TRACK & FIELD / JOHN ORTEGA : Fischer Concludes Season in Rarefied Air

No offense to Jeff Nadeau of Monroe High, but Jeremy Fischer of Camarillo capped the most impressive season by an area high-jumper since 1979 by placing third Sunday in the USA Track & Field junior (age 14-19) championships.

Fischer, the runner-up to Nadeau in the state championships June 19, cleared 7 feet 1 1/2 inches to finish behind Dillon Phelps (7-2 1/4) and Billy Green (7-1 1/2) at Spokane Falls (Wash.) College.

Dillon recently completed his freshman season at the University of Georgia and Green just finished his junior season at Ruston (La.) High. Although Fischer and Green each cleared 7-1 1/2, Green placed second because he made the height on his first attempt; Fischer cleared it on his second.

That distinction was a big one because the top two finishers in each event at the junior meet qualified for the U.S. team that will compete in the Pan American Junior track championships July 15-17 in Winnipeg, Canada.

“I would like to have made the Pan American team, but it was a great experience,” Fischer said. “I realize now that this was the biggest meet of my entire career and I competed well in it.”

Oddly, Fischer said his biggest thrill was undergoing his first drug test.

“I know that sounds weird to most people,” he said, laughing. “But to me it means that I’m moving up in the ranks.”

Fischer’s 7-1 1/2 clearance was only a half-inch shy of his personal best and it marked the ninth meet this season in which he has cleared 7-0 or higher. Nadeau cleared 7-0 or higher in three meets this year.

Lee Balkin of Glendale High, who set a region record of 7-3 1/4 to win the 1979 state meet, jumped 7-2 or higher in five meets that season.

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One-track mind: Fischer enjoys basketball, but his days of playing for the Scorpion varsity appear over since he is “95 per cent sure” he will concentrate on only track during his senior season.

“I realize that I’m never going to play basketball at a Division I school,” Fischer said. “And if I have to make a decision between Division I track or Division III basketball, I’m definitely going to take Division I track.”

With basketball no longer in the picture, the 5-foot-9, 145-pound Fischer plans to spend much of the fall and winter months lifting weights, the first time he will have done so. Fischer figures improved strength in his arms, and especially his legs, will lead to higher elevations in the high jump and improved distances in the long jump, an event in which he has a personal best of 22-1. “I’d like to jump 7-4 and 23-6 next year,” Fischer said. “I think that would make me a pretty attractive recruit at the Division I level.”

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Strong finish: Gabriela Rodriguez of Oxnard High concluded an impressive junior track season with a third-place finish in the women’s 10,000 meters in the USATF junior championships Saturday.

Although Rodriguez’s time of 39 minutes 35.09 seconds was substantially slower than she hoped to run--due in part to 85-degree temperatures and strong winds--the race gave her valuable experience.

“I learned that I have to be a lot stronger to run that race in the future,” Rodriguez said. “I felt good for the first half, but I really felt tired in the second half.”

Rodriguez’s splits attest to that. She timed 18:14 for the first 5,000 and 21:21 for the second.

“She didn’t look bad in the race,” Oxnard Coach Derek Turner said. “It wasn’t like she ever fell apart and completely blew up, but she just got progressively slower.”

Rodriguez, who placed third in the girls’ 3,200 in the state championships, was aware her pace was slowing, but she couldn’t do anything to prevent it.

“Mentally, I wanted to go faster,” she said. “But my legs just wouldn’t move any quicker.”

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Emerging from the shadows: After finishing 12th in the state Division I cross-country championships and timing 11:05.52 in the 3,200 as a freshman, Rodriguez improved little until this track season. The key, she said, was being patient and not letting the expectations of others put undue pressure on her.

“I took everything one step at a time this season,” Rodriguez said. “My coach told me not to try and run my best times every race, which I had had a tendency to do since my freshman year. He told me to be patient and the good times would come at the end of the season.”

They did. Rodriguez lowered her season best to 11:08.13 in the 3,200 to win her first Ventura County title April 30, then ran consecutive personal bests of 11:01.18 to place second in the Southern Section Division II championships May 22 and 10:52.34 to finish fourth in the Masters Meet six days later.

“That was the highlight of my season,” Rodriguez said of the Masters Meet. “I felt good when I finally broke 11:00.”