Rio Mesa's Jones Makes a Dash to Thousand Oaks : Prep track: Reigning state sprint champion transfers amid speculation she had disagreement with Spartan coaches.

Rio Mesa’s Jones Makes a Dash to Thousand Oaks : Prep track: Reigning state sprint champion transfers amid speculation she had disagreement with Spartan coaches.

By JEFF RILEY

Nov. 22, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Marion Jones, the reigning state champion in the 100 and 200 meters, has left Rio Mesa High and enrolled at Thousand Oaks.

Brian FitzGerald, the athletic director and track and field coach at Rio Mesa, said Jones left Rio Mesa on Thursday. She was seen with her mother at the Thousand Oaks campus on Wednesday, apparently working out details of the transfer.

“Marion is now . . . attending Thousand Oaks High School,” FitzGerald said Thursday. “I don’t know the whys, hows and wherefores.”

Jones could not be reached for comment. Although there was speculation that Jones and FitzGerald had a falling-out, Fitzgerald would neither confirm nor deny that.

“I basically cannot comment on that,” he said. “All I can really say is that I wish Marion the best of luck. You’re never happy when a nice kid and great athlete leaves your program.”

Jones is a junior who won state titles in the 100 and 200 meters in both her freshman and sophomore seasons and recently was named the 1991 high school girl athlete of the year by Track & Field News. Her 200 time of 22.76 seconds is a national high school record and her 100 time of 11.17 is second on the all-time list at the high school level. Jones also averaged 25 points a game on the Rio Mesa girls’ varsity basketball team last season.

Jones won the 100 and 200 meters in The Athletics Congress junior meet in Blaine, Minn., in June. A week before, she finished fourth in the TAC Championships in Randalls Island, N.Y., missing by four-hundredths of a second a berth on the U.S. team that competed in the World Championships in Tokyo in August.

Jones, 16, is projected by Track & Field News to finish third in the 100 in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Roger Lipkis, who coached Jones on the West Valley Eagles track and field club and still serves as her personal coach, said he spoke with Jones’ mother a month ago but received no indication of disenchantment.

“I don’t know of any falling-out with Brian,” Lipkis said. “That would be strange because Brian is one of the best high school coaches around.

“But I know she had some differences in the past with the basketball people (at Rio Mesa).”

Rio Mesa basketball Coach Al Walker did not return phone calls Thursday.

Jones will join a Thousand Oaks basketball team that won the Southern Section 1-A Division title and finished 28-4 last season. Four starters return, including All-Southern Section guard Michelle Palmisano.

But according to Lipkis, some track coaches have suggested that Jones avoid playing basketball.

“I prefer she didn’t, but that’s none of my business,” Lipkis said. “Some people even say she should not compete during the high school track season. She’s won every honor, what more can she accomplish at that level?”

Jones holds five national age-group records in the 100 and 200. Her best time in the 400 is 52.91.

* JONES WINS NATIONAL HONOR

Track & Field News magazine named Marion Jones its high school girl athlete of the year for 1991. C16