Perry Sets Northridge Record in Long Jump

To his delight, Don Strametz will need another plane ticket to the NCAA Division II track and field championships.

The Cal State Northridge coach was as surprised as anyone Saturday when Chris Perry soared 25 feet 10 1/4 inches in the long jump at the Northridge Open meet, making the freshman an automatic qualifier for the Division II meet, May 24-26 in Hampton, Va.

“Unbelievable,” Strametz said. “It shows his potential. As he gets stronger, look out.”

Perry’s performance also shattered Gary Jackson’s school record of 25-4 1/4 set in 1987.

But the Muir High graduate, the eighth Northridge individual to have qualified automatically for the Division II championships, remained composed after his record leap.

“He didn’t know how far it was, he just knew it was a good jump,” said Tony Veney, who coaches Northridge jumpers. “He didn’t start getting excited about it until some of his teammates started slapping him on the back and going, ‘Yeah, school record!’ ”

Four other Northridge athletes qualified provisionally for the Division II championships. If an event lacks automatic qualifiers, athletes who meet the provisional standards are admitted.

Russell Jenkens timed 14.41 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles, meeting the provisional cutoff by 0.09.

In the women’s 100, Laural Isles’ 11.98 mark was just under the 12.00 standard and Charlotte Vines, an automatic qualifier in the 100, timed 24.47 in the 200 to beat the provisional time of 24.50.

April Nash leaped 18-8 in the long jump, an inch farther than the minimum.

Perry joins teammates Chris Pippins (200), Paul Albers (hammer) and Dave Youngberg (hammer) in the men’s competition. Northridge’s 400 relay team of Melvin Jones, Pippins, Wade Smart and Kevin Hendrix (40.71) also qualified.

Women’s qualifiers include Lolita Pile (long jump, triple jump), Heather Young (10,000), Kim Young (100 hurdles) and Shawnette Sapp, Pile, Kim Young and Vines in the 400 relay.