SOUTHERN SECTION TRACK AND FIELD : San Clemente Lands Inch Shy of 4-A Title

Standing at the end of the triple jump runway at Cerritos College Tuesday, San Clemente High School’s Tony Robinson rocked back and forth on his heels, jiggled his arms and finally, with one powerful stride, took off for his sixth and final attempt.

Sprinting down the runway, Robinson knew that, with this jump, he could give San Clemente the Southern Section 4-A boys’ team track and field title.

He landed less than an inch short.

Because the triple jump portion of Friday night’s Southern Section track and field championships were postponed until Tuesday when the meet ran too late, final team finishes could not be calculated until the triple jump was completed. Going into Tuesday’s competition, Robinson knew he had to win in order to give San Clemente the needed 10 points to overtake Muir, which had a 34-23 lead.

Going into his final jump, Robinson was in second, needing only to better the 48-foot 2-inch jump by Gabe Higa of Quartz Hills to move into first and give the Tritons the team title.

But Robinson missed, jumping 48-1 1/2--a career best--and fell to the ground with his hands covering his face as his friends and teammates gathered to console him.

“It should’ve been a 49,” Robinson said. “I just wanted to get it. We’d never come this far before. . . . “

The drama wasn’t quite at the same level in the 2-A division, where Magnolia’s Phouphet Singbandith ho-hummed his way to the 2-A title. Singbandith, the national leader in the event at 51- 3/4, won on his second jump with the best mark of the day (50-2 1/4) to better his 2-A record of 49-11 1/4 he set in last week’s preliminaries.

As he has done for most of the year, Singbandith passed on his next three turns, choosing instead to sit back, relax and watch his opposition. He came back for the sixth and final jump, but fouled, slightly injuring his left knee on the attempt.

“I lost it on my last one,” said Singbandith, who advanced to Friday’s Southern Section Masters meet, as did all who finished within the top nine overall in each event.

In the 3-A division, Esperanza came away with its second consecutive 3-A boys’ title with the help of Clayton Tharrington’s victory at 48-1 1/4. While Esperanza entered the triple jump competition with a 50-40 lead over Santa Barbara, Tharrington’s victory, his second in as many years, gave the Aztecs extra insurance.

In the 4-A girls’ competition, Mission Viejo’s Lisa Fager and Tammy Graham both earned trips to the Masters meet by taking first (38-6 3/4) and second (a season-best 37- 3/4), respectively. Mission Viejo finished second in the 4-A team scoring with 49 points. Muir won with 84.

Other Masters qualifiers included Danielle Brown of Sunny Hills, third in the girls’ 2-A at 36-10, and Vince Church of Kennedy, second in boys’ 2-A at 46-6 1/4.