STATE TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS : Wind Keeps Sterlin From Record Book, but Pushes Her to Final

The wind blew and Heather Sterlin of Mission Viejo High School flew and flew at the State track and field preliminaries Friday at Cerritos College. When she touched down in the long jump pit, she had covered an Orange County record-tying 19 feet 9 inches.

But there is a little matter of a gusty tailwind that will keep Sterlin’s name from the record books. Anything more than 2.0 meters per second is too much for record-setting purposes. And on Sterlin’s third jump Friday, the wind kicked up to 4.5 meters per second.

Wind or no wind, Sterlin’s jump--her only fair jump in three tries--advanced her into tonight’s final as the No. 2 qualifier. Sheena Ferguson of San Francisco Washington had the best mark in the prelims, a wind-aided 20-3 3/4 jump on her final attempt.

Ferguson, Sterlin and Kam Warner of Bakersfield West went into the meet as the favorites. Now, you can add Cheaza Figueroa of Quartz Hill to the mix. Figueroa jumped 19-4 to finish third, just ahead of Warner, who was fourth (19-3 1/2).

“My goal is a good 19-foot jump,” Sterlin said of tonight’s final. “I’d be happy with a good 19-foot jump to end the year.”

Her season almost ended in disappointment Friday. After scratching on her first two jumps, she faced the nerve-racking proposition of having to get a fair jump and a long jump in the same attempt.

“I knew I could get on the board,” she said. “I looked down as I jumped. I wanted to make sure.”

If not for the aiding wind, she would have tied the county record set by El Toro’s Lisa Gourdine in 1977. As it was, Sterlin’s mark simply goes into the books as the longest wind-aided mark in county history, eclipsing a 19-3 1/4 effort by Sharon Hatfield of Fountain Valley in 1982.

Moments after Sterlin’s jump, Saddleback’s Charlie Davidson rode the wind to a 14.00-second clocking to win his heat of the 110-meter high hurdles. If the wind hadn’t been 2.63 meters per second, Davidson would have become the sixth-fastest hurdler in county history.

Davidson was the fastest qualifier and he has no doubts that he will win tonight.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go after that 13.5,” he said of his season-long goal. “I felt good. No worries. My start was there and so was my form. As long as I stay focused I’ll win.”

Competition will likely come from Demond Smith of Hawthorne and Keith Moten of Los Angeles Loyola, neither of whom has beaten Davidson this season.

Ryan Crane of Dana Hills is another to watch. Improving with each passing week, Crane dropped his personal-best to 14.34 with a second-place finish in his heat.

The county’s strong girls’ distance runners also fared well Friday.

Christie Engesser of Ocean View won her heat of the 800 meters with a strong, 2:13.59 effort. And Shelley Taylor, a senior from Edison, and Barbara Boisvert, a freshman from Orange Lutheran, each qualified in the 1,600 meters. Taylor ran 5:07.12 for third place and Boisvert ran 5:07.15 for fourth.

“The State meet has never been great for me,” said Taylor, who was disqualified as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and seventh as a junior. “But this year will be different, hopefully.”

Meet Notes

The top nine advanced to today’s finals. Field events begin at 3 p.m., running events at 4 p.m.

Orange County boys’ qualifiers:

Anthoni Davis of Santa Ana Valley, who ran 49.03 in the 400 meters; Greg Muniz of Woodbridge, who ran a personal-best 37.69 in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles; Chad Peare of Trabuco Hills, who threw the discus 169-1; Tony Parrish of Marina, who went 49-0 3/4 in the triple jump; Tony Mancuso of Newport Harbor, who threw the shotput 59-0; and Foothill (3:16.49) and Valencia (3:17.85) in the 1,600-meter relay.

County girls’ qualifiers:

Elinor Tolson of Fountain Valley, who ran a wind-aided 14.32 in the 100-meter low hurdles and 45.61 in the 300-meter lows; Gina Heads of Newport Harbor, who threw the discus 136-10; and Tina Bowman of Newport Harbor (5-6), Kristy Kierulff of Esperanza (5-6) and Dari Morrison of Laguna Hills (5-5) in the high jump.

Carrie Garritson of Sunny Hills and Tanja Brix of University advanced without having to set foot on the track Friday. Tonight, they will run the girls’ 3,200 meters, which does not have qualifying heats. Garritson posted the fastest outdoor time in the nation when she won the Masters meet in an Orange County-record 10:28.20 last week. Brix was fifth in 11:00.00. Garritson’s mark seemed to get the attention of Fallbrook’s Milena Glusac, who dropped the 1,600 to concentrate on the 3,200. Glusac, a junior, won both events at the San Diego Section championships last week. Last year, she was third in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200 at the State meet.