Fakehinde Is Making Huge Impact

Rich Davis, chancellor of Fullerton Eastside Christian Schools, knew that T.J. Fakehinde was special when he arrived on campus in August of 2000.

But he didn’t know the quick-to-smile sophomore would clear seven feet in the high jump early in his junior track and field season.

Fakehinde, a Nigerian native who moved to Jamaica when he was 10, arrived at Eastside Christian after an extensive screening process determined he was a strong candidate for the school’s Operation Impact program.

The program seeks out Christian youth from impoverished backgrounds in countries such as Jamaica, Russia and Kazakhstan and tries to develop personal qualities that will help them become community leaders when they return home.

Southern Section rules regarding transfer students prohibited Fakehinde from competing in varsity sports during his first year at Eastside Christian, but his physical talents were obvious when he cleared 6-4 in the high jump to win the freshman-sophomore division of the Orange County championships last year.

That was the only competition of the season, and the sixth of his life, for Fakehinde. But the 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior has cleared 6-6, 6-8 (twice) and 7-0 in four meets this season after earning All-Southern Section honors in eight-man football during the winter and leading the Eagles’ basketball team to the quarterfinals of the Division V-A playoffs last month.

“It surprised me a lot,” Fakehinde said of his seven-foot jump in the Surf City Invitational at Huntington Beach High on Saturday. “Because I did just 6-8 in the last invitational before that one. I hoped to improve my best, but I wasn’t expecting seven feet.”

Fakehinde, the lone athlete on Eastside Christian’s first-year varsity track and field team, is coached by Davis, whose athletic background is in soccer.

Eastside Christian lacks a track facility, so Fakehinde’s training consists primarily of conditioning drills.

Nonetheless, he is one of three athletes to have cleared a state-leading 7-0 in the high jump this season, and Davis figures it’s only a matter of time before he goes higher.

Back on track: Liza Pasciuto of Murrieta Valley appears to be in superb shape after a disappointing end to her sophomore cross-country season.

Pasciuto placed sixth in the 2000 national cross-country championships as a freshman, but passed out during the Southern Section Division I final on Nov. 17 and failed to finish the West region championships two weeks later after injuring a knee when she was inadvertently tripped by a fellow competitor.

She looked good Saturday in winning the 800 meters in 2 minutes 14.5 seconds and the 3,200 in 10:53.9 in the Meet of Champions Distance Invitational at Azusa Pacific.

Thinking 1,600: Junior Phillip Reid of Oxnard Rio Mesa set career bests of 1:58.4 in the 800 and 4:17.1 in the 1,600 last week, but a fast time in the 3,200 might not be in the near future for the runner who placed sixth in the section Division I cross-country final.

“To run a fast time in the 3,200, things have to be just right,” Reid said. “If you get in too fast a race, it can hurt you.... You’ve got to be in the right race at the right time.”

Reid finished a disappointing 24th in 9:32.12 in the 3,200 in the Arcadia Invitational last year, but plans to run the 1,600 in this year’s meet to be held April 12-13 at Arcadia High.

Fast return: Sprinter Matt Bruno of Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills didn’t waste any time last week upon his return to competition after sitting out the previous 10 days because of a groin injury.

Bruno, who suffered the injury running in a semifinal of the 60-meter dash in the National Scholastic indoor championships on March 10, ran 10.58 in the 100 in a dual meet against Capistrano Valley last Thursday. He then won the 100 in a wind-aided 10.45 and the 200 in 21.46 at the Surf City Invitational.

The 10.58 and 21.46 timings were career bests for the UCLA-bound Bruno, as well as the fastest times in the state this year.