16 Is Sweet for Parker in Mt. SAC Pole Vault

Tom Parker conjectured it was only a matter of time. The Notre Dame High junior, who had pole vaulted a personal best of 15-9 at the Arcadia Invitational two weeks ago, finally broke the 16-foot barrier at Saturday’s Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut.

Parker cleared 16-0 on his second attempt, placing second behind Brent Burns of Acalanes High in Lafayette. Burns, the national high school leader at 17-4 1/2, jumped 16-6.

Parker also had a narrow miss in his first try at 16-6 but didn’t come close in his other attempts.

“It’s nice to finally get over 16 feet,” Parker said. “I figured it was just a matter of time because I’d had a lot of close misses at 16 feet.”

The effort was just another step up the pole vault ladder for Parker, who began the season with a personal best of 14-6. Consistency has been his trademark in an event known for its inconsistency.

Consistency also has been a characteristic of Taft’s Quincy Watts, Alemany’s Dave Swanson and Agoura’s Jenny Whelchel, who all won events Saturday.

Watts won the 100 meters in 10.52, Swanson won the high jump with a 6-10 effort and Whelchel won the girls shotput with a 42-2 mark.

Watts also anchored Taft’s 400-meter relay team to a season-best effort (41.37). Taft finished third behind Hawthorne (41.04) and Muir (41.19).

After that, though, Watts called it a day, withdrawing from the 200 meters and the 1,600-meter relay with a strained back. Taft Coach Tom Stevenson said Watts has been troubled by the back for the past two weeks and will see a chiropractor Monday.

The top relay performance was turned in by the Thousand Oaks boys 4 x 800-meter relay team, which set a meet record of 7:45.78, the second-fastest high school time in the nation this year.

The Lancers’ victory didn’t come easily, however, as Doug Fairman had to run a 1:53.7 anchor leg to outkick Rio Mesa’s Travis Cooksey in the last 150 meters. Cooksey ran a 1:54.2 anchor leg for the Spartans (7:46.08), who ran the third-fastest high school time in the nation.

McCullough High of The Woodlands, Texas, has the nation’s best time--7:45.0.

Thousand Oaks also won the the girls shuttle hurdles relay. Sharon Manship, Kirstan Dally, Robin Bellamy and Staci Leach teamed for a time of 1:02.45.

Other noteworthy performances were turned in by Dave Bultman of Royal, who placed second in the discus (192-1) and fourth in the shotput (59-2) and Sven Haug of Birmingham, who placed third in the 800 meters (1:55.8).

Crespi’s Russell White placed second in the 200 meters (22.41) and third in the triple jump (47-6).