Track and field: Day set PR in high jump

Steve Virgen

ARCADIA - A soccer game in the State Cup, one goal scored and a

personal-best 5-foot-10 in the high jump resulted in a long day for Costa

Mesa High junior Sharon Day.

Day, who played for the Irvine Lasers in San Bernardino, rushed to

Arcadia High, where she tied the sixth-best mark in the nation in the

high jump to finish third Saturday at the Arcadia Invitational.

“I was really nervous, because I knew I had to play my hardest in the

soccer game and I wasn’t sure what I had left,” said Day, who seemed to

run out of gas about one hour later in the 400-meter race, in which she

finished seventh (59:07). “But I came here and felt fine.”

Kaylene Wagner of Dos Pueblos cleared her personal-best 6-foot to win

the high jump and tie the best mark in the nation. In the process,

Wagner, who said she was shocked to clear 6-0, defeated J.W. North’s

defending national champion Chaunte Howard, who finished second at 5-10.

Day had more scratches than Howard, thus resulting in her third-place

finish.

On Day’s second attempt at 5-8, she appeared to have cleared the bar

by more than three inches. Her jump coach and father, Eugene, said a

minor correction resulted in her best jump of the day.

“She needed more speed on the clear,” Eugene Day said. “That second

jump at 5-8 was a 6-foot jump. And when she actually came up to 6-0

attempt, she nearly cleared the bar, but she dragged a leg and it caught

the bar.”

Sharon Day, who scored the goal in the Lasers’ 2-1 loss in the State

Cup Saturday, said she was happy about her jump.

“I felt good and comfortable jumping,” said Day, who cleared 5-10 on

her first attempt, before her 400 heat. “(The bar at 5-10) didn’t seem as

high or scary. It felt really smooth and easy and I felt I was getting

high.”

Day’s teammate, sophomore Christine Bjelland, turned in a steady

performance in the Open portion of the meet. Bjelland finished third in

her heat in the 1,600 (5:12) and fourth in her heat in the 3,200

(11:14.08), both personal bests.