Jackie Anderson Is Jumping for Joy : Energetic Mesa College Freshman Is Bouncing Toward a Bright Future

Her lengthy stride holds your attention. And so do her jumps, whether they be triple, long or high. But something else about Jackie Anderson tells the uninitiated that she is special.

Energy.

Beaming, fidgeting, smiling, infectious energy.

“Does she always have energy?” asked a friend and teammate, Nichelle Strachan, her eyes widening. “You should see her after she eats.”

Said Jackie, a freshman on Mesa College’s track team: “I’m hyper. That’s just me. I was always hyper as a kid, always doing something. Stuff like (track) excites me.”

Her coach, Arnie Robinson--an Olympic champion in the long jump who attended Morse High, Mesa and San Diego State--tested Anderson’s resources at Saturday’s Pacific Coast Conference Championship at Balboa Stadium.

Anderson competed in six events, won three and qualified in all six for the state community college championships at Bakersfield College May 19. In her best event, the triple jump, Anderson won in 38-feet 3 3/4-inches.

She also won the high jump (5-0 in a casual effort; she jumped 5-8 as a senior in high school) and 100 meters (12.74 seconds), finished second in the 200 meters and third in the long jump and ran on the winning 400-meter relay team.

About three weeks ago, she triple-jumped 42-4--a national best for community college athletes and 39 inches off the NCAA mark. Yet much longer triple jumps will occur, Robinson and Anderson say, because Jackie’s chronically sore right arch should be corrected when a $300 plastic support arrives this month.

Anderson, who is flat-footed, could not afford the device while in high school but raised the money this year by working in concessions for Mesa.

She injured the foot as a junior at Mt. Miguel High and reinjured it as a senior. Consequently, Saturday’s meet represented just her fourth competition triple jump of the year. Her workouts consist mainly of sprinting, stair-climbing and hill-running.

“There’s no rush,” Robinson said. “She’s faster, stronger. She’s going to be a world-class talent; it’s just a matter of time. I think she’ll make the 1992 Olympic trials (in some event). She’s talented. Talent comes out, sooner or later.”

Robinson grew up within two blocks of Anderson in Southeast San Diego. Anderson, too, is giving back to the community--even though it was the community that caused her to leave for three years.

After she graduated from War Memorial Junior High, she moved to Spring Valley to live with her father, Robert Anderson, at the behest of her mother, Jean Baldwin. Her senior year, she moved back to her mother’s house and obtained permission from the city to remain at Mt. Miguel.

Now Jackie works as a volunteer at Memorial Recreation Center in Southeast San Diego, teaching arts and crafts to youngsters.

“There’s kids out in front of the rec center dealing drugs; we try to give them something else,” she said. “After I moved back to see my old friends, maybe one or two moved up, a lot went down. They’re selling drugs, doing everything wrong, nothing right.

“That’s the main reason I moved; I wasn’t able to cope with drugs and killing. If I had stayed here with that, I might have . . .”

Said Robinson of Anderson, who is just 18 and 6-feet tall: “I’m happy with her. Jackie remembers where her roots are, and she carries herself very well.

“She’s done everything we’ve asked of her. She’s our only female athlete who’s done every workout since September.”