Soar Point : Betton’s 7-2 High Jump Sets Ventura Record

As a forward on the Antelope Valley High basketball team, Reggie Betton was always going airborne for one reason or another. He would go up for a slam dunk or leap above the rim to snag a rebound.

But Betton took his leaping ability for granted until he started high jumping as a senior in high school. Once he began measuring his jumps, even Betton was amazed.

Betton is still amazing people with his high jumping--except that now he is jumping for Ventura College. After just two meets, Betton is being called one of the best high jumpers in school history. He set a school record in his first meet with a jump of 7 feet, 2 inches.

“He is a definite Division I prospect,” Ventura track Coach Tuck Mason said.

Mason is especially fortunate to have Betton considering that the 6-foot-5 freshman enrolled at Ventura to play basketball. High jumping is Betton’s secondary pursuit.

“I hope to continue to compete in both basketball and track as long as I can, but I have a lot more fun playing basketball,” Betton said.

Betton averaged 13.5 points and was an All-Western State Conference selection last season. Betton came to Ventura after failing to qualify for offers from Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach because of low scores on his Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Betton said that USC and UCLA withdrew track scholarship offers for the same reason.

“I thought I could get more experience playing basketball for a junior college instead of a four-year school,” Betton said. “I had followed Ventura in the papers and I thought it had a really good basketball program.”

Mason also has one of his best track teams in 13 seasons with the Pirates because of Betton.

“We’re loaded this year with excellent kids in the field events,” Mason said.

Betton is Ventura’s top athlete, but Mason is also impressed with sophomore Mike Bryant and freshman Ryan Rapoza, who both compete in the javelin and decathlon.

Bryant, who has broken the school javelin record twice this year, won the Southern California decathlon championships as a freshman two years ago but was academically ineligible last season.

Rapoza was the state champion in the pole vault last year at Konawaena High on the island of Hawaii. As a senior, he qualified for six events in the state track meet and set a school record in the pole vault of 13 feet, 6 inches.

Rapoza, who has the best mark in the WSC in the pole vault, also excels in the decathlon. He placed second in the decathlon in the National Junior Olympics in Lawrence, Kan., last August.

At Ventura, Rapoza has progressed quickly in the javelin, which he did not throw in high school. He had a throw of 183-7 in the Southern California Relays at Cerritos College two weeks ago to break Bryant’s record of 177-7. But Bryant then regained the record with an effort of 188-4.

The competition in the javelin between Bryant and Rapoza has proved mutually beneficial.

“Mike is an outstanding athlete and because of him I work harder in practice,” Rapoza said.

Betton soars above the competition in the high jump, but, judging by his marks, he doesn’t need anyone to push him higher. Except himself.

Said Mason: “He is what you would call a neophyte in the high jump--he is just beginning to learn. We are trying to iron out a couple of things with him and after that I’m confident that he can jump 7-4 this year.”

Betton’s marks are more impressive considering his inexperience. He lost only one meet as a senior and set a school record with a jump of 7-2. Betton also won the state high jump title with a mark of 7-0.

After setting a school record of 7-2 for Ventura, Betton narrowly missed clearing 7-4 in the Southern California Relays when his foot tipped the bar.

Betton broke Richard Thomas’ record of 7-0 set in 1987. Until Betton came along, Thomas was the only Ventura high jumper to clear 7-0.

Thomas, however, trained for years before clearing 7-0.

“People work for years and never clear 7-0 or 7-2,” Mason said. “That’s the unique thing about Betton’s jump of 7-2.”

Mason describes Betton as a spring-type jumper who has a lot of lift on his takeoff.

He will need about six more inches of lift, however, to equal the state junior college high-jump record of 7-8.

Regardless of whether Betton breaks the state record, Mason hopes that Betton, Rapoza and Bryant will help lead Ventura to its first WSC title.

First, the Pirates (6-0) have to knock off perennial powers Glendale and Bakersfield.

“I think we have a shot at beating them this year,” Mason said. “This is one of the strongest groups we’ve had in years.”