APTOS >> Every high school in Santa Cruz County has been extended an invitation to have its track and field programs compete in the inaugural Santa Cruz County Meet of Champions, which takes place at Aptos High on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

Unlike the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Championships, the meet will include the south county schools that currently compete in the Pacific Coast Athletic League: Watsonville, Monte Vista Christian, Pajaro Valley, St. Francis and Ceiba, as well as north county charter schools Kirby and Pacific Collegiate.

“It’s uniquely special,” said Mark Dorfman, Aptos’ former track coach, who helped create the meet. “The way it honors individual athletes is more so than the league championship meet.”

A county meet was last held in the early 1970s, when Santa Cruz, Soquel, Aptos, Harbor and Watsonville competed in the Monterey Bay League; San Lorenzo Valley and Marello Prep competed in the Mission Trail, and St. Francis, Pajaro Valley, PCS, and Scotts Valley didn’t exist.

Team scores won’t be kept. It’s all about the individuals.

Individual winners will receive a special T-shirt and the top five finishers in each event will receive custom medals, designed by Mariners assistant coach Thad Moren. Schools are allowed to enter up to three athletes in each event.

Results from the meet will be eligible to be used for qualification into the prestigious Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, which takes place at Los Gatos High on April 20.

One of the top potential matchups includes Santa Cruz’s Luke Tanguay against Watsonville’s Ruben Mora in the 300-meter hurdles. Tanguay holds the third-fastest mark (40.47) in the CCS this season and Mora (41.12) checks in at No. 6.

The meet will be hosted by a different school each year, though the rotation won’t feature meets at the charter schools who don’t have facilities, nor will it Scotts Valley, which has a dirt track.

Wharf to Wharf is sponsoring the event, which means none of the schools will have to pay an entry fee. Said fees traditionally help pay for medals. Wharf to Wharf has paid for the medals and winners’ T-shirts.