Marion Jones Couldn’t Keep Up With Toughest Opponent--Herself

North Carolina Coach Dennis Craddock figured that big things were expected from Marion Jones during her freshman season, yet he failed to realize the enormity of those expectations until last week’s NCAA championships at Boise State.

Jones, a nine-time state champion at Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks highs, earned All-American honors in four events--100 and 200 meters, long jump and 400 relay--in the meet, but most reporters posed the same questions to Craddock afterward.

What happened to Jones?

What went wrong?

Why didn’t her times in the 100 and 200 measure up to those she ran during high school?

“For a freshman to be an All-American in four events is just super,” Craddock said. “I’ll take that any day, but a lot of people have asked me why she didn’t perform better.”

The answer can be summed up in one word: basketball.

As the starting point guard on the Tar Heel team that won the NCAA women’s championship, Jones was unable to take her first track workout until April 7--four days after the NCAA title game. The late start prevented her from entering the NCAA meet in top form.

“I think basketball did not hurt her that bad in the long jump because basketball involves running a lot of short sprints and jumping,” Craddock said. “But I think it definitely took something away from her in the 100 and 200. Her rhythm and timing just weren’t there yet in those events. We just ran out of time before we could get to that point.”

Jones’ performances at the NCAA meet support Craddock’s analysis.

She placed second in the long jump with a personal best and Atlantic Coast Conference record of 22 feet 1 3/4 inches. She finished sixth in the 200 with a wind-aided time of 23.55 seconds and was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100 with a 11.40 clocking. She also ran the first leg on the Tar Heels’ 400 relay team that finished fifth in 44.49.

Jones’ sprint marks would be superb for most freshmen, but they are disappointing for someone who ran 22.58 in the 200 and 11.14 in the 100 as a high school junior.

Nonetheless, Craddock marvels at Jones’ talent, particularly in the long jump, an event she took up last year.

“I really think in time that she could be the world record-holder in the long jump,” he said. “She has tremendous speed on the runway, great spring in her legs and a great feel for the event. She seems to know where the (takeoff board) is at all times.”

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Add NCAAs: Jones is one of five former area high school standouts who earned All-American honors in the NCAA meet by finishing among the top eight U.S. citizens in their events.

Deena Drossin (Agoura) of Arkansas finished fourth in the women’s 10,000, Brigham Young’s Craig Lawson (Granada Hills) placed fifth in the men’s 10,000 and USC’s Chad Danowsky (Simi Valley) was 10th in the hammer.

Marcus Reed of UCLA, formerly of Canoga Park High and Valley College, was a member of the Bruin foursome that finished eighth in the 400 relay. However, he was not allowed to run in the final of the 100 after the NCAA rules committee determined that he intentionally false-started in the semifinals of the 200 on Friday, violating the honest-effort rule.

Fresno State Coach Red Estes filed the protest, maintaining that Reed purposely false-started in the 200--which disqualified him from that event--so he could save his energy for the 100 final.

UCLA Coach Bob Larsen appealed the protest, but the rules committee sided with Estes.

“It’s a highly unusual ruling, but it was called,” said Larsen, UCLA’s coach for 10 seasons.

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All-American woman: Kristin Dunn of Cal State Northridge became the third Matador to earn Division I All-American honors by placing third in the women’s javelin in the NCAA meet.

Darcy Arreola, women’s 1,500 champion in 1991, and Garrett Noel, eighth in the men’s javelin in 1992 and ninth in ‘93, are the other Northridge All-Americans since CSUN moved to Division I in 1991.

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Trivia question: Which pair of track coaches at the same area high school placed among the top three finishers in their respective events in the state high school championships as seniors?

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Nine and counting: Cathy Prater of Agoura High continued an impressive Charger tradition when she placed second in the girls’ 300 low hurdles in the state meet.

Prater’s runner-up performance marked the ninth consecutive year that at least one Agoura athlete has had a top-six finish.

During that stretch, Chargers have won four titles, placed second twice, third four times, fourth once and fifth twice.

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Honor roll: When Jeremy Fischer of Camarillo High cleared 7 feet to win the boys’ high jump in the state championships, he became the 10th athlete from the region and the fourth from Ventura County win the event.

Former Ventura County winners are Millard Webster, who cleared 5-9 1/2 for Santa Paula in the first state meet in 1915, Ray Nickleberry of Oxnard (6-8 in ‘58) and Kenny Burke of Westlake (7 feet in ‘84).

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Trivia answer: Pete Nelson and Warren Farlow of Kennedy.

Nelson cleared 12-6 in the pole vault to tie for third in the 1953 state championships for University High in Los Angeles, and Farlow ran 1 minute 55.5 seconds to place second in the 880-yard run at the 1958 state meet for Hollywood.