Jones’ 57-0 Is No Shot in Dark : Track and field: North Hollywood shotputter has City’s best throw of year in Valley Pac-8 finals.

The days of Matt Jones shocking his fellow shotputters with his ability to heave the 12-pound ball probably came to an end in the Valley Pac-8 Conference track and field finals at Birmingham High on Thursday.

Although the North Hollywood High senior carries a rock-solid 192 pounds on his 6-foot frame, he is small as shotputters go. Therefore, unknowing competitors and officials were often surprised when Jones put the shot over 50 feet.

Jones still laughs about last year’s Mt. San Antonio College Relays when he asked an official where to check in and “the dude told me that the sprinters were over there.”

But after raising his personal best from 53 feet 3 1/4 inches to a region- and City Section-leading 57 feet, Jones is a marked man.

He is no longer a little guy who can put the shot. He is a guy who can put the shot, period.

“My goal was 60 feet at the start of the season, but you always set your goals really, really high,” Jones said. “When I was going around 51 early in the season, my realistic goal was 55 feet by the City finals. My dream goal was 60, but after today, I think I still have a chance at that by (the State championships.)”

Jones, who raised his personal best from 51-11 1/2 to 53-3 1/4 in last week’s preliminaries, opened the competition with a 54-8 put before unloading his 57-foot bomb in the second round.

“I was surprised,” Jones said. “The first time I threw, I felt like it was 53 and it was 54-something. And the next one felt like 54 or 55 and it was 57. It was out there.”

Jones was not allowed to train or compete during the last three weeks of April because he had been misdiagnosed as having a heart murmur, but after being cleared by a cardiologist, he returned feeling refreshed.

“I was mad at the time,” he said. “But that break ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me. When I came back, I felt great. I felt rested.”

Rest is what North Hollywood teammate Ryan Jones--no relation to Matt--needs in the upcoming days.

Ryan Jones ran 14.7 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles and 39.2 in the 300 intermediates in last week’s preliminaries, but a strained groin limited him to winning marks of 15.2 and 40.2.

Jones anchored North Hollywood to a fourth-place time of 44.6 seconds in the 400 relay to start the meet, but felt the strain midway down the homestretch.

“I felt it a little last week, but there wasn’t any pain,” he said. “It was just there. I didn’t even feel it before the relay, but after that, I stretched it real good over one of the hurdles in the 110s and I barely made the 300s.”

While the Joneses were turning in the top performances in the boys’ meet, the Huskies’ Samantha Fargeon had the top mark in the girls’ meet, winning the shotput with a season-best throw of 36-5 1/2.

Monroe dominated the sprints, Loresa Seals winning the 100 (12.7) and 200 (26.4), Lucy Gasparian taking the 400 in a personal best of 59.9 and the Vikings winning the 400 (51.3) and 1,600 relays (4:17.5).

The top five in each event advanced to Thursday’s City preliminaries at Birmingham.