Senior, 800-Meter Runner, Finding Track Career Is Satisfying After All

Just about a year ago, Mt. Miguel senior Mark Senior was a sour individual. A freak accident at the Sundevil Invitational track meet was the reason.

Senior was warming up for the 800-meter race when he stepped in a hole and twisted an ankle. That hampered his performance that day, but the negative reaction he got from family and friends the next week because of his slow times almost made him quit running for good.

“It blew me away,” Senior said. “People were expecting me to go out and win all the time. Track was not fun anymore.”

It seemed fun for Senior on Saturday at Poway High. He won the 800 meters in the same meet that nearly was his last a year ago. His time of 1 minute 53.17 seconds was just .08 seconds slower than the state-leading time he ran at last week’s Arcadia Invitational.

Senior also ran a fast 49.3-second anchor leg on the 1,600-meter relay team. Mount Miguel won that race with a county-best 3:22.07 in the Division II race.

Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista had a problem similar to Senior’s. She was trying to put two poor performances at Arcadia behind her.

She did--sort of. After finishing second in the 1,600 meters, the race Jorgensen won at the state championships last year as a sophomore, she came back to win the 3,200 meters in a meet-record 10:47.34. That gave her something to celebrate, Jorgensen said.

Michael Stevenson of Morse also improved on his county-best in the 400 meters for the second consecutive week. Stevenson, still trying to break the San Diego Section record (46.98, converted from a 440-yard race), won with a 47.22, which was .02 better than his time at Arcadia.

But Senior was the one who was celebrating most.

“This is my year,” Senior said. “I don’t feel that anybody can beat me. I’m ready to take my place among the best half-milers in the state. I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been this year.”

Why the change? Another accident.

Senior said he had given up the idea of running track after last year’s experience. That changed when he stumbled into running 50.4 seconds in the 400 meters at an all-comers meet at Balboa Stadium in November.

“I hadn’t even been working out,” Senior said. “When I saw that time, I said, ‘Wait a minute. I think I’m good.’ That made me want to work hard.”

Coincidentally, senior hurdler Kevin Jones was moving in the same direction. His inspiration was a coach at USC who told him that he was good enough to get a scholarship--if he worked harder.

The result was a pact between Senior and Jones. The two would push each other; this would be their year.

It was working Saturday.

Jones watched as Senior pushed the pace early and held off surges from second-place finisher Morgan Bateman of Crescenta Valley, both on the final turn and in the last hundred yards.

That fired Jones up. But what really motivated him was a pre-race pep talk. The two went into the bathroom, and Senior started yelling.

“All you could hear was screaming,” Jones said. “Mark was yelling at me, telling me that I was going to win.”

Jones came out of the bathroom and came from behind to win the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in a hand-timed 38.4.

“I had to go that fast, or I knew Mark would be disappointed,” Jones said.

It was slower than the 37.88 he ran at Arcadia, but Jones said there was a reason for that. “I run on solar energy; I don’t like this cold weather,” Jones said. “But I have to learn to put the weather out of my mind. I guess I need to trade my solar panels in for some nuclear batteries.”

Stevenson did not have anybody to fire him up, on or off the track. He was ahead the whole race and won by almost two seconds. If there had been someone pushing him, he said, he could have run faster.

“I felt un-pushed,” Stevenson said. “I felt strong . . . (but) there wasn’t anybody to see this time. I could have gone faster, but I tripped up on the last 100 meters.”

Jorgensen was motivated by the results of last week. But the memory of losing twice at Arcadia after not losing in nearly two years might have cost her the 1,600 meters.

When Tracey Williams of Mountain View, who won in 4:55.01, took the lead and would not relinquish it, Jorgensen said she lost her concentration.

“I thought, ‘No, not again,’ said Jorgensen, who finished at 4:56.56, faster than the meet record she set last year (4:58.61). “I was tight in that race because there was so much pressure on me to come back from Arcadia. When she beat me, I said, ‘What do I do now? What if my season is done?’ ”

Jorgensen was feeling a little better by the time the day was over. Easily winning the 3,200 meters was a big reason for that.

“This puts in a lot of confidence back in myself,” she said. “I know now that I can do it. But it is going to take me a couple of weeks to get back in the mental shape I was in before Arcadia.”