Day finishes 2nd at U.S. outdoor national meet

Spring athletics at Cal Poly wrapped up a little under a month ago and many student athletes are enjoying the break from their busy schedules. For Sharon Day, there is no break.

The star Cal Poly high jumper took second place last weekend at the USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis with a jump of 6-02 1/4.

“She did fantastic,” said Cal Poly head coach Terry Crawford in a phone interview. “She competed ferociously.”

Crawford and assistant coach Jack Hoyt both traveled to Indianapolis with Day for the competition that featured world-class athletes and former Olympians.

“It’s a pretty cool atmosphere,” Day said of the event in a phone interview. “It’s kind of inspiring to see people running so fast and jumping so far.”

Day cleared the same height as the winner of the event, Amy Acuff, but she had more missed attempts. Day did manage, however, to edge out the 2007 NCAA high jump champion, Destinee Hooker, by a full inch.

“Her mental tenaciousness speaks volumes about how she performed this weekend,” Crawford said.

Day has rebounded back into the national spotlight after breaking her foot in December 2005. She took fourth place at the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento after finishing first at the Big West Conference Championships in late May, and the NCAA West Regional meet held in Oregon in early June.

“This has been a comeback year for Sharon,” Crawford said.

The national championship meet was the first of several meets Day will compete at throughout the summer. She will travel to San Salvador, El Salvador to compete in the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Track and Field championships July 13-14. The following weekend Day will then travel to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Pan American Games.

Crawford said that Day will continue to train in San Luis Obispo with Hoyt until she leaves for El Salvador.

“I’ll be keeping my practice routine until the 12th (of July),” Day said.

If Day clears a height of 1.94 meters or about 6-04 3/4 by Aug. 1, she will automatically qualify for the U.S. national team that will travel to Osaka, Japan in late August for the World Championships.

“Certainly anytime you make a U.S. team, that puts you in an elite category,” Crawford said.