Alysah Hickey went in to the 2019 High School State Meet as the second-ranked long jumper and top-ranked high jumper in California. Up to to previous week, she was the top-ranked jumper in both, but Upland's Caelyn Harris knocked her out of that position at the Southern Section Master's meet. The first day of the State Meet is a preliminary event used to qualify the top 12 contestants for the finals on Saturday. In the long jump, each jumper was allowed three jumps with the top 12 advancing to Saturday. Harris had the top mark with a leap of 20 feet 2.25 inches followed by Hickey with 19 feet 4 inches. Because these were the top two jumps after two attempts, neither girl took their third jump as the prelim marks did not carry over the finals on the next day. Still, Harris' leap, showed she would be a tough adversary. The high jump prelims were run a bit differently. Rather than the top girls jumping as high as they could, the bar was raised gradually, starting with 5 feet 2 inches until there were only 12 jumpers left. Alysah needed only two jumps, the first at 5-2, the second at 5-4 to advance to Saturday.
On Saturday, the long jump went off at 5:00 P.M., followed by the high jump at 7:30 P.M., so there wasn't a lot of time between the two events.
After three attempts in the long jump, the top 9 jumpers got three more with any of the six jumps counting as their best for the day. On her second jump, in the second round, Harris soared out to a State Leading jump of 20 feet 8.5 inches which proved to the eventual top mark of the day. Second place went to Jazlynn Shearer from Silver Creek with 19 feet 10.75 inches. Alysah was only a quarter of an inch behind with 19 feet 10.5 inches for third. On her fifth jump, Harris clutched her leg mid-leap and fell into the pit. That was her last attempt as she was injured. Later, on the podium, the girls, rather than stand for the group photo, sat next to her as she couldn't stand without pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhnnarEhi8I
The starting height for the high jump was 5 feet 3 inches. This height was low for a State Competition, so the event took a long time to finish. It was around 9:30 P.M. when the event concluded. At the height of 5 feet 7 inches, there were three girls left, Alysah, Rachel Glenn from Long Beach Wilson, and Victoria Plummer from Moorpark. Going into the meet Alysah and Rachel were the two favorites, with Rachel the defending State Co-Champion and a PR of 5 feet 11 inches, and Alysah with the top jump of the 2019 season at 5 feet 10.5 inches. Rachel had to leave the high jump to compete in the 300-meter hurdles when the bar went to 5 feet 8 inches. When this happens, the bar keeps going up, and the person who left rejoins the competition at the current height. Alysah cleared 5-8 on her second try, and Victoria failed to clear the height. By that time Rachel had returned from the 300-hurdles and was given a few minutes to recover. She missed all three of her tries at 5-8, so Alysah was the winner. This victory was a fitting conclusion for our long-time high jump coach, Kerry Elders, who will retire after this season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0qofTH2iKs
Alysah concluded her high school career with State Gold Medals in both the long jump (2018) and High Jump (2019). She also has a 4th place State Medal in the high jump (2018) and a 3rd State Medal medal in the long jump (2019). She holds school records in the 100, 200, High Jump, Long jump and 4x100 relay.
http://islandertrack.com/chsrun/womens_Long_Jump_record_coronado_.htm
Our other State Contender was Teresa Perez in the 800-meter run. Terresa didn't make the Finals on Saturday but she placed 15th overall with a time of 2:15.27 in Friday's prelim heats. Teresa finishes the season ranked 3rd overall in San Diego for the 800 with a time of 2:13.71. She holds the school records for the 800, 1600, 2-mile, and 3-mile runs.
http://islandertrack.com/chsrun/womens_800_meter_record.htm
-Coach Green
