Carlson and Pinto Hope to Repeat Victory Dance at State Meet : Track: Katella High School high jumper and distance runner have set sights on more difficult goals this season.

ANAHEIM —  On a balmy evening last June, Kevin Carlson and Martha Pinto, teammates at Katella High School, danced in gleeful celebration as more than 10,000 track and field fans watched at Cerritos College.

Distance, height and time brought the pair together, an odd couple if ever there was one. Carlson, 6-feet-4, had just cleared 7 feet in the high jump, breaking a seven-year-old Orange County record. Pinto, 4-10 if that, had just recorded the fifth-fastest 3,200-meter time by a county girl, covering the distance in 10 minutes 42.51 seconds.

Carlson won a CIF State championship, jumping a height he thought was impossible to clear. Pinto was second and said she felt so good she could have run another lap.

They accomplished this all within moments of each other, then danced and hugged for all to see.

Neither can forget. They smile when their performances are mentioned and they laugh about their dance.

Since then, Carlson and Pinto have re-discovered hard training, set their sights on more difficult goals and generally settled into their senior years at Katella.

Jumping 7 feet hasn’t changed him, Carlson said. But maybe he’s forgotten what was going through his mind last year at this time. A year ago, Carlson told himself: “Seven feet--that’s impossible, absolutely impossible.”

Now, 7 feet doesn’t seem outlandish.

He did it again Thursday in a dual meet against Los Alamitos, winning a Walkman from his father in a bet. He tried three times at 7-2 Thursday, but missed each attempt.

“I’d say I have a little bit more work to get there,” he said. “I guess they were half-way decent attempts (though).”

In her words, Pinto has been “practicing harder to get ready.”

Pointing for the State meet in June, Pinto hasn’t met the county’s top competition and isn’t likely to do so until the Orange County girls’ championships April 20 at Rancho Santiago College.

For now, she trains about 40 miles a week, runs the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in dual meets each Thursday and waits for the important championship meets later this season.

Often there’s not much competition, so Pinto runs with teammates, helping them to faster times. So far, she hasn’t come close to her bests of 2:22 for 800, 5:10 for 1,600 or 10:42.51 for 3,200.

“It’s not so exciting,” she said. “Actually, I enjoy a hard workout. I feel good. I can say, ‘Oh, I did this today.’ When I’m just going slow it’s like I’m not really training.”

Since last year’s State meet, Pinto’s best running has come in road races. A week after her 10:42.51 in the 3,200, she ran a 5-kilometer road race in 16:57.

“I surprised myself,” she said.

They seem content with their early season performances, but Carlson and Pinto agree there is still much to be accomplished.

Carlson has a goal in mind this season. He’s not saying what it is, but here’s a hint at what he might be able to do.

As an eighth-grader Carlson jumped 5-4. He was up to 5-10 as a freshman, then 6-5 1/2 as a sophomore and last year he cleared 7 feet.

“I figured out I’ve improved (about) seven inches each year, so if I improve seven inches . . . “ he stopped to laugh.

“Which is a little outrageous.”

But he said that early this week, before he jumped 7 feet again.

“I’d say (high jumping) is 50% mental and 50% physical,” he said. “You’d think a quarter inch isn’t that big of a deal. In a sport like this it’s a big difference. Some of it has to be mental.”

Pinto is succinct when it comes to goals: she wants to win the State meet 3,200.

The county record of 10:29.03, set by Teresa Barrios of University in 1982, wouldn’t seem to be out of reach for Pinto.

She plans to stop running the 800 and 1,600 after the Empire League championship meet in May to concentrate on the metric two-mile.

“I hope I stay healthy and nothing happens so I can run well,” Pinto said.

At the State meet Carlson and Pinto will likely meet two familiar rivals.

Last year, Carlson and Avery Anderson of Riverside North each cleared 7 feet, but Carlson won by virtue of missing fewer attempts. Pinto was beaten by Deena Drossin of Agoura, who ran 10:29.60.

All four are seniors this year.

In some ways, last year’s State meet seems closer than the one upcoming. The memories of the 1990 meet are still vivid.

“You have good days and you have bad days,” Carlson said. “I felt good that day.”

Said Pinto: “I could have run more. I guess sometimes if you want to run well, don’t think about it. Just run.”

Carlson cleared 6-10 easily, then passed at 6-11. The field dwindled with only Carlson and Anderson still alive.

They both missed 7 feet on their first attempt. As Carlson walked from the pit, he spotted Pinto, who had shadowed Drossin until the last few laps, sprinting in the homestretch.

She was alone in second place and he ran to cheer for her.

When she finished they talked for a moment as Anderson missed again.

Carlson then left Pinto to jump. He concentrated a moment, then ran and jumped.

Carlson cleared the height cleanly, then ran to Pinto and they celebrated.

It’s a scene they would like to repeat in June.