TRACK AND FIELD SECTION PRELIMINARIES : Noon Hurt? Two Throws, Two Firsts

So much for doctor’s orders.

Fallbrook’s Brent Noon showed up at the San Diego Section preliminaries at Poway High Saturday and competed in both the shotput and discus despite being advised by a sports medicine specialist Thursday to wait at least another week because of a strained left hamstring.

Noon didn’t listen, not because he didn’t trust Dr. Dan Robertson, but because if he hadn’t competed, he would have been forced to skip the section finals and state meet.

Just 10 inches behind the national high school record in the shotput, Noon, a senior, was not about to let his last chance get away.

So he taped the hamstring, threw the shot--though he did so at half speed--and . . . finished first at 61-feet- 1/2.

This after he “walked through” the discus and won there at 168-5.

Two throws, two firsts.

Noon said he will reopen his challenge to Michael Carter’s national record of 77-0 at Saturday’s section finals, taking the maximum six throws. Noon’ best is 76-2.

Noon hopes it will take just one throw in the section discus to qualify for state and keep alive his chance to win two gold medals there. His best of 199-7 leads the state.

Troy Martz of Orange Glen came closest to Noon in the shot at 55-0. Jerry Gallardi of Carlsbad placed second in the discus at 162-8.

On the track, Allison Dring of Mt. Carmel ran the 400 meters in 54.93, second-fastest ever in the section. Her previous best was 55.6.

She also ran the third-fastest 200 in section history (24.43, improving her previous best of 24.6) and was a member of the 1,600-meter relay team that turned in the best time in the section this year, 3:58.38.

There were two big disappointments, and the result is that the two best hurdlers in the county will not go head to head in the finals.

Keith Williams of Escondido, nursing a strained right hip flexor, felt a pull at the start of the 110 high hurdles and pulled out.

In the 300 intermediate hurdles, Eric Bell was leading his heat by five meters when his left foot got caught under the last hurdle. He tumbled to the ground and got up but finished fifth at 41.08 and did not qualify.

Both did qualify in their specialties. Bell was the top qualifier in the 110 in 14.46; he leads the section at 14.3. Williams leads the county in the 300 at 38.4 and was the third fastest qualifier at 39.40.

Track Notes

Lincoln’s 400-meter relay team (Dwayne McAfee, Charles Brown, Marvin Green and Scott Hammond) turned in the fastest time in the county this year at 42.02. . . . Darney Scott of Kearny ran the fastest boys’ 200 in the county this year, 21.55. . . . Latasha McKinney of Monte Vista ran the fastest girls’ 100, 11.90.