Carter recovers, makes finals
| Friday, Jun 05 2009 11:41 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jun 05 2009 11:41 PM
CLOVIS -- Turns out Johnny Carter can't just waltz into the CIF State Track and Field Championships and do whatever he wants.
Carter, who shocked the state by winning the boys triple jump title last year as a freshman, struggled during Friday's preliminaries. He qualified for today's finals in seventh with a jump of 47 feet, 2.75 inches, but he had a foul and a short jump in his other two attempts and walked away from the event with his shoulders slumped.
"It was a bad day today," he said. "Bad runway, bad jumps."
Carter threw down a 49-0.75 to win the event as an unknown last year in Norwalk, but this year has been different, starting with groin and ankle injuries that sidelined him for more than a month this spring, though he says he's recovered -- and ending with his status at the state meet.
"Everybody's expectations are really high, so if I let them down, I feel like I'm disappointing everybody that came," Carter said.
Still, he survived a shaky performance to jump another day. The best mark today was 49-8.75, so Carter has his eye on 50 feet -- what would easily be a personal record -- and another state title today.
"I need to get my focus a lot better than today," Carter said. "I know I can go 50."
Jackson a nervous finalist
There was a lot of talk surrounding the mentality of Frontier junior Taylor Jackson over the past two weeks.
She had hit a hurdle in the girls 100 hurdles race at the Central Section meet, causing her to miss the state meet even though she had easily the section's best time. She also freely admitted she was nervous before the race she did qualify for, Friday's 300 hurdles prelim.
"Everybody kept asking how she was up here," said Frontier coach David Gaeta, pointing to his temples. "How she was going to deal with it after what happened two weeks ago."
Just fine, thanks. Jackson ran a personal-record 43.95 in the race, finishing second in her heat to Claremont's Kori Carter, the state leader in the event. The time was eighth overall; the top nine advanced to today's state finals.
"It's cool that I got to run against the best in the state; that definitely helped push me," Jackson said. "... This makes up for (the section-meet mishap). I'm sure the nerves will come back (today), but I've reached my goal."
George survives jump-off
The boys high jump lived up to its billing as the state's most wide-open event Friday. Seventeen competitors finished within two inches of one another, maxing out at a height of either 6-foot-6 or 6-8.
Among those were West's George Robbins and Garces' Phillip McCullum, who both failed to clear 6-8, their personal record coming in.
Actually, a field that contained four jumpers with a PR produced just seven that could clear 6-6 in the state prelims. That left the 10 at 6-6 in a tie-breaker to produce four more finalists. Those with four or fewer total misses moved on -- Robbins had three; those with five or more -- McCullum had five -- didn't.
Ridgeview's disappointing day
After finishing second in the Central Section here two weeks ago, Ridgeview's boys team didn't bring its mojo back to Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Wolf Pack's biggest disappointment was in the 1,600 relay, where they had to replace one runner to run the third leg and run a couple of others who were battling injuries -- including anchor Isiah Purvis, who has a hamstring injury.
It showed. Ridgeview, once ranked fifth in the state, was next-to-last in its heat and 22nd overall with one of its worst times of the year, 3:25.19.
"It just wasn't our day all the way around," coach Adam Setser said. "It was nice we got so many this far, but we knew coming in it'd be tough."
Centennial, which upset Ridgeview at the section meet, was third in that heat Friday, but the Golden Hawks' 3:21.35 was 11th place and not good enough to reach tonight's final.
How other locals fared
Stockdale's Nathan Alade led a group of locals who didn't get past the monster that is the state meet by running a 10.82 in the 100-meter dash. Alade finished 19th overall in the event.
His time would have been a personal best except the race's wind reading was 2.2 feet per second. The legal limit for record-keeping is 2.0.
Other local results included Amanda Klinchuch of Liberty, who cleared 11-2 in the pole vault to tie for 13th; Ridgeview's Jerrid Lewis, 14th in the 800 with a 1:55.06; the Bakersfield girls 400 relay, 15th in 47.89, a new best; Golden Valley's Shanesha Epps, 17th in the girls long jump at 17-6.5; and Isiah Purvis of Ridgeview, 17th in the 400 at 49.17 and 20th in the 200 at 22.30.
NOTES
Reggie Wyatt, a senior at Riverside-La Sierra, set the national record in the boys 300 hurdles with a time of 35.02. The previous best was 35.28, set at the state meet two years ago by Woodland Hills-Taft's Jeshua Anderson.
The California state meet flexed its muscles in another way, too. Girls 100 state leader Ashton Purvis of Oakland-St. Elizabeth, who came in with some of the nation's best times, false-started and was disqualified from the race. She later qualified first in the 200.
