NORTHRIDGE “”mdash; Brandishing a gimpy ankle and a wounded
psyche, Sheena Gordon carried the weight of an exasperating season
on her shoulders as she arrived at the Matador Track Complex on
Saturday morning.
The month of May had been especially difficult for the UCLA
sophomore. Having spent most of it camped in the training room,
Gordon was understandably short on confidence.
In fact, she wasn’t even sure she could compete.
But by the end of Saturday’s high jump competition,
Gordon’s doubts had evaporated. She stunned everyone,
clearing a personal best 6 feet, 2 inches to capture first place at
the NCAA West Regionals.
“Considering I haven’t competed in a month or
practiced in weeks, it’s pretty phenomenal,” Gordon
said.
To say the least.
Gordon, one of the nation’s better young high jumpers, has
not had much of a chance to prove herself in the latter stages of
the season. The coaching staff did not send her to the Pac-10
Championships for undisclosed reasons, and then she sprained her
right ankle doing box drills two days later.
“It seems like it’s always something with
Sheena,” UCLA jumps coach Robert Johnson said.
Gordon, who had barely even jogged since sustaining the injury,
had no delusions of grandeur prior to the competition. A likely
candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, she knew
she just had to give an honest effort, instead of focusing on a
top-five finish.
But with each passing round, the condition of Gordon’s
ankle improved. By the time she cleared 6 feet for the third time
this season, Gordon had regained her focus and allowed her
adrenaline to take over.
On her second attempt at 6 feet, 2 inches, she sailed over the
bar, bouncing to her feet and greeting the crowd with a wide smile
and a clap.
“It was extremely exciting,” Gordon said. “It
was a very up-and-down season for me, but I’ve tried to stay
positive. I’ve missed out on a lot of training, but
apparently it’s not affecting me much.”
Evidently not.
Gordon made three good attempts at 6 feet, 3 inches, narrowly
missing a clearance on her third attempt. Nonetheless, she had
fewer misses than Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Kaylene Wagner
and Sharon Day, allowing Gordon to stake her claim to the West
Regional title.
“The more heights she hit, the better the ankle started
feeling,” Johnson said. “She could have been a little
better technically. I’m sure she was favoring it. But other
than that, great job.”
Gordon is tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation this year,
just one inch off the Olympic “A” standard. She will
compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July, but not before she
tries for first place in the National Championships.
Having already defeated two of her top rivals, Day and Wagner,
Gordon is going to Texas on an upswing. She has endured multiple
injuries and now appears poised to stake her claim to the national
title.
“I know I want to win, so that’s what I’m
shooting for,” Gordon said. “I was close at 6-3. It
might take more than that. It might take less than that. I’m
just going for a win, whatever mark it takes.”