High School Track : Morse’s Kennedy Emerges From Dark to Win

Morse High School’s Lincoln Kennedy stood in the darkened north corner of the Hilltop High track contemplating his final throw in the shotput in the Lancer Relays Saturday night.

He was visible neither from the press box nor from the stands along the west straightaway.

Kennedy, who is 6-feet 9-inches tall and weighs 310 pounds, could not be seen by anyone more than about 70 yards away.

Kennedy, 17 and bound for the University of Washington as an offensive tackle, knew he needed three inches to win the event when he tucked the 12-pound shot under his chin. He also knew he could reach the Lancer Relay meet record of 49-7 set in 1982 with a solid effort.

So, in the dark and in view of very few, Kennedy crouched his huge body, skipped backward, spun, and grunted out a toss of 49-feet 9-inches, best in the six years of the meet.

“When my friend told me I could get the record, I thought he was just playing around,” Kennedy said. “I wanted at least to get the gold (medal).”

Kennedy’s toss wasn’t close to the 62-foot-plus throws by San Diego County leader Brent Noon, a sophomore at Fallbrook. Nor was it even Kennedy’s best this season. He threw 50-3 earlier this week. What the effort gave Kennedy was the confidence that he can reach back and get whatever extra he may need.

“I know what mark I have to get to, and I just concentrate and push it out,” he said. “I threw 49 last year and I’ve been hitting 50s in practice this year.”

Although Kennedy aggravated an injury to his upper back Wednesday when he was part of a rescue team during an earthquake drill at Morse, it was his first time throwing at night that bothered him most.

“It’s like throwing blind,” he said. “You try to find a focal point. Tonight there was no focal point. I could only see to a certain distance. It’s like trying to throw with your eyes closed. I didn’t really care for it.”

Kennedy wasn’t the only athlete whose marks could be mentioned with the county’s best.

Coronado’s Viviana Reza ran a 5-minute 19.7-second mile, which is among the top five in the county. In the boy’s mile, El Capitan’s Constantine Kindreich ran the county’s second-best time of the season, 4:29.2.

Other winners included the Mira Mesa High boy’s 440 relay team, which ran a county-leading 43.55, and county high jump leader Lance McGrath of Poway, who jumped 6-4.

McGrath defeated Santana’s Joe Church, who also jumped 6-4, on fewer misses. Church, in a sense, was 0 for 2 on the day. He was also the losing pitcher in Santana’s 5-4 Lion’s Tournament loss to Sweetwater earlier.