WALNUT - Jeanette DeWitt soared as others wilted in the searing heat Saturday.

Well, her discus throws soared, anyway. The Nipomo High School senior improved her mark with every discus toss at Mt. San Antonio College.

She won the Division III competition at the CIF Southern Section Division Finals and improved her personal best by a whopping 10 feet, 6 inches.

DeWitt's first toss was 145 feet-plus. Then her height and carry on her throws kept getting better, and so did her marks. Her second throw was 150-7. Her third was 152-7. The grand finale was 157-10.

She is the leading girls discus qualifier for the CIF SS Masters Meet that takes place next Friday night at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Thus, her nice swan song to her discus career continues. Throwers with the 12 best marks, regardless of division, qualified for the Masters Meet.

DeWitt signed a letter of intent earlier in the month to play basketball for NCAA Division II Sonoma State. Sonoma State has no track team. “I'll miss this sport, but I really want to play basketball,” she said. “It's a done deal.”

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Meanwhile, “I was worried last week, really,” going into the meet. “The last two days though, I'd been throwing well. I felt good going in. All of the throws felt good. I was getting good height and finishing well on all of them.

“I'm capable of throwing better, I know that. I'm really looking forward to next week.”

The St. Joseph boys showed by far the best of any area group. The Knights, helped by two third-places from sophomore John Sua (shot put, 51-7 1/4 and discus, 158-2, both personal bests), and a second from senior Sam Schur (15.59 in the 110 meter high hurdles) finished second in Division IV with 47 1/2 points. Gardena's Serra won with 71.

Early on, Schur said, “I think we're scoring better than what was expected of us.” St. Joseph kept racking up points afterward.

DeWitt was the Division III discus favorite. Teammate Erica Castello was an upset winner. Castello, badly boxed in most of the race, worked her way free. The third seed passed a runner down the stretch and won her girls' 800 race in 2:16.47. She is the first alternate for the Masters Meet.

Not bad for a senior who has run the race all of six times.

“The 800 is a very difficult race to run. I had been running shorter distances, but I think my body is built better for the 800,” Castello said. “I play soccer, so I think when there's contact, like there was in that race, I can come out of it all right. And with my sprinter's speed, I think that gives me an edge in a close race down the stretch.”

Area Masters Meet qualifiers included DeWitt, Diamonne Mitchell of Cabrillo (girls long jump), Brooke Shepard of Arroyo Grande and Kenny Sugishita of Arroyo Grande, along with Nipomo's Korben Boaz (boys shot put). Boaz also advanced in the boys discus.

At press time, Lompoc senior Masson Blow was on the bubble to move on in the boys triple jump. He finished third at 46-6, his personal best by 13 inches, in Division III.

Cabrillo triple jumper Kendall Reynolds seemed in good shape to advance in Division III. She shattered her personal best, and broke the school record, with a 39-2. That was good for second place in Division III.

Santa Ynez's boys 1,600 relay foursome of Kevin Crowell, Evan Reed, Eric Herrera and Jeff Rosecrance was thrilled with the 3:24.62 they turned that broke the school record and earned a second-place finish in the Division IV race. At least they THOUGHT it earned them second place.. Turned out, it earned them first. Would-be winner Playa del Rey St. Bernard was disqualified.

Thus, Rosecrance's effort to hold off Serrra's hard-charging anchor runner earned the Pirates foursome first place.

Rosecrance said, “I knew he was coming, because I could hear the crowd yelling. I just gave it everything I had then for my team. My teammates gave me the lead, though,” at least a good margin ahead of the Serra runner. Rosecrance spoke before St. Bernard, which was ahead as the anchor leg started, was disqualified.

Sua's good day including whopping improvements - about three feet in the shot put and nine feet in the discus.

He said, “I was quicker across the ring time. I was able to get my legs under me, and the discus didn't slip out of my hands.”

Discus top seeds Boaz and Aly Squires of Santa Ynez settled for second places. Squires threw 114-5 in the girls Division IV competition..

“My PR is 118-3,” the sophomore said. “I felt OK. It could have been better.

“It's so hot out here - that drained me some. I feel good about second,” she added

C.J. DeCommarmond, Righetti's lone representative, medaled with a sixth place in the boys Division II 110 high hurdles. For a complete list of area results, please see Monday's Scorecard page.

May 18, 2008