4. Jumping Jacks (Marquis Dendy, Kasen Williams and Javon Cunningham)The cross-country trip for the nation's premier jumper turned out to be a painful one.
Marquis Dendy overcame fouls and
injury to take a first and second.
Photo by Louis Lopez
Marquis Dendy sprained his already tender ankles multiple times in the triple jump and despite a gallant effort to please the fans, he finished second behind upstart Jovon Cunningham, of little known
Enterprise (Redding).
Dendy, who fouled twice but still won the long jump with a wind-aided mark of 24 feet, 9¾ inches, recorded an opening triple of 48-7¾. He re-injured his right ankle that was first sustained in Kentucky last month and on his next attempt, writhed in pain for almost 10 minutes.
He limped badly to the trainer's table about 400 meters away and was treated. He made one last attempt, but couldn't continue though it was hard for the Florida-bound standout to walk away. Literally and figuratively.
Dendy was leading the triple jump until the fifth jump of Cunningham, the defending California state champion, who pulled off the winning jump under cool and blustery conditions.
"This was very discouraging because I wanted to come away with two (meet) records, not just two gold medals," Dendy said. (The meet records are 25-3¾ and 51-7½). "I'm not big on getting first place any more. It's more about getting records. I felt like a lot of people down.
"But I can't beat myself up too much. I'll just go out and train harder and get ready for the Penn Relays."
It was another outstanding win for Cunningham, who claimed the first state title for the Northern Section in recent memory with his 2010 championship. There he went 50-8¼ (wind-aided).
"I feel like I'm carrying the torch for the Northern Section so this feels great," Cunningham said. "I usually do my best in front of big crowds."
Another big-crowd and game performer is Williams (Skyline, Wash.), one of the nation's top football recruits who is headed to Washington.
Williams finished second in the long jump at 24-3½ - No. 3 in the country – after winning the high jump at 6-11. He was fourth in the triple jump (48-3).
"That guy is a heck of an athlete," Cunningham said of Williams. "They both are."
