Though the journey wasn’t always smooth last season, Canyon senior high jumper Cody Crampton never lost his confidence and continued to believe his training and preparation would pay off when it mattered most.
Climbing to the top step of the awards podium at the CIF State Track and Field Championships was the definitive affirmation that Crampton’s belief was well-founded.
“I didn’t hit the marks early on, but I knew it was coming because of the pace that my coach had me on,” Crampton said. “I went to CIF with confidence and everything started to fall together.”
After finishing second at the CIF-SS Division 2 finals, Crampton struggled at the CIF-SS Masters Meet, placing sixth. But he responded to the pressure of the state’ biggest stage by clearing a lifetime best 6-11 at the state meet and enters the 2012 season tied for ninth on the county’s all-time high jump list.
“My main points that I’m focusing on this year is making sure that I’m doing everything fundamentally correct, hitting the heights, and holding myself up a little longer to get more height,” Crampton said.
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Crampton, who signed a national letter of intent to jump at UCLA last month, appears to be picking up where he left off last June. He defended his high jump title at the California State Indoor Championships in January. Three weeks later, he cleared 6-10 at an all-comers meet at Cerritos College. He also cleared 6-10 in a season-opening victory at the Mt. Carmel Invitational in San Diego.
“If everything falls along the way it has the past three years, this year should be just as good as last year, if not better,” he said. “My goal is to clear 7-2 and that is something that I really want to accomplish.”
Newport’s Cochran aims to continue success
Newport Harbor senior Ethan Cochran looks to continuing to build his resume as one of the nation’s top discus throwers as the 2012 season gets underway.
Cochran enjoyed a breakout 2011 season, winning discus titles at the Eagle Invitational, the Triton Invitational and the Stanford Invitational before closing the year by winning the CIF-SS Division 2 and CIF state titles.
But perhaps Cochran’s best accomplishment came after the CIF competition. Three weeks after winning the state title, he won the U.S. championship at the World Youth Trials in South Carolina and earned the opportunity to compete on team USA in World Youth Championships in Lille, France.
He finished second overall in the event, throwing a personal-best 201 feet, four inches.
“Getting a chance to go to France, represent the United States, and show my stuff was the best part of the season for me,” Cochran said.
The Cal-bound senior is planning to go after two records held by former county standouts. Newport Harbor’s school record is held by Bo Taylor, who threw 213-7 in 2006. The county and state record is held by Huntington Beach’s Scott Moser, who threw 213-11 in 1997.
Cochran opened the season with a winning throw of 200-10 at the season-opening Eagle Invitational. He and highly renowned throws coach Tony Ciarelli have discussed what needs to be done in order to consistently put himself in position to reach some of the county’s top all-time distances.
“For me to take the next step, I just have to continue to focusing on some of the smaller things like getting more stretch,” he said.
Track and Field Reporting Standards
Coaches, athletic directors, and statisticians are encouraged to visit the boys and girls track and field pages on OC Varsity.com to check out the 2012 standards for reporting track and field dual meet results.
Results are highly encouraged to be submitted to jeichelberger@ocregister.com and preps@ocregister.com by 9:30 p.m. on the day of the meet
