STATE PREP TRACK AND FIELD : Katella High Jumper Takes a Record Leap

Kevin Carlson of Katella High School had just missed on his first attempt at 7 feet Saturday night at the CIF state track and field championships, when a diminutive girl rounding the Cerritos College track caught his attention.

Carlson’s teammate, Martha Pinto, was heading down the homestretch en route to a surprising second-place finish in the girls’ 3,200 meters. Seconds after Pinto finished in a career-best 10 minutes 42.51 seconds, Carlson was at her side, hugging her with all the strength his 6-foot-4, 130-pound frame could muster.

Carlson then sauntered back to the high jump runway, collected himself, and with several quick steps, flung his body over the 7-foot barrier without a nick.

As the crowd of 10,470 cheered, Carlson flopped on the mat then leaped with glee, thrilled at the realization he had just broken the Orange County record by one-quarter of an inch. Seconds later, Pinto was sprinting to Carlson’s side to offer a congratulatory hug.

“Oh! I feel like I’m going to faint,” said Carlson, who broke the record of 6-11 3/4 set by Doug Dreibelbis of Foothill in 1983--a record Carlson had tied earlier this year.

“I mean, Geez Louise . . . the first to clear 7 feet! I don’t know if I could dream of anything better in the world,” Carlson said. “At the beginning of the year, I was just going for the school record, and now this. And I’m just a junior, so I’ll be back next year. I love it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing!”

Riverside North’s Avery Anderson, also a junior, also cleared 7-0 Saturday, but because Carlson cleared it on his second attempt and Anderson on his third, Carlson was awarded the victory. Both tried at 7-1 but missed on their three attempts.

“This is definitely beyond my wildest dreams,” Carlson said. “It’s funny because we just had our track banquet Thursday and my coach brought out a high jump (model) made out of PVC pipe that was 6-11 3/4 tall. He said, ‘This is how high Kevin jumped.’ Now he’s got to add a quarter inch to that thing.”

While Magnolia’s Phouphet Singbandith didn’t exhibit quite the same exuberance in winning the triple jump, his victory and county record certainly added a smile to his normally stoic expression. Singbandith’s leap of 51-7 3/4 bettered the 51- 3/4 county record he set at the Arcadia Invitational April 7.

Asked how he felt about his victory, Singbandith smiled, bowed his head slightly, then asked, “How’d Kevin do?” Carlson then came over and the two county record-setters exchanged proud smiles and handshakes.

As far as depth goes, the county fared best in the shotput, with Esperanza’s Mark Parlin second (a career-best 62-9), Mark Kinney third (58-3 1/4) and Dana Hills’ Matt Jordan seventh (54-4 3/4). Dana Hills’ Andy Marrone was fifth in the discus at 178-3.

Woodbridge’s Kaci Keffer placed third in the 300 hurdles in 43.07, a bit off the lifetime-best 42.84 she ran in Friday’s preliminaries. Esperanza’s Nikki Jackson was fourth (43.45). When told of her time, Keffer was not impressed.

“Forty-THREE! Oh my gosh!” she said. “Well then I’m not really happy at all. . . . Oh well, I didn’t feel all that well anyway.”

That feeling was shared by Edison’ Shelley Taylor, who was fifth in the girls’ 1,600 in 4:57.20. Taylor, who was disqualified in last year’s final after colliding with South Hills’ Karen Hecox, stayed in contact with the pack for the first two laps, but could not seem to generate the strength that had helped her to faster times this year.

“I was supposed to be leading on that (third) lap,” Taylor said of her race strategy. “But I felt physically like that was the fourth (and final) lap. So at that point, I knew that was it. . . . I’m a little upset with the time. I mean, 4:57 is nothing to smile about.”

Katella’s Pinto had everything to smile about after her performance in the 3,200. Pinto, who unlike most distance runners prefers hot weather to cool, said she woke up Saturday morning, saw that it was going to be a hot day and gained confidence.

Pinto led the race until there were two laps remaining, when Agoura’s Deena Drossin, the 1989 state cross-country champion, took the lead for good and won in 10:29.60. University’s Tanja Brix was third in a career-best 10:49.17.

“I surprised myself, getting second place,” said Pinto, who entered the race as the slowest of five qualifiers from last Friday’s Masters meet. “I thought my time would be 10:50 again. I felt good, not tired at all. Everyone was breathing so hard and I was just relaxed.”

State Meet Notes

San Clemente’s Tim Martin was fifth in the 100 in 10.75, while Los Alamitos’ Erik Mitchell was eighth (11.02). Mitchell came back with a better performance in the 200 (sixth, 21.73). . . . Esperanza’s Clayton Tharrington was fifth in the triple jump (47-6 1/4) as was Mission Viejo’s Lisa Fager in the girls’ triple jump (37-6 3/4).