Ziemann and Day Push Each Other to Keep Raising the Bar

Lost in the chaos and controversy of the Southern Section Masters track and field meet--which officially ends today with the rerunning of the girls’ 100-meter hurdles--was some consolation for the purists.

At the east end of the Cerritos College stadium last Friday, Edison sophomore Rachael Ziemann and Costa Mesa freshman Sharon Day were climbing to new altitudes in the high-jump competition.

Ziemann won the event at 5 feet 10 inches, improving her personal best by two inches and earning top qualifying honors for the state finals, which begin with the preliminaries today at Cerritos College. Day finished second at 5-9, adding three inches to her personal best and qualifying third.

Day said clearing 5-7 for the first time gave her confidence at the next two heights. Day said she hasn’t had many opportunities at 5-7, since most meet organizers raise the bar two inches at a time, rather than one.

“It’s kind of a big jump, moving up two inches rather than one,” said Day, whose best jump as an eighth-grader was 5-0. “It seems a little bit easier moving up one at a time. It’s not so much of a mental thing.”

Ziemann credited Day with helping her achieve a new personal best. Ziemann had never gone higher than 5-8 since she first cleared the height while winning a Southern Section Division I title last season. But when Day stayed alive, it provided Ziemann an opportunity to inch her way up as well.

“She pushed me at the Masters meet,” Ziemann said. “If it wasn’t for her, I wasn’t going to get a shot to do 5-9. The last time at the [Southern Section finals], they went straight from 5-8 to the meet record. I wanted to go for 5-9.”

Ziemann, who won her second consecutive Division I title two weeks ago after clearing 5-8 for the first time this season, usually relies on her twin sister, Bianca, for motivation. Bianca finished second in state last season and has always been the first to conquer new heights.

Bianca is still looking to get over the 5-8 mark this year, which she first made midway through last season.

“We’re very surprised [Rachael made it first],” said Bianca, who is also among the top five qualifiers at 5-7. “My dad thought I was going to do it first, but she’s been doing better recently and is more confident with every approach.”

Rachael’s mark equaled the state best this season by Jenna Grimaldi of San Francisco St. Ignatius. Only five other girls have gone higher in county history.

“My dad always put the bar up a little higher in practice just so we can see [it] and not be shocked,” Rachael said. “My dad wanted us to be consistent at 5-8, but it became like a mental barrier. Getting past that helped.”

The top nine qualifiers in today’s preliminaries, which begin at 4 p.m., advance to the finals Saturday at Cerritos. The winning mark the last three years has been 5-9 or lower and Bianca thinks it will take something in that range.

“My prediction is that the girl who will win will be consistent at every height, making it on their first try,” Bianca said.

Notes

The Riverside North girls are favored to win their second consecutive title, but the boys’ championship is up for grabs. Vallejo is the defending champion, but Gardena Serra, Long Beach Poly, Woodland Hills Taft and Reseda Cleveland could contend. . . . The Masters girls’ 100 hurdles, which are being rerun due to a misplacement of a flight of hurdles, will begin at 2 p.m. . . . The state prelims begin with the girls’ pole vault at 2 p.m. and the first running event will be at 5 p.m. . . . Saturday’s finals begin with the girls’ pole vault at 2:15 p.m. and the girls’ 400 relay starts at 4. . . . General admission for the preliminaries is $8 and the finals is $9. Children 12 and under and high school students with identification are $4 both days.