Prep Wednesday : Singbandith Makes the Jump to Prominence : Magnolia High Junior, a Native of Laos, Closes In on County Triple Jump Mark

When he and his family came to the United States 10 years ago, Phouphet Singbandith had no desire to get involved with organized sports.

Today, he is more involved than he’d like to admit.

Although he shies away from attention, Singbandith, a native of Laos and a junior at Magnolia High School, has become the center of attention this season in Orange County track and field.

No Orange County individual track and field records have been broken this season, but Singbandith has come the closest.

His triple jump of 50-feet 3-inches is one-half inch short of the record set in 1982 by Ken Williams of Troy.

When Singbandith came to Magnolia three years ago, he played sports only in physical education class. But last year, he registered for sophomore health class, taught by Magnolia track and field Coach Bob Mangan.

Mangan, who said he uses his health class as a prime opportunity for recruiting, had seen Singbandith before, and had encouraged him to come out for track. Singbandith always refused, saying he just wasn’t interested.

“I’d come up to him in the halls, and he’d see me coming and just roll him eyes,” Mangan said.

“Nobody said ‘No’ to me more than Phouphet. So it’s kind of ironic that the most reluctant athlete becomes the biggest headliner.”

Said Singbandith, 16: “I thought that track was all running, and I don’t like to run. But finally he bugged me enough that I gave up.”

Singbandith, who is slim but strong at 5-feet-8, 140 pounds, learned quickly. By the end of his first year, he was triple jumping more than 45 feet.

His goal at the beginning of this season was to hit the 50-foot mark. He did that two weeks ago at the Orange County boys’ track and field championships at Rancho Santiago College.

“Usually when Phouphet (pronounced poo- pet ) jumps, he doesn’t show much emotion,” Mangan said. “But when he hit it (the 50-3 mark), there was this silence, and everybody ran down to the pit to see the measurement. It was the first time I’ve seen him get really excited.”

It was at that time that Singbandith was told about the county record, one that he admits is quite within his reach.

“I’m going after that mark now,” he said. “Probably at our (Orange) league finals (May 5 at Valencia High School) or at Mt. SAC this weekend.”

This Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio College, Singbandith will meet some of the best prep triple jumpers in the country.

The invitational triple jump competition should provide Singbandith the motivation to go the extra inch or two, he said.

Singbandith, whose first name means “mountain diamond” in Laotian, said his triple jump has especially improved as he has made a few slight alterations in his technique.

He studied triple jumpers while watching the Seoul Olympics on television last summer.

“I compared their jumps to mine and learned a lot,” he said.

“Last year, my coaches told me, ‘Hop, skip and jump,’ he said. “But I just changed it to a hop, hop, hop.

“It works for me.”