STATE TRACK : Campbell Wants to Feel Mmm Good : Prelims: Despite splitting headache, Ventura runner qualifies for today’s final.

Nicole Campbell of Ventura High will have one overriding wish when she toes the line for the final of the girls’ 800-meter run in today’s State track and field championships at Cerritos College.

Just let me feel good.

That might seemed like a simple request, but it would be a vast improvement over the way Campbell felt during Friday’s prelims before 5,700 at Cerritos.

Despite winning her heat with a time of 2 minutes 14.79 seconds, Campbell was not as sharp as she had been in the previous two weeks when she won the Southern Section Division II and Masters meet titles.

“I didn’t feel sick, but I just felt sluggish,” Campbell said. “And I had a splitting headache all day.”

Still, she ran a solid tactical race.

Campbell trailed Amanda Boice of Folsom by 11 meters after the first 400, but she knew Boice had gone out quickly.

“I knew that her first 400 was pretty quick so I figured she wasn’t going to run away from us in the last lap,” Campbell said. “But I had no idea that the other girl was coming up on me at the end.”

Campbell was referring to Sabrina Caplis of Santa Ana Foothill, whom Campbell had kicked down in the final 100 meters of the Southern Section Division II meet two weeks earlier.

Campbell surged past Boice entering the homestretch, but Caplis edged ahead of her with 50 meters left before Campbell shifted gears enough to win by 1/10th of a second.

Campbell’s time was only the seventh fastest among the nine qualifiers for the finals and more than four seconds slower than top qualifier and defending state champion Kristie Johnston (2:10.34) of Fresno Central.

“I’m going to get a good night’s sleep,” Campbell said. “After today, I feel like I can run a lot faster if I just feel good tomorrow.”

How Andrea Wasden’s right ankle feels today will determine whether or not she runs in the finals of the 100 high hurdles and the 300 lows.

The Rio Mesa senior ran “the best nine hurdles of her life” in the highs, according to co-coach Brian FitzGerald, but she twisted her ankle after clobbering the 10th and final barrier with her trail leg.

Wasden came back 90 minutes later to finish fourth in her heat of the 300 lows with a near-personal best of 43.86.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see, but it’s black and blue already,” FitzGerald said. “There’s definitely some tissue damage.”

Wasden is one of two athletes from the region scheduled to compete in two finals today.

The other is Palmdale’s Antonio Arce, who got through the second heat of the boys’ 1,600 unscathed.

Arce, the runner-up in the 3,200 in last year’s meet, was sixth for most of the race before finishing fourth in 4:14.07.

Hart’s Brett Strahan, fourth in the 1,600 last year, also advanced to the finals with a third-place time of 4:14.69 in his heat.

City Section champions Steve Williams of San Fernando, Charles Lee and Neisha Henderson of Cleveland and Kim Pickup of Chatsworth each advanced to the finals of their events.

Williams was the fifth qualifier in the triple jump at 48-0 1/2, Lee posted a wind-aided 21.46 in the 200 and Henderson qualified fifth in the girls’ triple jump with a wind-aided 38-3.

Pickup entered the meet with a personal best of 8-0 in the girls’ pole vault, but exceeded that height five times on her way to a region-leading 9-10.

Liz Giltner of Chaminade, Dale Fowle of Saugus and Ronney Jenkins of Hueneme and were other top local qualifiers.

Giltner was one of two entrants to clear 5-7 in the girls’ high jump and Fowle was one of five to make 6-7 in the boys’ high jump.

Jenkins qualified fourth in the long jump at 23-3 1/2.