From: SteinhoffK@aol.com
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 1997 11:45:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: t-and-f: Notes - Caifornia State Meet prelims

Having the State Meet in Sacramento is a lot like having a Democrat in the
White House. Every once in a while you have to try it just to remind yourself
why it was you swore "never again".

Last evening's meet was filled with little snags and snafus which ended up
running an hour behind schedule and with a lot of people annoye at one
another. More importantly, there wasn't the "spark" in the air that we
normally associate with this meet, and the performances we expect, even in
qualifying, weren't there.

Unfortunately, most of the major news of the evening was negative. I'll get
that out of the way first.

- The women of Long Beach Wilson missed their first exchange and are out of
the 4x100. Also, because Latrice Borders scratched from the 400, she is
probably out of the 4x400 because of the Honest Effort rule. (She ran the 200
heats, but will probably be pulled from the final by meet officials.)

- Heather Sickler cleared only 10-4 in the PV and did not advance to this
evening's final.

- Monte Vista's national leader Akiba McKinney recorded no mark and will not
advance to the LJ final.

- State 1600 leader Gavin Chamberlain of Oak Ridge ran 4:34+ and did not
advance. In this event 4:23 was enough to qualify, which the LA Times' Mike
Kennedy said he thought this was the slowest qualifying mark in over 30
years.

Otherwise, headwinds hampered the sprinters and hurdlers on what otherwise
seemed to be a perfect evening for a meet. The timing and results system was
out of synch with the starters, and the athletes often had trouble hearing
their commands, which caused a number of delays. Mostly, it seemed, athletes
were saving themselves for tonight's finals.

Briefly-

Sultan McCullough led both sprints with 10.62 and 20.99 times, but held in
reserve that extra gear that he's shown lately. Golden Valley's Eddie Levine
impressed with a strong 46.53 (PR) and a 46.3 relay leg, with four at 47.21
or faster.

His brother James was a smooth, easy 800 in 1:52.39, and clearly has the
field at his mercy tonight. Brendan Fitzgibbons of St. Ignatius led the 1600
with a 4:17.22 mark.

With some real competition, Crenshaw's Shareef Paxton may be about to assert
himself, as his 13.92 was the only mark under 14. But at least four others
figure to crack that barrier tonight in what could be one of the meet's
highlights. Five men ran between 37.40 and 37.80 in the long hurdles, led by
Rancho Buena Vista's strong-finishing Tracy Smith. Poly's Kenyon  Rambo was
an eased-up heat winner in 37.56.

Muir impressed early in the evening withan Obea-less 40.55, again with
something in reserve. Hawthorne's meet record of 40.24 could be in jeopardy
tonight will calm down. (But remember that the record was set in the prelims,
and the 'Thorne ended up botching a pass in the final as they tried for a
sub-40.) Stagg of Stockton was next best at 41.09, as it took 41.75 to
qualify. Dominguez led the 4x400 qualifiers with a school record 3:12.95,
with Poly next best at 3:13.76. Muir was an easy heat winner in 3:15.65, as
McCullough just strode through his anchor.

Van Mounts of Bakersfield led the shot qualifiers with a last put of 64-5
1/4. Jesuit's John Badinovac, second in the state at 61-11, was nine feet off
his best and did not advance. National Leader Scott Moser led the discus at
190-7, with fellow Southern Section thrower John Bello the only other over
180 with his 186-4 in winds which were not favorable.

Carson's Patrick McCall led the long jump with a leap of 24-5 1/4 (probably
windy, though I do not have the reading at the moment), while Jason Howard of
Ridgewood, now up to five or six competitions in this event in his life, was
out over 50 feet for the first time with a quarter inch to spare. Fellow
seven foot high jumper Clinte Motley also PRed with his 49-6 1/2, as both
marks were wind-legal.

Nine jumpers conveniently cleared 6-8 in the HJ. All the major contenders
advanced, though defending champion and 7-2 jumper Elliot Parks needed three
attempts. Similarly, nine vaulters were over 15-0, including all three of the
state's 16-footers.

