They Are Smoothly Passing a Road Test

Lessons learned from the Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” help explain the maturity and optimism exuded by two senior long jumpers, Kevin Finney and Robert Nelson, from Torrance High.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Finney and Nelson were brought together for the first time last year, Nelson coming from Compton Dominguez, Finney already a junior at Torrance. Both were raised by single parents, Nelson by his mother, Finney by his father.

They are teenagers who have faced daily tests in deciding between right and wrong, and neither has withered from making the right decision.

“We just don’t follow the bad influences,” Finney said. “There’s always opportunities, but it doesn’t apply to us.”

Finney has reached 21 feet 10 inches in the long jump and a school-record 45-11 in the triple jump. Nelson finished fifth at the Arcadia Invitational with a long jump of 23-3 and is a 44-10 triple-jumper. Finney is also a 6-6 high jumper and Nelson runs the 100 meters.

Through athletics, they’ve learned how to respond to pressure situations, how to deal with winning and losing, and how competition can bring out their best efforts.

But it’s their interests away from athletics that provide a clear understanding that they’ve found a path to adulthood.

“They’re very focused on going to college to get their education,” Coach Kyle Irvine said.

Nelson has taught himself to sing and play the piano and saxophone. He listens to classical music as often as hip-hop. He has never visited a church that didn’t leave him animated and intrigued. He writes poetry that stirs emotions.

His first poem came in the fifth grade at the request of a teacher. It was perfect timing because he had just broken up with a girlfriend and named the poem, “You Broke My Heart.”

He writes about girls, music, anything and everything. After watching the Discovery Channel, he was motivated to compose a verse titled, “Still Waters.”

It was the day the clouds went away,

And the sun was pale and in light.

The trees fell down like the buildings disappeared,

The water rose and the color wandered away.

The breath of life went elsewhere,

While animals stopped living and mountains stopped rising.

The sound captured amnesia forgotten like the wind,

And all that remained was the calm still waters and time.

No teacher ordered Nelson to write a poem -- he just did it.

“I was thinking of the end of the world and it popped in my head,” he said.

Drawing, not poetry, is Finney’s interest away from sports.

“Anything artistic, I enjoy,” he said. “The only thing I can’t get down is painting.”

He sketches for the school’s black culture club and is involved in his church.

He has confidence in himself and knows what is required to have success as a teenager.

“In my eyes, I see those people who get into trouble as followers instead of leaders,” he said. “I’m a leader in whatever I do.”

Not that Finney is perfect. He made a terrible misjudgment last year that left him ineligible to compete in the Southern Section track championships. He picked up two U’s for being tardy to class.

“What hurt the most was facing my Dad and telling him I messed up,” he said.

Finney learned his lesson.

“Be responsible, be on time,” he said.

Nelson’s mother, Rochelle, is grateful her son is using his brains and brawn to better himself.

“There’s no telling what he’ll do day by day,” she said. “He’s always trying something different.”

For whatever reason, Nelson and Finney have chosen the right road, and it’s going to make all the difference.

“We’ve set too many high goals to fail,” Finney said.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.