THE PREPS : He’s Not Putting Them On : Edison’s Carter Getting the Most Out of Prep Career

From the halls and classrooms of Edison High School, to the shotput and discus rings around the Southern Section, Kaleaph Carter has made many favorable impressions.

Well-focused . . . a class act . . . mature beyond his years . . . These and other phrases seem to follow Carter from class to class, meet to meet.

“Kaleaph is that type of student every teacher dreams of having in his classroom,” said John Pawson, an Edison science teacher.

“He has an extremely high level of integrity and honesty . . . He’s mature, intelligent and extremely hard-working. All those wonderful traits you as a teacher are always trying to instill in students, Kaleaph already has.

“He never plays that big athlete role, either. He’s very modest; he’d never let on he was a national champion.”

At a stone-solid 6-feet 1/2-inches and 210 pounds, Carter, 17, is an athletic marvel.

In a three-year football career, he has become the school’s all-time leading rusher at 2,470 yards. He has accepted a scholarship to play football at UCLA next fall.

In the shotput, he is a two-time runner-up in the state meet, and he is the 1988 high school indoor national champion. Last year’s throw of 63-0 is his personal best.

His best throw this season--62-5--ranks him as the country’s top high school shotputter.

Carter will compete Saturday at the 21st Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School. The meet will feature some of the country’s best athletes.

In the shotput, which begins at 6:30 p.m., Carter will face 21 challengers, including El Monte Arroyo’s Rick Fuller (61-6) and Brent Noon, the Fallbrook sophomore who two weeks ago broke Carter’s state sophomore shotput record (61-11) with a put of 62- 1/2.

Time and time again, it is Carter’s modest, soft-spoken manner that seems to impress friends--and even his opponents--the most.

Said Westminster track coach Bob McAllister: “Kaleaph’s always impressed me as a very polite, honest, mature young man who leads by his actions.”

Coaches say Carter’s strength in the throwing events is because of three factors: superior strength, explosive speed and self-discipline.

Art Venegas, UCLA’s shot and discus coach, said: “Kaleaph is such a balanced athlete, he possesses gifts that other athletes don’t have. We feel he may make a great decathlete.”

Which is why Carter has been working on another event lately--the 110-meter high hurdles.

“My main goal this year is to win the shot and discus in CIF (the Southern Section) and the state meet,” Carter said. “But in the hurdles, I’d like to challenge (Marina’s Marc) Kallick for the league championship.”

Kallick, who beat Carter in the 120-yard hurdles at last month’s Beach Cities meet, is one of the county’s premier hurdlers. But that doesn’t intimidate Carter or Edison’s coaches.

“Kaleaph is such a quick learner,” Tony Ciarelli, Charger throwing coach, said. “Basically, he could do well in any event he wants. We’ll tell him something and he’ll go over, think about it for a while and then turn around and do it.

“That’s not something a lot of kids can do.”

With so many favorable impressions following Carter, some might wonder whether he has the same feelings of his own performances.

Is he satisfied?

“No way,” he said. “I mean, I think my high school career has been going great, with the exception of two second places (at the state meet).

“Last year was nice. I won a lot of meets, but nothing really clicked for me. This year, I’m looking to get a real good throw off. Hopefully, it’ll happen at Arcadia.”

Track and Field Notes

Several area standouts also will compete at Arcadia. El Dorado high jumper Lori Svoboda, one of the top returners in the nation at 5-10, will face San Diego Serra’s Lynn Patrick, the defending state champion. Canyon’s Allison Franke will compete in the long jump and the discus. Franke, who threw 149-10 two weeks ago will face Bakersfield’s Dawn Dumble, the state leader at 151-3. In the pole vault, Edison’s David Noel (16-4) and Newport Harbor’s R.W. Henson (14-6 1/2) will face Arizona Tolleson’s Lance W. White, one of the nation’s best at 16-5.

Distance standouts Shanon Winkelman (9:04) of Marina and Eddie Lavelle (9:07) of Corona del Mar will compete in a fast field of 19 runners in the 3,200-meter run. Irvine’s Barbara Kozlowski and La Habra’s Sita Jones will run in the girls’ 3,200 meters. The boys’ distance medley relays features five county teams: Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Valencia, Santa Ana Valley and Woodbridge. The girls’ distance medley features Woodbridge, Villa Park and Santa Ana Valley.

Mission Viejo’s Holly Hutchinson (36-0) and Lisa Fager (37- 1/2) will compete in the triple jump. Also competing for the Diablos are Sheri Bertell (100 and 200 meters) and Eric Pryce (6-8 3/4), who will face Western’s Andy Lobprieis (6-9) and Los Alamitos’ Greg Keyes (6-6 3/4) in the high jump.

Newport Harbor’s Jim Geerlings (4:19.3) and Corona del Mar’s Jim Robbins (4:16.8) and Greg Shryock (4:23.0) will compete in the 1,600 meters along with Granda Hills’ Ian Alsen (4:11.3). The girls’ 1,600 meters will include Mater Dei’s Lynne Hagen (5:15.2) and Corona del Mar’s Leslie Cashion (5:15.4). Edison’s Charlie Tyler (22-9) and Santa Ana Valley’s William Dancy (23-6) will compete in the long jump. Mater Dei’s George Lynch (38.8) will compete in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.