.

“We felt it wouldn’t be beneficial to compete Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” said Almond.