Pasadena Games Back to Roots

After more than a decade at Occidental College, the Pasadena Games track and field meet finally returns to its roots Saturday.

The 58th annual event will be run at renovated Robinson Stadium at the Pasadena City College Sports Complex.

Opening ceremonies are at 5 p.m., first events at 5:05.

Riverside J.W. North, the defending girls’ state champion, is among the participating teams. The Huskies feature senior Nicole Denby, the defending state champion in the 100 high hurdles, and sophomore Tracee Thomas, the state runner-up in the 200.

Junior Lashinda Demus of Long Beach Wilson, the defending state champion in the girls’ 300-meter low hurdles, will run in that event, in the 100 highs and in both the 400 and 1,600 relays. Demus was Track & Field News’ national girl athlete of the year in 1999.

Other noteworthy competitors are Porchea Carroll of Oxnard Rio Mesa, who finished fourth in the state in the 100 last year, and Laura Chen of Temple City, who finished fourth in the state in the pole vault.

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Former state CIF and Southern Section commissioner Thomas Byrnes, retired Superior Court judge Norman Gordon and Bellflower High Principal Dennis Collier were appointed by the ABC Unified School District to investigate the Lakewood Artesia boys’ basketball program.

The group will investigate, among other issues, allegations that junior forward Jack Martinez of the Dominican Republic was in his fifth year of high school.

Artesia won the Southern Section II-A title this past season.

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The La Puente Bishop Amat football team will play at Concord De La Salle on Oct. 7, the first matchup in a home-and-home series with the Spartans, who have won 100 consecutive games.