A new high for Day at 6-2

Bryce Alderton

Eugene Day has never seen his daughter Sharon as excited as she was

following Saturday. But she had all the reason to be with the

performance of her life in the high jump at the 12th annual Trabuco

Hills Invitational at Trabuco Hills High that brings together

athletes from all over Southern California.

Sharon, a Costa Mesa High senior, set an Orange County record when

she cleared 6-feet-2 inches on her second of three jumps.

The bar jiggled ever so slightly, but did not fall, and the crowd

in the stands along with the one that had gathered around the tartan

applauded her effort.

But Day wasn’t done. She had the bar lifted further to 6-4 1/4

inches, but couldn’t muster up enough energy to eclipse that mark.

Regardless, Day exuded her trademark innocent smile and, as if she

was walking on clouds, jaunted over to where her sister, Jasmin, and

a few of her Costa Mesa classmates had gathered, issuing high-fives

along the way.

“My girl has hops,” said an elated Eugene Day, who trains his two

daughters in the high jump. Jasmin set a personal-best Saturday with

a 5-4 to finish third overall.

“She has been working toward something like this for more than a

year now and this goes to show what happens when you do the work,

then you get the reward.”

Day’s previous best was 5-11, done to win at last season’s State

Finals at Cerritos College.

She started at 5-6 Saturday, and hit the bar with her hand as she

descended to the canvas, but still managed to clear. She cleared 5-8,

passed on 5-10 and then leaped above the six-foot line on the first

try with about two inches to spare.

A spectator told Day as he was walking by the tartan after she

cleared 5-8, “That was too pretty, you don’t even need to go 5-10,

just move up to six feet.”

Day obliged, and then some.

“It felt kind of easy today,” Day said. “I felt good at the start

and believed I could go higher. I just had to save my energy for the

higher heights. I kept my speed and form over the bar and just tried

to get as high as I could.”

Mesa Coach Glenn Mitchell decided to let Day rest from the high

jump and several other events in a dual meet Thursday to prepare for

Saturday’s invitational. Day still won the 800 meters Thursday and

maintained her victorious ride through Saturday’s invitational, where

she was named the girls field athlete of the meet.

“We just wanted her to have a good jump [today] with good

competition and it worked out,” said Mitchell, the meet’s announcer.

“She keyed up for it and stayed focused.”

Mitchell said Day’s clearing of 6-2 put her in ninth place on the

all-time prep list.

“It feels good,” said Day, who will compete in track and field and

soccer at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next season.

“It’s a great accomplishment to have. Now I have to keep it up.”

In workmanlike fashion, Day changed shoes immediately after her

historic jump to get ready for the 200, which she took second in at

26.40.

She also anchored Mesa’s 1,600 relay team with Stacy Krikorian,

Toshia Bryant and Rhondi Naff which finished third.

After the meet, Day commuted back to Costa Mesa High for Saturday

night’s Sadie Hawkins Dance, Eugene said.

“We’ll celebrate some other time,” he said.

The celebration has already begun, and a special athlete is in our

midst.

“She’s the story,” said Mesa’s Ziad Pepic, a member of the

basketball and track teams.