She Has Moved to Head of the Class : Track: Bonita High’s Shalynn Carr is only a freshman, but she already ranks among Southern Section leaders in two events.

Ever since she first started competing in age-group meets six years ago, Shalynn Carr has established a consistent pattern of success as a track and field performer.

She set her first national age-group record in the 800-meter run at age 10 and still holds the national age-group mark for 13 and 14 year olds in the pentathlon.

So perhaps it is not the biggest surprise that Carr has found immediate success as a freshman at Bonita High this season.

Carr, 15, already ranks among the CIF Southern Section leaders with her bests of 2:12.4 in the 800 meters and 57.5 in the 400. She will compete in the 200, 400 and 800 meters along with the 1,600-meter relay at the Southern Section 3-A Division preliminaries Saturday at Camarillo High.

But there have been a few problems along the way for the 5-foot-5 Carr.

The biggest may have occurred last May when she suffered a stress fracture in her left fibula while preparing for national age-group events.

“We thought it was a partial tear and it turned out to be a stress fracture,” said her father, Lonny, who is an assistant track coach at Bonita. The injury was finally diagnosed after she had difficulty at the Junior Nationals in June in Fresno.

“We went up to the Junior Nationals and she did a 2:11.66 (in the 800) in the prelims and she couldn’t even run in the finals,” he said. “It just got real painful for her. It was a pretty amazing time when you consider what she was going against.”

He said the injury bothered her again from time to time while she was playing volleyball and basketball for the Bearcats.

“She’s had a few setbacks and she’s just really getting back into form,” Carr said. “She felt the injury a little at the end of the basketball season and that set her back a little. From time to time she was getting a throbbing sensation in her leg. But outside of her allergies, she’s very healthy now.”

For the most part, it has been a smooth transition from age-group standout to high school competition for Carr.

She said that while the competition in high school has been difficult, there has not been anything that she didn’t anticipate.

“It’s pretty much the same people as it was in age group so I knew what to expect when I came into high school,” she said. “I expected there to be more people to go against me in the 400 and there were and the 200 is very competitive for me but I’m about where I thought I’d be in the 800.”

Carr said her background as an age-group performer may have helped her make the smooth transition to high school competition.

“The pressure’s the same as before but competing in age-group has helped me to deal with it a little better,” she said.

But Carr said there are distinct differences between competing in age-group events and in high school.

She said she doesn’t receive as much attention from coaches in high school.

“When you’re in age-group, you always have your coach around, but in high school you have to prepare more individually,” she said. “There are so many people on a team that you don’t always get the individual attention.”

Carr enjoys the added team emphasis that there is at the high school level, though.

“Now that I’m in high school everything is done for your school and for school pride,” she said. “I’m on a relay team, too, and that makes you feel relaxed and more a part of a team. You really want to do well and make your school feel proud.”

Her father said there is also a difference in the way Shalynn’s talents are utilized in high school.

“In the (The Athletics Congress) meets we put her in the events that she needs to work on whereas in the high school meets we will enter her in the events where the team needs her to compete in the most,” he said.

That helps explain why Carr has competed in no less than nine events for the Bearcats this season: the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters, the 1,600-meter relay, the long jump, high jump and even tried her hand at the shot put in one meet.

While she has been competitive in most of those events, there is little doubt about which event is her best.

“The 800 has been my best event for five years and it’ll probably remain that way until I take it to the Olympics,” she said. “I’ll always feel that is my best distance.”

Reaching the Olympics may sound like a far-fetched notion to some high school athletes, but it is a goal that Carr says she has dreamed about since she started competing in track.

“I want to try to make the Olympics by 1996 but first I need to get there and I need to get my times down gradually,” she said. “Right now my goal is to be the first girl ever under 2:00 (in the 800).”

The elder Carr said he and his wife, Becky, would like to see Shalynn compete in the Olympics but they do not want to push her too much.

“I think 1996 is probably more realistic for her,” he said. “Maybe 1992 would be possible if we specialized in (the 800) but I’ve never believed in that as a coach or a parent. This is high school and she has too many other things that she wants to do.”

That is part of the reason why she also competes for Bonita in volleyball and basketball. She averaged 20 points and was named the junior varsity basketball team’s most valuable player.

She is also adjusting well in the classroom, where she had a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in her first semester.

“A lot of people say I’m crazy to have her in volleyball and basketball when she’s so good in track,” Lonny Carr said. “But that’s what she wants to do and we like to watch her do that, too. If all she did was compete in track, there would be a lot more pressure on her and I don’t want that for her.”

But with her first year in high school winding down, Carr is concentrating on track. While she will compete in the 200, 400 and 800 meters and 1,600 relay at the 3-A prelims, Carr said she will probably focus on the 800 for the state meet in June.

“I think my times should really improve now, not just in the 800 but in the 400 as well,” she said.

Carr is aiming for a time of 2:05 at the state meet and feels she is on the proper course.

“I’m hoping to get there,” she said. “That’s been my goal since last year. I’m hoping to go to state with a 2:08 and go 2:05 (at the state meet) with the right competition.”

After the state meet, Carr plans to compete in the Junior Nationals in June and the Junior Olympics in July.

But she is cautious not to look too far into the future.

“In track, there are so many different barriers to reach because after you get a (personal record) there’s always another barrier that comes along,” she said. “So you always have to look focused and keep in it mentally, but I think I’m handling it really well. If you just do the things one step at a time and don’t try to get too far ahead of yourself you can take care of everything and so far it’s all in order.”