Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Sharon Day

Steve Virgen

In the depths of Sharon Day’s mind is a place not too many athletes

find. Before the Costa Mesa High junior track and field star takes one of

her graceful, gliding jumps or before she pumps her legs with long

strides in the 400-meter race, Day envisions winning. But it’s not a

matter of imagining or dreaming. It’s a matter of expectation.

And, then when it comes to competing in the 400 and 1,600 relays,

helping her team to victory becomes her most important goal. It is of

little wonder the 1,600 relay is her favorite event. This may sound

sappy, but Day is a team player, even in track and field.

“With the relays, that’s the part I look forward to the most, helping

my teammates and cheering them on,” said Day, who has been known to come

from behind 25-50 yards to win as the anchor in the 1,600 relay. “If they’re 200 yards ahead, I know I won’t catch them. If they are 100 yards

ahead, I’m thinking I can still catch them. And, I want to do whatever I

can to catch them. I’m thinking the whole time that I can catch them. I’m

viewing it in my head as I’m running.”

Day viewed victory in the Trabuco Hills Invitational Saturday, and in

typical Day-fashion, her heroics came with drama. Six days before her

electric performance at Trabuco Hills, Day strained her Achilles’ tendon

in a club soccer game. She did not train during the week, or compete in a

Pacific Coast League meet at Northwood Thursday.

However, when Saturday came, Day was ready.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Day said of her injury. “It didn’t hurt that

much. I just couldn’t sprint on it (March 30). I wanted to compete and

see how I would be after my first race.”

Day suffered no effects of the injury Saturday, completing a

personal-best time to win the 400 (57.94). She also won the high jump,

equaling her personal-best 5-foot-9 and earning Daily Pilot Athlete of

the Week laurels.

Her personal-best in the 400 came at an opportune time. She came out

of the blocks in lane 9, which is a difficult spot to win from. Day also

conquered a challenge over the last 50 yards to win the race.

“I told her before the race, ‘You’re in lane 9, the hardest lane, it’s

going to be hard to come back. You really have to go,’ ” Costa Mesa Coach

George Greenwalt said. “She gets out there and doesn’t get a good start,

but she ran so well and some other girl came at her and ran neck-and-neck

with her. But (Day) just turned it on. I was so happy when I saw her

time.”

In addition, Day, affectionately known as “Shay” by her teammates,

nearly cleared 5-11 in the high jump, but her leg hit the pole. This

time, Day’s visualization was enough for the victory, but not reflective

of what she expects to take place before season’s end.

“This year, my goal is 6-0,” Day said. “I’ve tried 5-10 and 5-11 and I

come really close.”

Does she have any chance at reaching that goal?

“She has always had a good shot at it (6-0),” said Day’s father and

high jump coach, Eugene. “But she didn’t work hard at it. She basically

cleared 6-0 last year but her ankle hit the pole. She kind of slacked off

in practice. She didn’t put in the time to correct that. She would have

had 6-0 last year. This year, she’s right there, right on track. Looking

at what she did at Trabuco, she did that (5-9) with four inches to spare.

Her very last jump at 5-11 she almost cleared, but again the leg hit the

pole. This is early in the season, so we have some time. It’s just a

matter of getting the timing and dedicating herself to jumping.”