Pendleton, Lightbody Get What They Need, but Little Else

It quickly became evident Friday at the Southern Section Masters meet what the strategy would be for the county’s top discus throwers.

Esperanza junior Travis Pendleton, who won the Division I championship last week with a personal best of 183-7, was just trying to qualify for the state finals, which start Friday in Sacramento.

So was his friend, senior Sam Lightbody of Huntington Beach. Both got their wish, but there was nothing impressive about either performance.

Pendleton, tossing 178-9 on his third attempt, finished second. Lightbody, who has a county-best 195-11, hurled a 174-11 on his first attempt and never got above 167 feet on his final five tosses. He wound up in the fifth and final qualifying spot. Magnolia’s Asi Faoa (169-2) was seventh and failed to qualify for the state meet.

Junior Darrel Barnett of Lawndale Luezinger surprised the field, throwing 180-0 on his first toss. After three wild tosses that resulted in scratches, Barnett hit a personal-best 186-6 to win.

Barnett was as shocked as anyone afterward.

“Yeah, I’m surprised that I won,” Barnett said. “I thought both of those guys would beat me. They did better than I did last week.”

Pendleton said the goal was to stay within the parameters of his best toss.

“I was five feet under my best, so I’m happy with it,” he said. “It’s hard to make it all the way through CIF. It’s difficult to throw each week after week and be consistent. It’s one of the hardest things to do.”

Bill Pendleton, Travis’ father and Esperanza’s strength coach, felt that the wind, which swirled from the southeast across the Cerritos College discus ring, had something to do with his son’s output. A week ago, when Travis won the Division I title, a blustery wind came out of the southwest into the throwers’ faces, which may have given more elevation to each toss.

“It was a left-handed wind today, but, then everyone had to throw into it,” Bill Pendleton said. “We won’t do too much different next week to get ready for the state meet. He’ll back off the number of throws and cut back on weightlifting. He’s been competing for nine months.”

Pendleton, who likes to throw quickly once inside the ring, was nervous after his second toss, which only made 169-5. He paced back and forth, conferring with Lightbody and his father.

When Pendleton let go with his third toss, the discus sailed into the wind.

“I was real tense on my first two tosses,” he said. “But then I came up with a good throw.”

Lightbody, meanwhile, could never get it going on his final five attempts, with most of his tosses dropping straight down.