HIGH SCHOOL TRACK ROUNDUP : Wind Helps UC’s Price to 25-8 1/2 in Long Jump

Early Saturday at the Titan Coca-Cola Track Festival at Poway, Jerome Price of University City had failed in his bid to regain the yearly county lead in the long jump. Price’s 23-feet-10 was an inch short of the 23-11 by Roque Balina of Mt. Carmel last week.

Price was more impressive later in the day, albeit with a little help. Price sailed 25-8 1/2 with an aiding wind to win the event at the Arcadia Invitational.

The leap was more than a foot longer than Price’s legal personal best of 24-7 3/4 set in last year’s state meet, when he finished second to the 26-4 3/4 state record by Tulare’s James Stallworth.

Fallbrook’s Brent Noon won both weight events impressively, although he did not come close to personal bests in either. Noon threw 71-4 1/4 to win the shotput (well short of his nation-leading 73-5 3/4) and 192-11 for a victory in the discus.

Titan Coca-Cola Track Festival--Runners were talking about the cold, damp weather at Poway.

That says something about the kind of marks they were turning in.

Only two individual season section bests were established at the meet, usually one of the best as far as times and distances go.

One 1990 county best was in the boys’ invitational 400 meters, in which Montgomery’s Art Hernandez ran 49.24 seconds. Hernandez, whose previous best this season was 51.0, is first in the county to run under 50.0 this season.

The other came in the girls’ invitational 300-meter low hurdles, in which Erin Blunt of San Pasqual ran a personal best of 44.6. Blunt’s 45.1 had also been fastest in the county this year.

Blunt led from the start.

“My coach (Paul Kinder) has a saying, ‘Catch me if you can,’ ” Blunt said. “It means start out fast and hang on. He told me that a couple weeks ago. I kind of like it.”

Section season bests were also set in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Lincoln ran 43.31 for the 400, Morse 3:25.04 for the 1,600.

University City’s Angela Kimmey was trying to better her section best in the 100 meters, but after running a 12.1 in her first meet two weeks ago, she won at Poway in 12.29.

Torrey Pines’ high jumper Karyn Armstrong, who on Thursday cleared 5-7 1/4, was also looking for a section best but also fell short. She jumped 5-2 before bowing out with a sore ankle.

Castle Park’s Eric Bell tried a new approach in the 110 high hurdles--hitting them instead of clearing them. But despite tipping six of the 10 hurdles, Bell, the section leader in the event, placed first at 14.8 in the invitational race.

Bell took down the first hurdle with his trail leg, opening a wound on his right knee.

“Oh man, I didn’t even see that,” Bell said. “I must have hit that first one hard.”

Because he hit it with his trail leg, he couldn’t get any thrust for the second hurdle. His entire race was then thrown off.

So too was that of Poway hurdler Kim Dill in the 100-meter lows, but for another reason.

Dill got over the hurdles all right, but she was still trying to catch her breath after running the anchor leg of the 800-meter relay that Poway won at 1:47.06.

Like Bell, Dill won with a sub-par effort, 14.94, well off her county best of 14.68.

“During the (hurdles) race,” Dill said, “All I could think of was, ‘I’m tired--where is the end.’ I was debating whether I should stop or not.”

Dill was pressured the entire way by Esperanza’s Nikki Jackson, who finished in 15.03, but Dill failed to see her.

“I didn’t feel anybody at all during the race until I finished,” Dill said. “I never even noticed (Jackson). I was just trying so hard to finish.”