San Diego Prep Review : Outlaw Runs Over Hurdles, Even in Her Sleep

Michele Outlaw of Lincoln High likes to relax before a track meet. Sometimes, she even sleeps through her events.

In a dual meet Thursday against San Diego, a nap caused Outlaw to miss the 300-meter low hurdles.

What Outlaw lacks in punctuality, she apparently makes up for in talent. She ran in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles and finished second. Outlaw set county bests in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles Saturday in the Sundevil track meet.

As for the nap on Thursday . . .

“I was on the other side of the track when the race began,” said Victor Player, Lincoln boys’ coach. “Michele walked over and asked me if that was the (junior varsity) team out there. I turned and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ ”

Said Outlaw: “It was an accident. I was mad, of course. My mom (the Hornets girls’ coach, Irene Outlaw) was even madder.”

Outlaw said it is not unusual for her to nap between events.

“I go to sleep and have a picture of myself running in the race,” she said. “It is my way of relaxing. I see only myself running and I see myself running the way I’m supposed to, without making any mistakes.”

Outlaw said that she usually has someone wake her before her next race.

Winning Debut: Morse’s Melvin Maxwell--in only his second competition--jumped 45-feet 1/2-inch in the triple jump last week. That’s the county’s third best leap this season.

Maxwell, a sophomore, was watching some of his teammates practicing the triple jump at a recent team practice. He asked Morse Coach Mike Klepper if he could try it.

“He had an exceptional mark on his first try at triple jumping,” Klepper said. “We look to see better things from Maxwell in future years.

“He’s a good athlete, very serious. He’s just not out there for the fun of it, he’s a real competitor.”

Gone with the wind: Jackie Anderson of Mt. Miguel won the girls’ long jump at Saturday’s Sundevil track meet with a leap of 18-8, eclipsing the record of 18-5 3/4 by Bonita Vista’s Stacey Proctor in 1982. But Anderson did not get the record.

Gretchen Jiles of Las Vegas jumped a legal 18-8 to get the record, but had to settle for second place. Anderson’s jump was windaided, which disqualified her from the record, but not from winning the event.

Because of the tie, first place was determined by the athletes’ second-best jumps, which also were the same. So, the judges went to their third-best jumps. Anderson outdistanced Jiles, 17-6 to 17-3 3/4.

Smart Baseball--Larry Elliot, Mira Mesa baseball coach, may not have the county’s best athletes, but he may have some of the best students.

Mira Mesa players with 4.0 grade-point averages are first baseman Jim Souza, second baseman Ray Banford, third baseman Mike Eicher, pitcher Ed Salanga and catcher Mark Robert.

Elliot said he believes good students make good ballplayers.

“I think it helps when you have disciplined players,” he said. “I would think that you would have to be disciplined to have a 4.0.”

But the Marauders aren’t perfect.

“They can’t rake the field, but they have a 4.0,.” Elliot said.

Prep Notes San Dieguito softball pitcher Stephanie Guth threw a no-hitter Friday against Orange Glen, but lost 5-2 as the Mustang infield committed six errors. . . . The Crawford High softball team’s 20-game City Central League win streak, spanning two years, was ended Friday by Christian High. Michele Wesson struck out 13 as Christian won, 16-1.