Track and Field / John Ortega : Injury Forces CSUN’s Burke to Focus on Future

All things considered, high jumper Ken Burke of Cal State Northridge would rather be competing in track meets this summer than rehabilitating his injured left Achilles’ tendon at his parents’ house in Westlake Village.

But he’s not complaining, just looking forward to the 1990 season, his second and last at Northridge.

“It (the injury) has been frustrating,” Burke said. “But it was just one of those things that was due to happen. It doesn’t do any good to cry over spilled milk now. I just have to concentrate on coming back.”

Burke, winner of the state title as a junior at Westlake High in 1984, enrolled at Northridge last spring after a two-year stint at Texas A&M;, followed by a year and a half at Moorpark College during which he did not compete.

“I went to Moorpark because I didn’t want to fall behind on my studies,” said Burke, who has a personal best of 7 feet, 2 inches, which he first cleared as a Westlake junior. “But I wasn’t really sure what my future was in athletics.”

After meeting Advantage Athletics Coach Charlie DiMarco--who trains the Northridge high jumpers--Burke decided to again start jumping seriously.

He started the season slowly but qualified for the NCAA Division II championships with a jump of 7-0 1/2 at Cal State Los Angeles the weekend before the national meet.

“He was starting to put everything together,” DiMarco recalled. “I really expected him to challenge Walt (Stewart, a teammate) for the national title. Everything was starting to click. He’d gotten rid of some glitches in his technique and he looked great in warm-ups at nationals.”

Burke agreed with his coach, saying he was “ready to fly.”

But on his first attempt of the competition, disaster struck as his left Achilles’ tendon snapped on approach to the bar.

“It was weird,” said DiMarco, who frequently videotapes his jumpers in competition. “There was no pressure on the tendon at all. Ken hadn’t even made the turn toward the bar and the tendon just snapped.

“You could see right away that it was a serious injury. The tendon just bunched up above his heel afterward.”

Although Burke was in extreme pain, he was more shocked than anything.

“I think the shock overwhelmed the pain,” said Burke, who watched from the sidelines as Stewart won the competition at 7-0 1/2. “I’ve had sprained ankles that actually hurt more than that.”

After the tendon was surgically reattached, Burke spent four weeks in a full-leg cast, which was reduced to a half cast last week.

He will wear that for an additional three weeks before graduating to an ankle brace that can be adjusted for greater flexibility as the tendon strengthens.

“The doctor said I can start jumping in six to eight months,” Burke said. “So I’ll probably start competing in the middle of the season. He said I should be as good as new.”

Add Burke: Had he suffered the same injury 10 to 15 years ago, Burke’s athletic future might have been in doubt.

Larry Black of North Carolina Central, the 1972 Olympic silver medalist in the 200 meters, snapped his Achilles’ tendon in the 1974 Amateur Athletic Union championships at UCLA and never competed again.

But medical technology regarding sports injuries and their rehabilitation has advanced so much that Burke can expect to make a complete recovery.

Staying put: Jeff La Monica, formerly of Poly High, will remain at Cal State Los Angeles next season, ending speculation that he might transfer to Northridge, the Golden Eagles’ rival in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

“I’ve decided to stay here,” La Monica said. “If I had transferred to Northridge, I would have lost a year of eligibility, and I didn’t want to do that.”

La Monica, who placed third in the pole vault in the 1987 state championships, has made tremendous progress--a 1,035-point improvement--in the decathlon since beginning work under Cal State L. A. assistant Mike Strong.

As a freshman, he placed third in the CCAA championships and scored a then-personal best of 6,564 points to place fifth in The Athletics Congress Junior championships in Tallahassee, Fla. He improved that total to 6,942 points as a non-scoring redshirt this year.

It was Strong’s recent decision to leave Cal State L. A. that made La Monica contemplate a move to another school.

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” La Monica said. “Not only about the technical things but about the mental aspects of the decathlon. . . . I may have overreacted when he decided to leave.”

Add La Monica: Although he plans to compete for Cal State L. A. in 1990, La Monica did not rule out transferring after that.

“It’s a possibility,” he said. “A lot depends on where Mike ends up. I’d like to train under him again.”

Strong is uncertain where he will be next year but plans to remain in coaching.

For the moment, Cal State L. A. Coach John Tansley will train La Monica in the running and jumping events and assistant Don Babbitt will oversee his workouts in the throwing events.