Freshmen Experience Highs, Lows

They are talented, experienced and successful, which explains how two freshmen have learned to handle victory and loss with equal amounts of maturity and aplomb.

Not that there was much disappointment for Woodbridge’s Michelle Sanford and Costa Mesa’s Sharon Day in the Southern Section track and field championships at Cerritos College. But both were frustrated about one that got away.

They were the only freshman girl winners in Division II Saturday; Sanford won two events but fell short in her specialty, the triple jump, and Day captured one event and was disqualified in another.

After winning the 100 meters in 12.42 seconds and the long jump in 19 feet 1/2 inch, Sanford moved on to the triple jump, where her mark of 38-4 1/2 qualified her for next week’s Masters meet but was far from her 39-7 personal best.

Day experienced little trouble in the high jump, clearing 5-6, two inches higher than second-place Allison Brawner of Corona del Mar. But she was overanxious in the 400 and was disqualified because of a false start.

Unnerved, Day responded by moving under the Costa Mesa team tent, plugging in her earphones and listening to music.

“When I scratched, I just reminded myself I had three years left and that I’ll get it next year,” she said.

Her father and personal coach, Eugene Day, said he understands his daughter’s attitude.

“She’s always been like that,” he said. “It’s like she has an old lady inside her. She doesn’t show stress like kids her age.”

Conversely, a teary Sanford could not hide her disappointment. She eventually composed herself and finished third in the 200, but her pain from finishing second in the triple jump remained.

“It was because I came so far,” she said. “I thought I had accomplished a lot and thought I could go very far. I don’t think I did very well.”

“I understand how she feels,” said Eugene Day, a former track athlete. “You can win a thousand events, but if you miss the one you think is yours, it can really hurt.”

But by day’s end, Sanford was smiling, although fatigued.

“She’s such an intense competitor that she sees a second or third place as a disappointment,” Woodbridge Coach George Varvas said. “Still, what a great accomplishment that was.”