On the distaff side, Angela Williams and Kinshasa Davis brought their
travelling road show north, with similar, albeit slower, results. Willliams
went 11.36 into a wind of 1.3 mps, once again exploding from the blocks.
Meisha Withers of St. Bernard was the only other sub-12 with her 11.83.
Defending State Champion Malika Edmonson won her heat in 12.02, with Damesha
Craig of Menlo at 12.01 behind Williams.

Davis opened with an easy-looking 52.83 in the 400, winning her heat by three
seconds with a lot in reserve. She came back in the 200 to record an
unpressed 23.74. Tonight she'll have an hour between her two events.
Edmonson, defending champ here as well, was the only other sub-24 runner with
her 23.87 effort.

Controversy ensued when Damesha Craig did not compete in heat three.
According to the honest effort rule, she would not be allowed to compete in
tonight's 100 final, but the word is that she would be reinstated based on a
signed doctor's form. Let's hope Latrice Borders can get a similar note from
her doctor.

In the 400, the other heat winners were Poly's Bunmi Oguneleye and St.
Bernard's Regine Caruthers in 54.92 and 54.94, respectively. Caruthers had
run an aggressive 24.6 opening 200 with the wind at her back.

The 800 will be one of the races of the night. Angelita Green showed that she
can finish, as the Poly frosh ran the best mark of 2:11.64 with a negative
split. Her battle with defending champ (and soph) Lindsay Hyatt of Placer,
who won heat two with an under-control 2:12.20, will be a sight to see.

Also among the highlights will be Julia Stamps and Kristen Gordon in the
distances. Both won their 1600 heats, with Stamps finshing quickly after a
slow early pace to take heat one in 4:55.60, while Gordon slowed down a quick
early pace to take an easy win in the second heat in 5:01.44. The 3200 comes
about two hours after the 1600 tonight, so the double is a realistic one.

Daveeta Shepard of DeAnza, attempting to regain her state title after two
years of Riverside Poly dominance, ran a quick 13.84 to lead two others under
14 in the sprint hurdles in an early race which saw the athletes bucking
strong headwinds. She also led the long hurdles with a 42.34, ahead of
Natasha Neal's 42.59 for James Logan. Randi Smith of Beverly Hills set a PR
with her 42.67 as the other heat winner.

Like last weekend at Long Beach, the evening's first race produced the best
single mark of the night, as St. Bernard, fresh off their national record
44.91 last week, ran the second fastest time ever, a 45.08 in the 4x1. There
was no possibility that anyone in the stadium didn't know what was happening,
as I counted seventeen references to their record by announcer non-pariel
Doug Speck. Poly recorded a season's best with their 45.84, and Logan was the
only other sub-47 with their 46.20 behind the Jackrabbits.

In the 4x4, St. Bernard ran a remarkable race with four splits all between
55.8 and 56.1, giving them a best of 3:43.96, which is certainly close to the
fastest heat in meet history. Now running without their second and third best
runners, Wilson managed to win heat two in 3:48.49, with Davis jogging a 56.8
second leg. LA Taft ran 3:47.98 behind St. Bernard for the second best time.

State leader Tayyiba haneef and defending champion Liz Giltner lead the high
jump qualifiers with 5-6 marks. as mentioned before, Heather Sickler was a
shocking non-qualifier in the vault. It appeared that she was attempting to
use a new, bigger pole, and wasn't quite ready for it. Otherwise all the main
contenders got through, as it took 11-0 to qualify.

In McKinney's absence, Quartz Hill's Michelle Perry rode an illegal wind to a
best-ever 19-8 3/4 to lead the long jump. Brianna Glenn, from my home town of
La Mirada, led the TJ qualifying with her 40-3 3/4. National leader Andrea
Booker was next at 40-0.

Local favorite Chaniqua Ross of Laguna Creek led both throws with marks of
45-0 and 159-11. The disc figures to be one of tonight's best events, with
three of the nation's top six competing.

Attendance was announced as 8500, but this was based on an unnamed meet
official perusing the stands and making a guess. Looked more like 4500 to me.
Even so, the parking situation was a mess. If you're coming tonight, come
early. The vault starts at 4:00, with the first race on the track (St.
Bernard in the 4x100) at 6:00. With a little luck, tonight will have more
uppers than downers.

ks
karl@deltanet.com
karl@lw2.es.hac.com