HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD: AREA ATHLETES AT NATIONAL MEET.

Byline: SOURCE: BY MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer

State track champions Michael Cybulski and Cory Primm, as well as elite sprinter Elizabeth Olear, headline a group of 11 area athletes in North Carolina for the Nike Outdoor Nationals beginning today.

Cybulski, from Royal High of Simi Valley, hopes to break the 8-minute, 50-second barrier in the 3,200 meters for the first time, grabbing the nation's top prep mark in the process. Currently, he is third in the nation with a time of 8:52.24.

Three of Cybulski's Royal teammates -- Hudson Andrews, Jason Pederson and Kevin Sullivan -- also will compete. They are all distance runners.

With encouragement from his friend Cybulski, Primm was a late addition to the meet. The Westlake runner originally planned on his national-leading run of 1:50.53 to win the 800 state title being his last race of the season.

Olear, from Louisville High of Woodland Hills, finished second in the 100 and 200 at state. She will use the meet to prepare for the junior nationals next week in Indianapolis.

The Nike Outdoor Nationals, which continues Saturday, does not have particularly difficult qualifying standards. Many athletes who didn't even make the California state meet are eligible to attend.

Harvard-Westlake of Studio City is sending five athletes to the meet: Richard Atira, Bridget Ballard, Cara Bickers, Laura Meadors and Kerry Virgien. Only Meadors competed at the state meet, going out in the prelims.

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