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Photo by John Wagner

Charles King was surprised by his first-place finish in the boys triple jump Friday afternoon in the all-schools track and field meet at Lathrop High School.

King’s astonishment at his 38-foot, 1 3/4-inch effort was warranted.

The Eielson sophomore had not competed in the event since he was in the seventh grade. He didn’t intend to compete in track and field this spring, planning instead to hone his basketball skills in a spring league and lift weights to help prepare for the football season.

“I just got pressure from coaches and teachers,” said King, who’s also a guard for the Eielson boys basketball team and a wide receiver for the Ravens football squad. “They were saying I would do good and it would open another field (sport) for me.

“They were joking with me, too, when they said to stop being lazy and come out and do track.”

His technique was no joke. He reached 37-11 on his first attempt of the season and achieved the winning distance with his only attempt in the final round.

“He’s got good form and everything, and he’s better than what I’ve seen in a long time,” said Jim Cavanaugh, who coaches Eielson’s jumpers. “He has speed, for one thing, and he’s just got strong legs to the do the hop (in the approach).”

It was also the first triple jump competition in the Interior this season, but it unfortunately came in the last regular-season meet, one week before the Region VI Championships.

There were no triple jumps in the two earlier regular-season meets because of cold, snowy weather and the wet runways and sand pits left over from the snow melting.

King just practiced triple jumping for the first time outdoors on Thursday at North Pole High School.

“We did a couple of jumps and it just felt natural,” King said.

Ben Gallegos, a home school student who trains with North Pole, placed second Friday at 37-9 1/2 and triple-jump newcomer Aaron Wilbur of West Valley took third at 37-9 1/4.

Kim Wilson, who outleaped seven others to win the girls triple jump, also worked outside for the first time Thursday. Until then, she had practiced on lines in the Lathrop gym to help with her approach.

“It’s not the same as coming outside,” the Hutchison senior said.

The jumpers were treated Friday to sunny weather with temperatures in the 60s.

Wilson reached 32-9 on her last jump of the first round, momentarily putting her in the lead. West Valley senior Whitne’ Blackburn then went ahead with a 32-11 on her last attempt of the opening round. It proved to the runner-up distance.

“I decided to jog it rather than run it at full speed,” Blackburn said.

The basketball recruit for Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif., had recently recovered from an ankle injury she sustained during the basketball season.

Wilson leaped 33 feet, 5 1/2 inches in the final round for the girls’ meet winner, while Blackburn reached 32-2 3/4 on her last attempt of the round.

“I had just remembered to look up because I was looking down at the boards (on the other attempts),” Wilson said.

Anna Johnson, a senior teammate of Wilson, placed third at 30-1/4. She also won the high jump at 4-8.

The triple jumpers can look forward to more days of practice next week leading up to the region meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Lathrop.

“I plan to approach it full force, practice hard for the regionals next week,” Blackburn said.

Also Friday, North Pole’s Clay Tidwell made it a season sweep of the boys shot with a throw of 42-7 1/4. Kayla Weber of West Valley did likewise in the girls discus, reaching 91-8.

Lathrop’s Charles Scott cleared the bar at 6 feet to win the boys high jump, while North Pole’s Joshua Ray won the boys 3,200-meter run in 11 minutes, 30.19 seconds and Patriots teammate Christi Schmidtz earned the girls’ victory in 12:08.22.

The meet resumes today at 11 a.m. with other running events and the first long jumps of the regular season.