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The Los Angeles Invitational was an elite level indoor track meet, held in the Los Angeles Sports Arena in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. For 25 years (1970 to 1995) the event was sponsored by the hometown
Sunkist Growers, Incorporated Sunkist Growers, Incorporated is an American citrus growers' non-stock membership cooperative composed of 6,000 members from California and Arizona. It is currently headquartered in Valencia, California. Through 31 offices in the United States a ...
who assumed title sponsorship and the event was known as the Sunkist Invitational. The meet was promoted by Al Franken (not the comedian/U.S. Senator), later with the help of his son Don under the banner of Franken Enterprises. Franken co-founded the meet along with coach Herschel Curry Smith. It was usually held in early to mid-February, was frequently televised nationally, and was an elite level stop between the
Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...
and the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. In addition to attracting the top elite athletes which dominated the evening schedule, it was an all day event featuring the top high school runners (all running unattached to conform to CIF rules), just before the official track season began. The event was cancelled before its 44th edition in 2004, due to lack of sponsorship. Before its demise, it claimed to be the second longest running indoor track meet in the United States. They also claim 105 Olympic gold medalists among their alumni and many other elite athletes participated in the meet. Several still standing World, American and other national records were set at the meet.


References

{{US track and field competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1960 Track and field competitions in the United States Sports competitions in Los Angeles Annual sporting events in the United States Track and field in California