Cosby Threw Off Rust to Win Title

Stunned.

Shocked.

Delighted.

Coach Bill Paden of Cleveland High experienced all three emotions last Thursday when Cavalier junior Jessica Cosby won the girls’ shotput with a career best of 45-6 1/2 in the City Section track and field championships at Birmingham.

Cosby won the 1997 and 1998 City titles for Granada Hills, but her third consecutive victory was surprising because it came 7 1/2 weeks after she underwent what was originally called season-ending arthroscopic surgery on her left knee.

Cosby didn’t compete in the Northwest Valley Conference finals on May 14 because she was still rehabilitating her knee, but was granted an at-large berth in the City preliminaries the following week and qualified second with a put of 38-9.

That didn’t prepare Paden or most track experts for her performance in the City final, however, where Cosby topped her previous best of 44-3 1/2 set last year and moved from 10th to seventh on the all-time region list.

“I was thinking she could go between 40 and 45,” Paden said. “But I was thinking closer to 40 than 45 and I never thought 45-6 1/2.”

Cosby’s winning mark capped the best series of her career as she hit 43-5 1/4 in the first round, 41-5 in the second, 45-6 1/2 in the third, 40-7 in the fourth, 42-8 1/4 in the fifth and 41-0 1/2 in the sixth.

*

The 2000 City championships are 359 days away--next year is a leap year--but Cleveland is already regarded as a girls’ title contender.

The Cavaliers totaled 52 points in finishing fourth behind Taft (82), Birmingham (78) and Westchester (53) last week, and 51 3/4 points came from non-seniors.

In addition, Malinda Malone will be a senior next year.

Malone won the 400 in the 1997 City championships and finished second to Jayda Bailey of Taft last year, but she didn’t run this year because a knee injury suffered during basketball season required arthroscopic surgery.

If healthy, Malone could be a title contender in the 400 and 200 next year and would make Cleveland a contender in the 400 and 1,600 relay.

*

Alexis Weatherspoon of Grant appears to be hitting her stride at the right time after being hampered by a variety of injuries and flu for much of the season.

Weatherspoon, a sophomore, won the 100 in 12.16 and the 200 in a school-record 24.48 in the City championships while running into head winds.

“I guess it shows what I can do when I train consistently,” Weatherspoon said. “I’ve been able to train well the last few weeks and it’s starting to show.”

Weatherspoon, who finished second in the 100 in the City meet last year, upset co-favorites Laloni Anderson of Westchester and Erin Reed of Taft in the 200 last week after hearing she wasn’t regarded as a title contender in that event.

“[Two of my uncles] were in the stands and they told me that a couple of coaches were saying that the 200 was between [Anderson and Reed],” Weatherspoon said. “They were saying that I had no heart and no strength because I couldn’t run a 400 like Anderson and Reed.”

Weatherspoon’s family and friends are telling her she can be an upset winner of the 100 and 200 in the state championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento on Saturday, but her top priority is making it through the qualifying rounds Friday.

“I’m just trying to get past the prelims,” Weatherspoon said. “I just want to run well in the prelims and hopefully make it to the finals.”

*

One hundredth of a second played a key role in Taft winning its second consecutive girls’ title in the City championships.

The Toreadors defeated Birmingham, 82-78, by winning the 1,600 relay, the final event of the meet.

That title wouldn’t have been possible, however, had senior Tiffany Smith of Taft not finished fourth in the 200 an hour earlier. Smith, who has signed with Nevada Las Vegas, finished .01 seconds ahead of fifth-place Gigi Mendola and sixth-place Keisha Mierez of Birmingham.

With Reed, a junior, and Smith finishing third and fourth for Taft, the Toreadors outscored Birmingham, 10-3, in the 200.

Had Mendola and Mierez finished fourth and fifth with Smith sixth, Taft’s advantage would have been 7-6 in that event and Birmingham would have won the meet, 81-79.

*

Few, if any, athletes improved as much as sophomore Chris Wells-Andres of El Camino Real in the City championships.

Wells-Andres, fifth in the boys’ 800 in the City freshman-sophomore championships last year, placed second in the varsity race last Thursday in a career-best 1:57.03.

Wells-Andres’ previous best was 2:00.67.