Fast Times at Ventura High : After a Slow Season--for Him--Ramsey Jay Has Plans to Quick-Step in 400 Meters at Section Finals Today

Sprinter Ramsey Jay lurked in the back of the press box, anxiously eyeing the microphone and looking for an opening.

When the public address announcer took a short break, Jay moved with the speed that has made him one of the best sprinters in Ventura County history.

With microphone in hand, Jay delighted the crowd at the Ventura Relays at Channel Islands High, providing knowledgeable profiles of the athletes and animated play by play of the races. During his short stint in the press box last month, Jay, who sat out the meet because he was running the following day in the Arcadia Invitational, demonstrated the engaging gregariousness that makes him one of the most-popular students at Ventura High.

During the past four years, Ventura track Coach Hudson Scoggin has grown accustomed to Jay stealing the show at a track meet. But even he was surprised by Jay’s mastery at the mike.

“He really livened things up,” Scoggin said. “It seems natural to him, and everybody in the crowd liked it.”

Earlier, when Scoggin asked Jay to help out at the meet, an image immediately hit Jay: Rockin’ Ramsey with a captive audience.

“I knew I didn’t want to time events or rake the pits,” he said. “I wanted to get on the mike. As soon as someone stepped away, I slipped in there real quick. I’ve never had a problem getting up in front of crowds and expressing my views. I never shy away from speaking in public.”

Jay is making another public announcement of sorts as the high school track season heads into its final weeks--Don’t count out Ramsey Jay.

A 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior headed to USC on scholarship, Jay owns the Ventura County record of 47.49 for 400 meters. That time earned him fourth in last year’s State meet.

But as he prepares for today’s Southern Section Division II championships, Jay is fighting the perception that 1995 has been a disappointing year.

Granted, he helped lead Ventura to another undefeated Channel League title, and the Cougars haven’t lost a league meet since Jay stepped on the track as a freshman four years ago.

Jay also cruised to victories in the 200 and 400 in the Ventura County championships and was the Channel League 400 champion for the third consecutive year.

He qualified for today’s meet by winning his heat at last week’s divisional preliminaries. But Ramsey has yet to run the 400 in under 48 seconds this year and ran poorly in two premier meets this spring--the Arcadia Invitational and the Mt. San Antonio Relays.

Worse, he was scratched from the 200 and two relay races last weekend because of a nagging injury to his right hamstring.

“This isn’t the way you want to go out in your senior year,” Scoggin said.

Still, Scoggin is quick to point out that Jay’s times are just as good as they were at the same point last season, and Jay’s hamstring has recovered enough for him to train hard this week.

For his part, Jay recommends that everyone reserve judgment until June 3 at the State meet.

“I know I’ll be stepping it up a notch,” he said. “My focus has always been the end of the season. Everybody cares about the last three weeks. There’s no doubt that I will be ready.”

Even Jay’s disappointing efforts have buoyed him, he said. When he finished fourth in 48.37 in the 400 at Arcadia, he still felt encouraged.

“I was overanxious for that meet and went out much too fast,” he said. “By 300 meters I was out of gas. I ran a horrible race, but still I finished fourth so I felt pretty good about that.”

A preseason goal of running 46.5 seems a long way off. He will need a sudden surge like the one that catapulted him to the State meet last year. Jay lowered his personal best four times in his last six races, from 48.36 to 47.49.

Even if he duplicates last year’s drop, Jay might be left out of the State meet. The list of top quarter-milers begins with sophomore Obea Moore of Muir, who has run 46.0.

But Jay is no stranger to challenges. He prides himself on running effortlessly, trying to copy the smooth style of Olympic champion Carl Lewis. But Jay’s father knows that his son’s development as a runner has been anything but effortless.

The elder Jay, a football and track standout at Santa Barbara High and a defensive back at Iowa State in the 1970s, points to his son’s response after failing to advance beyond the divisional championships in his sophomore season as the highlight of his high school career.

“He was disappointed because he didn’t do better and then set some goals for himself,” Ramsey Jay Sr. said. “To watch him grow and mature as he set out to achieve those goals was a real highlight for me.”

Thereafter, Father and son frequently rose at dawn together to train. Ramsey Sr. rode a bicycle alongside his son, who logged his roadwork. When they returned home from training, Ramsey Sr. could hear his son shouting out his goals while he showered before heading to school.

“A lot of people don’t know he worked this hard, but he really wanted to achieve,” Ramsey Sr. said.

There is little Jay has not achieved at Ventura High, where he was voted this year’s top all-around male student. Not only is he the best sprinter in school history, he was the leading receiver on the football team (26 catches for 373 yards), vice president of the student body, an elementary school tutor, a spokesman for an anti-drug campaign at area elementary schools and the noontime campus DJ.

He proudly recounts that neighborhood homeowners have complained to the school about the volume of his R&B; selections and animated delivery over the campus public address system.

“I guess they’re going to remember me around here for a lot of things,” he said.

Jay also can be seen on a commercial that airs on a local cable television station in which high school athletes voice an anti-drug message.

An active church member, Jay finds time to coach an area youth track team and helped build the “Rainbow Bridge,” a structure promoting racial understanding that links two parts of a local playground.

Teammates say they will remember Jay as much for his leadership as his track accomplishments, calling him an ideal role model. Nicole Campbell is a sophomore who has qualified for the divisional finals in the 800 and as part of the 1,600 relay team. Jay’s gentle treatment of members of the school’s special education students made a lasting impression with her.

“There’s this kid Matt who just idolizes Ramsey, and the way Ramsey treats him like a human being instead of an outcast like other kids do is inspirational,” she said.

Perhaps reactions like those make it easier for Jay to accept any obstacles he has faced this track season. When asked to identify his own highlights at Ventura, he barely mentions athletics.

“The things I remember most are the feeling of doing well, teammates saying ‘nice job’ and hearing from parents after the games,” he said. “But I’ve had a better senior year as an individual than I have as an athlete. I’m going to be a track runner again, but I’m only going to be a high school senior once and I’ve had a dynamite year.

“I’ve enjoyed myself as an individual and that is what makes me happy.”