Howard Jumps to Three Titles

Chaunte Howard of Riverside J.W. North High split her time between the high jump and long jump for a short period during the Southern Section divisional track and field championships at Cerritos College on Saturday, but it didn’t seem to affect her performances.

Howard, the defending state champion in the high jump, won the Division I title in that event with a divisional record of 6 feet and won the long jump with a career-best 20-41/2. She also placed first in the triple jump at 40-5 to pace North to a second-place finish behind Long Beach Poly.

“I wanted to put down some good marks today,” Howard said. “I wanted to get my confidence back up.”

Howard, who has signed with Georgia Tech, spent a short portion of the meet running from an attempt in the high jump to an attempt in the long jump and back to the high jump.

“Usually I’m competing in the high jump and triple jump at the same time,” Howard said. “The triple jump takes a lot of energy out of your legs so today was easier than usual.”

Howard was one of four individuals who posted state- or nation-leading marks in the girls’ meet.

The others were senior Chelsea Johnson of Atascadero, who won the Division III pole vault with a nation-leading 13-6, junior Allyson Felix of North Hills L.A. Baptist, who won the Division IV 200 meters with a nation-leading 22.99, and senior Tunisia Johnson of Long Beach Poly, who won the Division I 300 low hurdles in a state-leading 42.38.

Johnson’s 13-6 vault topped her previous best by two inches, moved her to second on the all-time national high school list behind the 13-8 set by Shayla Balentine of Morro Bay last year and came about 15 minutes after she ran a career-best 14.68 to place second in the 100 high hurdles.

Felix, defending state champion in the 100, won her third consecutive Division IV titles in the 100 and 200. She also anchored the Knights, who won their first section girls’ title, to a winning time of 47.88 in the 400 relay and to a second-place time of 4:01.52 in the 1,600 relay with a scorching 51.47-second leg.

Long Beach Poly, led by double individual champions Shalonda Solomon and Johnson, won its second consecutive Division I title with a record 129-point total. Solomon, a sophomore, anchored the winning relay teams, including a nation-leading 45.32 in the 400. Johnson won the 100 high hurdles in 14.18 in addition to her victory in the 300 hurdles.

Senior Angel Perkins led Cerritos Gahr to its second consecutive Division II title by winning her second consecutive titles in the 100, 200 and 400 and anchoring the Gladiators’ winning 400 relay team.