State Track and Field Championships : Jones, Senior Qualify First for State Finals

Friday, on a night you could use the word “surprise” to describe almost every race San Diego County athletes were involved in, should have been Kevin Jones’ night. But it almost wasn’t.

Jones, a senior from Mt. Miguel, surprised himself by running 36.99 seconds in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at the state high school track and field preliminaries at Cerritos College. That broke the San Diego Section record (37.20) set by Jay Taylor of St. Augustine in 1985.

But Jones was disqualified because he ran in the third heat, rather than his scheduled fourth. He was later reinstated.

Jones was the top qualifier, as was teammate Mark Senior in the 800 (1:52.30). That gave Mt. Miguel a chance to finish surprisingly high in the team standings.

Friday was also the night for two jumpers, to whom no one gave much thought, to surprise everyone.

Damon Carson, a senior from San Diego High who was told by a doctor to never consider track and field again after undergoing knee surgery just three months ago, improved on his best by nearly two feet, jumping 50-feet 5 1/2-inches to qualify second in the triple jump. That makes Carson the third-best performer in section history.

Jerome Price, a sophomore from University City who never competed before this year and is coached by the team’s shotput coach, jumped 23-6 to qualify third in the long jump.

But Jones was the brightest among many stars during the preliminary.

Here’s how his night went:

Jones got into the blocks and felt unusually mellow.

“Usually I growl at people, but I was shaking hands and telling the other guys good luck,” Jones said. “I was scared because I thought I was too mellow.”

The first 100 meters were fast, but he ran a little slow on the curve, Jones said. He surged in the last 100 and won going away. The time guaranteed him a full scholarship at the University of Arizona, but Jones said he isn’t through yet.

“Don’t put that time in the books yet,’ Jones said. “Anybody could win, but I’m going to go faster. If I am going to lose, I’m not going to be able to walk afterward.”

Jones almost didn’t get a chance to run at all in the finals. Meet officials told him to run in heat three because there was a scratch.

“It certainly wasn’t a mistake on Kevin’s part,” said Mt. Miguel Coach Eric Olander.

The officials later agreed and put him back in the final.

Carson had arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage from his right knee in early March. He had jumped 48-8 last season, but his doctor told him that would be a nice memory from his track career. It was over.

“I talked it over with my mom (Janice Carson), and she said I know my body better than any doctor in the country,” said Carson, who had the best jump in the section since Dokie Williams jumped 51-0 3/4 in 1978.

Two weeks later, Carson was practicing. He competed in his first dual meet in early April, but he was nowhere near 100%. He jumped 43 feet.

“It was a big letdown,” Carson said. “I didn’t feel good at all, but it made me work harder.”

He was still off last year’s best at the City Central League finals (45-1). But he came back and qualified second at the section preliminaries (46-11 3/4) and finished third at the finals (a wind-aided 48-7 3/4).

None of those marks indicated that he had a 50-footer in him.

“I just felt it on the second one,” said Carson, who passed on his final attempt. “I talked to Charles Huff, and he told me to relax. I guess I owe it to him.”

But now Carson has a tough decision. His prom is tonight, and he has no idea how to tell his date, Michelle Williams, he can’t go.

“She is going to lower the boom on me,” Carson said, cringing. “We bought our tickets a month ago. I never dreamed about going (to state), jumping this far. Maybe I’ll make the last cha-cha.”

Price, who still considers basketball his favorite sport, said something he figured out while waiting for his turn to jump probably added 3 or 4 inches to his personal-best mark.

He was watching Diatory Gilldersleeve of Sacramento Grant, the state leader whom Price had never heard of before. Gilldersleeve jumped a season-best 24-5 1/2, but Price was fascinated by the way he landed.

“I learned how to land on my butt,” Price said. “Before I was landing standing straight up.”

Track notes:

Other notable qualifiers included:

--Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista: She ran a 2:21 for 800 meters and then coasted to qualify first in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:56.26. Jorgensen, the defending champion at 1,600, will also run in the 3,200 finals.

--Michael Stevenson of Morse: The senior finished second in his heat (47.56) and qualified second in the 400 meters. He also ran a very fast anchor leg on the 400-meter relay team to help Morse finish second in its heat (41.62) and trim a second off its previous best time (42.66).

--Charles Huff of La Jolla and Lenny McGill of Orange Glen: Huff, the third qualifier, took only one triple jump and leaped 49-4. McGill jumped 48-11 1/2 to qualify fourth.

--LaFrania West of Grossmont: West improved on her best in the triple jump by a foot to qualify first at 40-8 3/4.