Perfect Day for Mustang high jumper

Rick Devereux

Jasmin Day has some big shoes to fill, but her performance Saturday

in the CIF Southern Section Division III finals at Cerritos College

went a long way in accomplishing such a task.

Day, a high jumper from Costa Mesa High, has an older sister,

Sharon, who holds the Southern Section record in the high jump with a

leap of 6-2 and competed at the Home Depot Center invitational at the

same time Jasmin was competing at the CIF finals.

The younger Day said her older sister told her to make her proud,

so the lil’ sis went out and jumped 5-8 to capture not only the gold

medal in Division III but also the top qualifying spot for the CIF

Masters Meet on Friday. The top-nine finishers, regardless of

division, qualified for the Masters at Cerritos College. The next

step is the CIF State championships in Sacramento June 4-5.

Winning the CIF title was something of a shock considering Day

injured her right knee playing soccer two weeks ago.

“It felt like a rubber band that’s been put in the freezer,” Day

said. “My knee used to be tight, but it’s warmed up and felt fine

today.”

The meet didn’t exactly start off great for Day, who might have

felt the pressure from competing in her first CIF finals.

“When I missed my first attempt of the day at 5-0, I was feeling a

little nervous,” Day said.

Day’s dad Eugene is also her coach and said she felt confident as

soon as she woke up.

“She got up feeling good,” Eugene said. “She told my wife, who is

5-8, that she was going to jump over her today.”

Day cleared 5-6 on her first attempt, setting a personal best, but

her third attempt at 5-8 re-set the mark. Day also tried 5-9 1/2

three times, but couldn’t clear the bar cleanly.

Costa Mesa has now had a CIF girls high jump champion five years

in a row, four coming from Sharon.

“I told her it keep up the tradition,” Eugene said.

Costa Mesa head coach Glenn Mitchell was pleased with Day’s

performance.

“It’s not a complete shock that she jumped that high because she

is so gifted,” he said. “But I was pleasantly surprised.”

As to living up to her big sister’s standards, the sophomore knows

she has some time to hone her skills.

“I talked to her on the phone right after I jumped and told her

that I’m coming up,” Day said. “I’m going to try to get even with

her, but I don’t know if I can pass her.”