SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Last week, most of Wendy Brown's competitors were worried about what to wear for their upcoming graduation parties from high school.
This week, they are fighting for a chance to wear the gold in Los Angeles.
Brown, a senior at Redwood City's Woodside High School, will be entered in the high jump at the Athletics Congress National Track and Field Championships at San Jose City College, June 7-9.
At the California Interscholastic Federation's state high school championships last week, Brown was a one-woman show. She won three events, taking the triple jump with a national record leap of 42-10 ; the long jump at 20-9 ; and the high jump with a 6-1 effort.
However, it is doubtful she will be as successful this week.
Brown is going up against the likes of favorite Pam Spencer (6-4 at UCLA meet), Debbie Brill (6-2 at Modesto), Louise Ritter, and Joni Huntley (6-2 at Modesto) in the high jump. The field will also include another high school athlete in Lisa Bernhagen, from Idaho, who has leaped 6-3 indoors.
In the men's 100 and 200, Carl Lewis has dropped out of the field, leaving Mel Lattany, Ron Brown and Harvey Glance to battle for the title.
Meanwhile, the remarkable Edwin Moses has tentatively said he would compete in the 400 meters hurdles. Moses has won four straight TAC titles and had recorded nine of the top 10 times in the event ever.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Greg Foster will try to keep his top ranking in the world this year intact as he takes on field of qualifiers headed by Tonie Campbell. At a meet earlier this year in Los Angeles, Foster edged Campbell for the title by a mere .02 of second.
In the women's 100 and 200, Evelyn Ashford should easily win both titles from a field that includes Chandra Cheeseborough.
In what should be the most highly contested event on the women's slate, Benita Fitzgerald and Stephanie Hightower will battle it out for the title in the 100 meter hurdles. Fitzgerald has recorded times of 13.06 and 13.01 this year while Hightower, the indoor and grand prix champ, has a 12.93 so far this season.
In the men's events, as always is the case in San Jose staged meets, the highlight is the weight events -- shot put and discus.
In the discus, John Powell is rated one of the favorites but he says Mac Wilkins is the man to beat.
'Throughout mycareer I've focused on one person,' he said 'In this meet, it is Mac, even if Ben (Plucknett) is in. And the way the wind blows, San Jose is one of the best facilities in the world to throw at.'
Beside Plunkett (who has thrown 237-4), Art Burns is also entered in the event.
In the shot put, veteran Brian Oldfield heads the field. Oldfield is coming into the meet with a toss of 72-9 under his belt. He will be challenged by Dave Laut and San Francisco 49er draftee Michael Carter.
