Higgins Gets Unexpected Quadruple : Track and field: Channel Islands junior wins girls’ 100, 200 and 400-meters and anchors 400 relay.

CAMARILLO — It’s not the quadruple victory that Sharika Higgins of Channel Islands High is used to, but the Raider junior wasn’t complaining after winning the girls’ 100, 200 and 400 meters and anchoring the victorious 400-relay team in the Ventura County track and field championships at Camarillo High on Friday.

Higgins is used to competing in four events, but they usually include the long jump instead of the grueling 400.

“She knew she was going to quadruple, but she wasn’t too happy when she found out the 400 was included,” Channel Islands Coach Dennis Riedmiller said after Higgins won the 100. “But we wanted to test her mental toughness and this is a way of doing it. If she wins the 200, she’ll be very happy later tonight.”

Higgins began the meet by anchoring Channel Islands to a winning time of 49.45 in the 400 relay before timing a personal best of 59.75 in the 400.

A half hour later, she won the 100 in a wind-aided 12.15, holding off a fast-closing Andrea Wasden (12.19) of Rio Mesa. She closed the meet with a personal best of 25.42 to win the 200.

“I was definitely surprised by winning the 400,” Higgins said. “I was shocked. I didn’t think I had a chance in that race. I thought I might finish dead last.”

Her opponents, which included defending champion Natalie Shaw of Simi Valley, would have been surprised to hear that as Higgins took the lead from the gun. Shaw and Amber Randall of Thousand Oaks pulled even with her entering the homestretch, but Higgins shifted into a gear that they did not have.

Ronney Jenkins of Hueneme, Eric Stewart of Buena and Javier Ramirez of Nordhoff each won two events.

Jenkins started the meet by anchoring the Vikings to victorious time of 43.02 in the 400 relay and followed that with victories in the long jump (23 feet 5 3/4 inches) and 100 (wind-aided 10.70) before finishing second to Ramsey Jay of Ventura in the 200, 21.65 to 22.21.

Jay was expected to compete in the 100, 200, 400 and 400 relay Friday, but he substituted the 1,600 relay for the 100.

“He just felt like the 100 was too close to the 400,” Ventura Coach Hudson Scoggin said.

Jay, who won the 400 (48.98) and 200 and anchored Ventura’s second-place 400 relay team (43.17), closed the meet with a bang by running a 47.0 anchor leg on the Cougars’ victorious 1,600 relay team that timed 3 minutes 27.49 seconds.

Stewart timed a wind-aided 14.4 in the 110 high hurdles and 39.96 in the 300 intermediates.

Ramirez, the runner-up in last year’s State Division III cross-country championships, ran a personal best of 4:18.54 in the 1,600 to defeat Thousand Oaks’ Jeff Fischer (4:25.19) and Camarillo’s Eleazar Hernandez (4:25.51).

Ramirez was one of three individual winners from Nordhoff as sophomore Bridie Hatch turned back a heavyweight field to win the 300 low hurdles and freshman Elaine Canchola won the 3,200.

Wasden, who won the 100 high hurdles in a wind-aided 14.31, had a three-to-four meter lead on Hatch and Stacy Hebert of Buena after the first half of the race, but she chopped her step badly approaching the fifth of eight hurdles and faded down the homestretch.

Hatch gradually pulled away to finish in a season best of 45.14.