Billy Konchellah

The Sunkist Invitational, the oldest indoor track meet on the West Coast and second oldest in the nation, features a select cast of track performers for its 27th edition next Friday night at the Sports Arena. Several events highlight the first major meet of the 1986 indoor circuit. The pole vault tops them with an unprecedented six 19-foot vaulters, which makes the competition the strongest ever for an indoor meet.

Canadian Ben Johnson broke 10 seconds in the 100 meters for the third time in five races Wednesday, winning in 9.97 at the Weltklasse Grand Prix track and field meet. Johnson, 25, who has averaged 9.975 for his last five races, never trailed as he ran into a 1.2-m.p.h. wind. Calvin Smith of the United States was second in 10.07, the fastest he has run since setting the world record of 9.93 in 1983. Smith won the 200 meters in 20.

Carl Lewis, demonstrating strong form in preparation for next week's World Championships, won the 200 meters in 20.09 seconds Friday night at a Grand Prix track and field meet in West Berlin. Lewis earlier in the day confirmed he would only be competing in the 100 meters and the long jump at Rome, starting next Saturday. He also tried to downplay his battle with Canadian Ben Johnson, his main rival in the 100. "I'm not afraid of Ben Johnson, and he's not afraid of me," Lewis said.

Michael Johnson of the United States dominated the 200 meters Tuesday night at track and field's World Championships as no one has in a major competition since Jesse Owens in 1936, and if he had not been running into a 3.4 meters-per-second head wind, he might have set a world record. His time of 20.

The premier field gathered in track and field to date in 1986 will be present at the annual Pepsi Invitational, Saturday afternoon, May 17, at UCLA's Drake Stadium. Field events start at 12 noon, with the first race at 12:40. Pepsi has drawn several foreign greats, along with most of America's premier stars.

Steve Scott ran his 100th sub four-minute mile Saturday at Bruce Jenner's Bud Light meet. The sound you hear is the collective yawning of the track world. Scott, who beat Ray Flynn, Chuck Aragon and Sydney Maree to win in 3:56.5, could have been a celebrated figure if rival John Walker hadn't stolen his thunder by running his 100th sub-four-minute mile last Feb. 17. Scott had attempted to arrange a meet with Walker where the two would go for the 100 milestone in the same race.

Sweden's Patrik Sjoberg smashed the world high jump record Tuesday by clearing 7 feet 11 inches on his third and final attempt at an international track and field meet. The 6-foot 6-inch Swede, who improved by one-half inch the mark set by Igor Paklin of the Soviet Union, just missed on his first two tries. Sjoberg also holds the world indoor mark. Paklin had set the record of 7-10 3/4 at the World University Games in Kobe, Japan, Sept. 4, 1985.

Remember roller derby? It's making a comeback tonight at the Sports Arena as hurdle derby. The hurdlers in the 60-meter race at the Sunkist Invitational aren't as physical as the skaters, but their rivalry is just as intense and not as contrived. If previous races are any indication, there will be a lot of woofing tonight, and some questions are being raised, such as: --Will Greg Foster, the world's top-ranked hurdler, maintain his dominance?

Bob Beamon says that Carl Lewis can do it. Lewis is confident that it can be accomplished. Now, it just has to be done. Beamon's world-record long jump of 29 feet 2 1/2 inches, set in the 1968 Olympic Games at Mexico City, is the oldest field-event record in the book and the most revered in the sport. It was once believed to be unbeatable. But Lewis, track's superman, has been closing in on it.

If there was any one event that Americans figured to dominate in the Olympic Games last summer, it was the shotput. The United States was represented by three 70-foot-plus throwers--Dave Laut, Mike Carter and Augie Wolf. Two others, John Brenner, the collegiate record holder at 71-11, and Brian Oldfield, who has the unofficial world record at 75 feet, hadn't even made the team. Brenner was fourth in the U.S.