THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605250739
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: 40 lines
Jessie Grant didn't know what to expect at the Eastern Region track meet at Todd Stadium Friday.
After hurting his left foot in practice last week, the Indian River junior didn't even feel like competing.
``I was in a lot of pain last night,'' Grant said. ``I was just hoping to come here and get the meet over with. I thought I would take it easy and get ready for the (Group AAA) state meet.''
Boy, was he wrong.
Grant shattered the meet record with a leap of 24 feet, 9 inches, ranking in the top 10 in the nation this year.
Granby's Anthony King took second at 23-4 1/2.
The previous mark of 24-6 was set by Kempsville's Larry Moore in 1987.
``I really didn't think I was going to do as good as I did,'' said Grant, of this year's longest jump in the state.
``I thought I was going to go out there and jump in the 23s. But my long jump coach (Robert Freeman) told me not to worry about my foot. He said I already qualified for states so there was no pressure.''
While Grant's 10 points has Indian River tied for fifth place with Western Branch going into Today's boys competition, Cox lead the pack with 24.
Granby is second with 18, followed by Great Bridge (17) and Deep Creek (14).
The Falcons' Craig Reed won the shot put (52-3). Teammates Jason Gustafson (13-6) and Jamie Marsh (13-6) took second and third in the pole vault. King took the boys high jump (6-10).
In the girls competition, Great Bridge (26 1/2) has the lead. Tabb (13 1/2) is second. And Granby is third (13).
The Wildcats got first places from Kalisha Brown and Chandra Lewis. Lewis recorded the upset of the day in the discus, defeating Norcom's Missy Banks with a toss of 125-11. Banks, ranked second in the state, finished second at 123-3.
Brown won the high jump (5-2) and teammate Jill Ferguson finished fourth (5-0). by CNB