Grossmont’s West Doubles Back to Triple Jumping

La Frania West, a Grossmont High School senior, has been in the habit of making news more for what she does not do than for what she does.

Last spring, West was the junior who barely missed first place at the state track and field meet in the triple jump. Her best mark of 40-feet-8 3/4 was an inch short of top finisher Althea Moses of Morningside High.

But as far as West was concerned, that was OK because Moses was a senior. West had a year left.

Talk about heir apparent. “That girl who won it is gone next year,” West said at the time. “I think I can win it next year.”

One problem. When track season rolled around this spring, West was nowhere near the triple jump pit. She was taking ground balls on the Grossmont softball field.

So West again made news for what she was not doing--she was not going after the state triple jump title that appeared to be clearly within her grasp.

“I wanted to do something I really enjoyed,” West said of her decision to play softball. “I’ve played it all my life.”

That two scouts spotted her over the summer with a club team and offered her softball scholarships to Colorado State and New Mexico did not hinder her decision.

But still, something was missing. Although West leads Grossmont with an average above .400 (she went seven for eight in Grossmont’s two games last week), and despite the fact that the team is undefeated in Grossmont 2-A League play, West said she felt a void up until two weeks ago, when she approached Rob Ridgway, the track coach, with the idea of getting back into triple jumping while still playing softball.

Ridgway didn’t hesitate to welcome back his prodigal jumper. And softball Coach Steve Sutton didn’t mind sharing West. After all, it was his idea that she participate in both sports.

“I just thought it was a way to make everyone happy,” Sutton said.

The results so far have been less than All-State caliber. West’s best mark in two meets is 36-5. That’s way behind county leader Rochelle Johnson of Patrick Henry, who has gone 40-6 3/4.

“She has some work to do to get back into form,” Ridgway said. “She’s just not in track shape.” Which is good news to Johnson, who last year finished fifth at state with a jump of 38-7 and who took exception to West’s declaration that she could win the event this year.

“She’s kind of declined because of softball,” Johnson said. “She better start training if she hopes to compete with me.”

West does hope to challenge Johnson, plus several others in the state who have cleared 40 feet this year.

“I came back because I would like to win state this year instead of losing by an inch,” West said.

Ridgway believes West can do it. “She’s just a great player, a great athlete,” he said.

Added Sutton, “She is such a great athlete that things just flow for her. She is every bit as much of an impact player in softball as she is in track.”

How much of one? Consider the following: In each of the past two years, Grossmont has lost 1-0 games in the section 3-A semifinals, first to El Capitan in 1987 and then to Fallbrook in 1988. “If La Frania had been playing, we probably would have won those games,” Sutton said. “She’s worth at least one run per game.”

Of course, West now must divide her energy, and that has taken a toll.

“Because of the fact that she’s trying to play both sports, her defense is lacking a little bit. She doesn’t have enough time to work on it,” Sutton said.

West begins training for track (besides triple jumping, West does the long jump and sometimes runs sprints) at 2:50 each afternoon. That’s just a warmup to softball practice from 4-5 p.m.

Sutton said none of West’s softball teammates seem to mind her limited practice time. “She did start out in softball from Day 1,” he said. “So it’s not like she had been in track and came up to me and said, ‘I want to play softball, too.’ ”

Actually, Sutton expected West much sooner. “When she was a freshman, she said she was going to run track for one year, and then play softball after that,” Sutton said.

Although it took her a little longer than planned to make it to softball, West did so just in time. Grossmont’s nine starters are all seniors, including pitcher Brenna Hancock, who is 13-3 this season. Sutton believes his team now has the experience to get past the semifinals of the playoffs.

“If we play well, we can do it,” he said.

West’s state title hopes in the triple jump are a bit more clouded. As Johnson said, “There’s going to be a lot of competition this year because a lot of people have jumped over 40 feet.”