TRACK BEAT : DOUBLE TROUBLE.

Larry and Lawrence Jones of Taft High are accustomed to racing each other. The twins, however, never had to fight for position before a race until this season.

Taft coach Mel Hein entered the juniors in the invitational 400 meters at the Pasadena Games at Occidental College. Meet organizers, however, only placed Larry in the race assuming that Hein had entered an athlete twice by mistake.

The sibling squabble began when they learned of the error shortly before race time and officials refused to let both brothers in the invitational.

``I wanted to take my brother's place,'' Lawrence said. ``Nobody would have known, but he didn't want to do it. I just decided to let him have his day.''

In the end, Larry and Lawrence got a chance to run but in separate races. Larry finished second in 49.18 seconds in the invitational. Lawrence ran in an open race where he placed second in 49.89.

``We were mad because we wanted to race each other,'' Larry said. ``It's always a real good competition. We bring out the best in each other.''

A similar incident should be avoided Saturday night in the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High when the brothers join Alex Scheer and Sedric Hurns on the Toreadors 1,600-meter relay team. They were timed in 3:17.35 at the Pasadena Games and are closing in on the school record of 3:16.06 set in 1987 by a team anchored by 1992 Olympic gold medalist Quincy Watts.

Keeping track of the twins' splits, though, could pose difficulty for Hein, who is unable to tell the brothers apart.

``I just call them the twins,'' Hein said.

Hein is not alone. The twins, who are enrolled in three classes together this semester, said teachers and classmates also have difficulty differentiating between the two.

``Sometimes we play tricks and trade seats in class, but we usually get tired of it and give up,'' Lawrence said.

Close friends, however, can spot the differences quickly.

Lawrence is 5-foot-10 while Larry is 5-11. Lawrence has one hoop earring in his left ear while Larry a hoop earring in each ear. Junior hurdler Frances Santin has another method.

``I can tell by their smiles,'' Santin said.

Santin can sympathize with the Jones' predicament. Her twin sister Heidelle is a distance runner on the Taft track team. Santin, however, recently cut her hair to help avoid confusion.

``People used to think I ran all these events when they saw my sister run,'' Santin said. ``I want to be as different as possible. I know Lawrence and Larry get asked all the time `If one of them gets punched will the other one feel it?' ''

On the track, there is certainly no question about any love loss between the brothers.

``I want to beat him and he wants to beat me,'' Larry said.

Last season, Lawrence finished sixth in the 400 at City finals and clocked 49.43. This season, they ran identical personal bests of 48.9 in the 400 at an all-comers meet at Mt. San Antonio College.

Talk has already begun of a 1-2 finish by the twins at this year's City finals.

``Who's going to be the guy to take it?'' Lawrence said. ``We can't wait for City. We always seem to run the same time when we're in a race together. We don't plan it that way but it always happens.''

Oh brother

Thousand Oaks also has its own brother-brother combination. Bryan Krill has returned to his alma mater as head boys' coach where he coaches his younger brother John, a junior sprinter.

Last season, Bryan, 24, who has bests of 20.54 and 45.55 for 200 and 400 meters, competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials. The former USC and Moorpark College standout also teamed with Alvin and Calvin Harrison and Watts to produce the world's fifth-fastest time of the season of 3:00.71 in the 1,600- meter relay at the Sun Angel Invitational in Tempe.

As a senior at Thousand Oaks in 1991, Bryan helped lead the Lancers to its only Southern Section team track title, placing fourth at the 3-A Division finals in the 200 and 400 and ran on the Lancers' winning 400-meter relay team.

Krill, however, who served as a volunteer assistant at Thousand Oaks last season, said he has no future plans for competing again with the exception of returning for a shot at the 2000 Olympics.

``Running was a tool to pay my way through school,'' Krill said. ``It was great, but I never had any intentions of running after college. I haven't had a chance to spend my time with my brother the past four years. I had a really good time last year. When the position opened up, I decided to go for it.''

Four of a kind

Only four athletes at Verdugo Hills High have qualified for the state track championships in coach Fred Koegel's 25 seasons. But the Dons could double the number this season.

Jeremy Cunningham, the City Section's top returner in the pole vault, is among four Verdugo Hills athletes who could contend for a top-three finish at the section finals.

Charlie Coronado and Vache Hacopian are other returning City finalists. Coronado placed fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles where he has run 15.50. Hacopian was sixth in the high jump where he has cleared 6-2.

Evan Armstrong set a frosh-soph record in the shot put with a toss of 52-3-1/4 with a 10-pound ball last season. Armstrong has thrown 49-11 with the 12- pound implement this season.

``It's unusual because we haven't sent a lot of people to state over the years,'' Koegler said. ``It's possible we could qualify for four but everything has to go right and fall into place.''

Golden girls

Olympic gold medalists Denean and Sherri Howard, who ran on Kennedy High's national record 1,600-meter relay team in 1980 and 1981, are taking a season off from competition. The sisters, however, are staying involved in track as volunteer assistants at College of the Canyons.

Etc.

Mission League football and sprint rivals Miguel Fletcher of Alemany and Justin Fargas of Notre Dame renew their rivalry in the 100 meters Saturday night at the Arcadia Invitational. Fletcher is also running in the 200 while Fargas is running on Notre Dame's 400-meter relay team. Fargas, along with Chris Forde, Rod Arzu and David Escobar, is looking to lower the school record of 41.70 at the Pasadena Games. In the girls' 1,600, Highland's Andrea Neipp faces national cross country champion Kristen Gordon of Carondelet. The meet starts at 5 p.m. with field events with running events beginning at 6.

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Photo

Photo: Taft's Lawrence, left, and Larry Jones

Phil McCarten / Daily News