Jacobs Is in Elite Company

When Regina Jacobs of Oakland won the women’s 1,500 meters in 4:01.01 in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Cal State Sacramento on Sunday, she became a four-time Olympian.

Jacobs, a 1981 graduate of what is now Campbell Hall High, is one of nine athletes to qualify for four or five Olympic track teams in the same event.

Carl Lewis and Willye White each qualified for five Olympic teams and Al Oerter, Parry O’Brien, Willie Davenport, Matthew McGrath, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Madeline Manning-Mims made four teams.

Lewis, Track & Field News’ male athlete of the century, won a record-tying nine gold medals during his career, including four in the long jump from 1984-96.

Oerter won the discus a record four times in a row from 1956-68 and O’Brien was the gold medalist in the shotput in 1952 and ’56 and the silver medalist in ’60.

Davenport won the 110 high hurdles in 1968 and was the bronze medalist in ’76.

McGrath won the hammer throw in the 1912 Games and finished second in 1908 and ’24.

Joyner-Kersee, women’s athlete of the century, won the heptathlon in 1988 and ’92 and was second in ’84. She was first in the long jump in 1988 and third in ’92 and ’96.

Manning-Mims was gold medalist in the 800 in 1968 and White was the silver medalist in the long jump in 1956.

Jacobs’ best finish in the Olympics is 10th at the 1996 Games, but she has placed second in the last two World championships.

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Ask Frances Santin of Cal State Northridge what she learned most from her Olympic trials experience and she’ll tell you she has to work harder. A lot harder.

In the weight room, on the track and during the fall cross-country season.

“I’ve just got to work harder all around so I can do better in the next Olympic trials,” she said after finishing a nonqualifying eighth in a semifinal of the 400 low hurdles Sunday.

Santin, a 1998 graduate of Taft High, ran a career best of 56.67 to finish fifth in her first-round heat Saturday, but she clocked 58.58 in her semifinal.

“I just felt tired,” she said. “I felt overwhelmed. Coming out here, you get scared. It gets kind of hard to focus. . . . Running against the greatest athletes in the nation . . . it’s like running against your heroes.”

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With a best of 13:19.60 in the 5,000 meters, Ryan Wilson, from Agoura High, is one of the nation’s bestyoung distance runners.

But he continues to struggle in national championship meets, as evidenced by his failure to finish his 5,000 qualifying heat Monday.

Wilson finished sixth in the 1997 national championships but was 11th in 1998 and 14th last year.

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Throwers with ties to the region have not fared well in the trials.

Cheree Hicks of Syracuse, from Littlerock High, placed 12th in the women’s discus at 164-11.

Garrett Noel, a Northridge graduate, was 24th in the men’s javelin.

Kristin Dunn, also of Northridge, was 20th in the women’s javelin.