It crossed Laurel Wong's mind for a brief moment while sitting next to the pole vault runway. Could this be her last attempt in her specialty as a high school athlete for Santa Catalina?
"Just for a moment," Wong admitted. "Then I started computing what I needed to fix. I have to adjust and adapt. I need to make it over this height."
The defending CIF State Meet pole vault champion made it interesting Friday, waiting until her last attempt to get over 12-feet.
She followed that by sailing 12-4 on her second attempt to catapult herself back into the state track and field finals for the fourth straight year at Buchanan High in Clovis.
"It wasn't so much if I'm going to make it. It was more I have to make it," Wong said. "It is a better mindset when you tell yourself that. I didn't want to cope with it if I didn't make it."
Wong was one of three athletes from Monterey County to advance to the finals. She will be joined by Alvarez's Vicente Jordan Vanderlipe in the pole vault and Azjani McGill of Monterey in the 200.
Both broke school records in their respective events. Wong owns the Monterey County record in the pole vault.
"I'm not here for the approval of others," Wong said. "I have four more years at Stanford. I don't need to stand at the top of the podium for that to be verified."
That doesn't mean Wong doesn't have a goal. She will go into the finals ranked fifth based on misses, as 12 competitors cleared 12-4.
Last year Wong won the competition with a mark of 12-6.
"Obviously I want to clear a big height," said Wong, who has vaulted 13-1 this year. "Knowing this is my last high school meet, I'm trying to have fun with it."
Wong, who finished a disappointing third at the Central Coast Section finals last week, cleared 11-6 on her first attempt before seeing her season on the line at 12-feet.
"I was a little scared," Wong said. "My standards were off on my second attempt. The winds were inconsistent. But I was confident I could make it. It was all in the run."
Sailing over 12-4 came with inches to spare.
"I was better on my second attempt at 12-4," said Wong, who holds the county record in the pole vault at 13-3. "I needed that."
Vanderlipe shook off the disappointment of his third place finish at the CCS finals by breaking the Alvarez school record in the pole vault, clearing 15-9 on his second attempt.
"My stomach was bothering me in warmups," Vanderlipe said. "My knees were aching. I didn't have good warmups."
Yet, all those butterflies vanished when he cleared 14-9 on his second attempt and 15-3 on his second attempt. Sailing over 15-9 on his second attempt was a blur.
"Honestly I blanked out," Vanderlipe said. "As I was falling, I let my body do whatever it could. I do not remember looking at the bar as I was coming down."
Vanderlipe didn't show a lot of emotion after the clearance, as his expectations turned to vaulting at a higher mark in the finals.
"I just thought of it as another bar," the 5-foot-8 Vanderlipe said. "The championships are what matter. I want the medal. I want to podium. I have a lot more in me."
The junior, who had a best of 15-6 1/2, was one of only four vaulters to clear 15-9.
Vanderlipe's clearance is three inches off the Monterey County record of 16-feet, set in 2009 by John Prader of Salinas.
McGill turned his third event of the night into a spot in the finals, blistering the track in the 200 in 21.40, breaking the school record of 21.52, set in 2003 by three-time Olympic bobsledder and current Carmel track coach Nick Cunningham.
The Central Coast Section 100 and 200 meter champion, McGill will go into the finals ranked seventh in the 200.
"I got out very well," McGill said. "My start was phenomenal. I have no words to describe it. It set the tone for the rest of the race. In my mind, I'm thinking I'm going to set a personal best."
McGill did more than that, lowering his time by over three-tenths of a second in breaking his third school record of the season.
"My chin was up the last 30 meters," McGill said. "I can fix that. I felt relaxed. I was confident. I ran my race. I didn't concern myself with others."
McGill also lowered his school record time in the 100, clocking 10.71 to finish fifth in his heat for the Toreadores -- and 12th overall.
"I felt good in the 100 as well," McGill said. "Once we got to the middle of the race, the speed of some these guys showed."
McGill ran the second leg on the Toreadores 400 relay team that included William Caliz, Eris Hutchings and Jaiden Russell.
For the fourth straight week, the foursome set a personal record, clocking 41.91 to rewrite their own school for the second consecutive week.
Yet, Monterey, who came into the competition ranked eighth overall, finished 10th, 0.04 seconds off qualifying for the finals.
The top nine in each running event advance to Saturday's finals. Clovis North recorded a time in 41.15.
Carmel's 400 relay quartet of Nick Sloan, Benicio Cristofalo, Lavar Edwards and Rashaan Ward finished 20th overall in 42.70.
"It's never easy going into a season with a new coach whose bringing in a new philosophy," Cunningham said. "This team bought into the culture we wanted to establish."
Cunningham, who took part in the state meet as a senior in the 100 and 200 in 2003, put the state meet on his schedule this year with a purpose.
"I knew this group had the talent," Cunningham said. "It was a matter if they were willing to pay the price of hard work. These kids here today are paving the future. Success breeds success."
Ward, who will play football next fall at the University of San Diego, set a school record in the 100 while Edwards broke the school mark in the 200 last month.
"All the goals I set before the season were met," Ward said. "I'll miss track. But I'll be doing my thing in football."
Sophomore Lauren Pritchard equaled her career best in the high jump for Carmel, clearing 5-feet-2 on her opening height.
Yet, three attempts at 5-4 were not successful in her first state meet appearance. Pritchard was one of eight underclassmen among the 30 competitors in the competition.
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