Track And Field Championships

Unable to resolve a dispute over the amount and schedule of payments from their title sponsor, organizers of the Powerade Indoor Track and Field Championships canceled the meet Wednesday, another setback in the sport's recent struggle for local success. Tickets for the Feb. 11 event at Staples Center, which was also to feature a high school meet, will be refunded at the point of purchase.

Natalie Stein of North Hollywood High, who single-handedly earned some respect for City Section girls' cross-country three years ago, will be heavily favored to win her second individual title when the section championships are held today at Pierce College. The meet starts at 8 a.m. with the girls' freshman-sophomore race. The girls' varsity race will be held at 9, followed by the boys' at 9:30.

When the Southern Section cross-country finals begin Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College, more than section titles and automatic qualifying berths for the state meet will be at stake. For the first time, teams that meet or finish under predetermined race times will be considered for at-large berths for the state finals, Nov. 25 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The Orange County Championships for high school track and field athletes have been rescheduled for April 7, race director Al Britt said Tuesday. The race was originally scheduled for April 14, but a conflict arose when the Arcadia Invitational also chose that date. The Arcadia Invitational is considered the top high school meet on the West Coast. The Orange County Championships are usually held the third week of April, but several schools have conflicts with spring breaks.

Winter comes to this beleaguered farm town the same way every year: The last vineyard is picked and the jobless rate soars to 30%, rain falls, fog descends and the boys from McFarland High--running for a town's pride--try to bring home another state championship. This winter, the cross-country team, drawn from farm worker families in the tiny Kern County community, won its seventh state title in 13 years of competition--more championships than any other high school in any sport in California.

Anybody who is somebody in high school cross-country is scheduled to take part in the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut on Friday and Saturday. Josh Spiker of Ventura, Mark Nevers of Oak Park, Tom Kubler of Viewpoint, Anita Siraki of Hoover, Laura Jakosky of Agoura and Nicole Bonino of La Canada head the list of individuals from the region who will be among the roughly 14,000 runners from 475 schools in the largest high school meet in the nation.

Craig Masback, a smart guy who, despite that, campaigned for and accepted the job as executive director of USA Track & Field, attacks corporate America as aggressively as he once did the mile. "We have a greater heritage than any other sport," he says in his sales pitch on behalf of the sport, mentioning the names Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Bob Mathias, Florence Griffith Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Carl Lewis.

Lauren Fleshman of Canyon High has won a slew of races with a variety of strategies during her illustrious high school career. But she did something she had never done before in the state track and field championships at Hughes Stadium on Saturday. She forced the pace from the outset of a race and didn't look back.

For the second year in a row, the women's portion of the NCAA outdoor track and field championships came down to the final event on Saturday night. And for the second year in a row, Texas' 1,600-meter relay team turned in a collegiate record to win the race and defeat UCLA for the team title before 8,455 at Bronco Stadium. The Bruins entered the event ahead of the Longhorns, 54-52, with USC in third at 50.