Re-Run of Hurdles Gets Mixed Reviews

Anger and joy.

Senior Gina Londono of Highland High felt the first emotion and sophomore Tracy Johnson of Notre Dame experienced the latter when they received word Wednesday night.

Their reactions were prompted by a Southern Section decision to re-run the girls’ 100-meter high hurdles race from the Masters Meet because the third flight of hurdles was incorrectly placed. The second race is 2 p.m. today at Cerritos College, before the start of the state championships.

The incorrect placement last Friday threw off the hurdlers’ steps, led to slower times and caused junior Dana Bethel of Mission Viejo to be disqualified after running into the third hurdle. But Londono says it’s “crazy” to re-run the race three hours before the start of qualifying heats of the state championships.

She also contends that the race is being re-run because Bethel, who finished second in the state championships last year, is a high-profile athlete.

“I’m really angry and really mad,” said Londono, who had qualified for the state championships by placing third in 15.42. “They made a mistake. But we all could have made the choice that [Bethel] did, but we didn’t. Everyone came to the [third flight of hurdles] and realized things weren’t right, but we kept running. I think I took five steps [instead of the standard three] in between the second and third hurdles, but I never thought about stopping.”

Johnson, who finished a non-qualifying seventh in 16.59, noticed that she took four steps between a couple of hurdles, but figured that an illness earlier in the week led to her sub-par race.

“I’m really excited about it,” Johnson said of the re-run, in which the top five finishers will advance to the state meet. “I was really disappointed with the way things turned out last week and this will give me a chance to redeem myself.”

John Johnston, the Highland girls’ coach, said he would have had no problem with running the race again during the Masters Meet, but officials said the results were final.

“I’m all for fairness,” he said. “But I just don’t see the fairness of re-running the race on the same day as the state meet. . . . To tell someone that they qualified for state and let them think that for a week, and then tell them that they didn’t, isn’t right.”

Chris Morgan of Taft can relate to Londono’s position.

Morgan, a junior, won the boys’ 110 high hurdles in a state-leading 13.94 in the FloJo Memorial Arcadia Invitational at Citrus College on April 8. But the race was re-run 20 minutes later because favorite Rickey Harris of Centreville High in Clifton (Va.) had stopped before the first hurdle because he thought a false start should have been called after he heard a click from the starter’s pistol before it fired.

Harris won the re-run in 13.51 with Jake Garlick of West Jordan (Utah) second in 13.81 and Morgan third in 13.94.

Morgan and his father, Dale, claimed Harris received preferential treatment because of his past accomplishments, similar to the sentiments expressed by Londono.

“I feel like if it had happened to any other person like myself, they wouldn’t have re-run the race,” Londono said. “If this had happened to someone like me, who hasn’t accomplished what [Bethel] has, the race wouldn’t have been run again.”

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Senior Kenan Jackson of Cleveland went from being one of the top boys’ high hurdles in the City Section to a state-title contender in a matter of 14.10 seconds last week.

That was the time Jackson ran to finish .03 behind Morgan in the City Section final at Birmingham High and move into a tie for ninth on the all-time region list.

Jackson, who had a previous best of 14.44, led Morgan coming off the final hurdle but was edged at the finish line.

“I expected a race like that 2 1/2 months ago,” Cleveland Coach Bill Paden said. “But it hadn’t happened.”

Jackson, who transferred from Chatsworth to Cleveland, finished .02 behind Morgan in a heat of the 50-meter hurdles in the L.A. Invitational indoor meet at the Sports Arena in February. But he hadn’t come close to beating Morgan during the outdoor season.

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Porchea Carroll of Rio Mesa will not run in the girls’ 200 in the state championships, choosing to focus on the 100, long jump and 400 relay.

Carroll, a junior, ran a state-leading 11.60 in the 100 in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on April 15, but she finished third in 11.85 in the Southern Section Division I final on May 20 and was fourth in 11.98 in the Masters Meet.

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When Monique Henderson of San Diego Morse won the 100 in 11.88, the 200 in 23.70, the 400 in a national federation record of 51.31 and ran a 51.8 split in the 1,600 relay in the San Diego Section championships at Poway High on Saturday, many track experts called it the greatest performance ever by a U.S. girl sprinter.

Perhaps overlooked was Marion Jones’ performance in the 1991 Southern Section 3-A Division finals.

Jones, a sophomore at Rio Mesa at the time, led the Spartans to the team title by winning the 100 in 11.30, the 200 in 23.06, the 400 in 52.91 and running the anchor leg on the winning 400 relay team that clocked 48.39.

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STAT OF THE WEEK

When the Cleveland High boys’ 400-meter relay team of Matthew Clark, James Bethea, Julian Linear and Jason Lovell ran 41.39 to win the City Section title at Birmingham on Thursday, they moved to fourth on the all-time region list. The following is a list of the top 10 teams.

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Time School Year 40.88 Taft 1987 41.13 Taft 1986 41.25 Taft 1988 41.39 Cleveland 2000 41.3c San Fernando 1976 41.47 Kennedy 1984 41.47 Simi Valley 1987 41.57 Oxnard 1985 41.62c Monroe 1978 41.64 Taft 1998

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Times in hundredths are fully automatic. To convert hand times to fully automatic times, add .14 seconds. c--mark converted from a time for 440 yards.