Stallman 10th in state in long jump, 12th in 100

The California Interscholastic Federation state track and field meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis included a 10th-place performance by Ramona High School senior Holly Stallman in the girls long jump, 12th place for Stallman in the girls 100-meter dash, and 18th place for Ramona senior Connor Anderson in the boys shot put. Both graduated with the Class of 2016 on June 8.

Stallman also broke her own school record in the long jump during the June 3 preliminaries with a distance of 18 feet 10 1/4 inches.

The top 12 performances in each distance race or field event during the preliminaries qualified an athlete for the June 4 finals while the top nine times in the shorter races were worth lanes in the finals. Stallman ran the 100 dash in 12.14 seconds to give her 12th place in the preliminaries.

“She did really well,” said head coach Sherri Edwards.

Edwards noted that the state meet was the first for Stallman and that a first state meet often makes an athlete nervous. The top three performances in each event at the San Diego Section finals May 28 qualified athletes for the state meet. Stallman’s time in the section finals was 11.94, which broke her own school record while placing third overall and first among runners from Division II schools.

During the section meet, Anderson had the longest overall discus throw with a distance of 170-11.

“He competed very well the week before,” Edwards said.

Anderson’s first trip to the state meet last year resulted in a 17th-place distance of 158-9. This year Anderson fouled on his first attempt, obtained a scored distance on his second throw, and improved his distance to 161-9 on his third and final throw.

“He was disappointed, but he’s excited to start his throwing career at Cal State Fullerton,” Edwards said.

Anderson would have needed a distance of 173 feet to have been one of the top 12 throwers who advanced to the finals.

“He’s done that. Didn’t throw that on Friday,” Edwards said.

Anderson set the school record of 185-11 during Ramona’s March 10 non-league dual meet at home against Mission Hills.

“He had a great year,” Edwards said.

The section meet girls long jump competition included Stallman’s distance of 18-10, which not only took first place overall but also broke her school record. That new record lasted six days until Stallman added another quarter of an inch to her record during the preliminaries.

“That was a great jump,” Edwards said. “That was definitely a 19-foot jump, but she was about three or four inches behind the board.”

Edwards noted that the runway at Buchanan High School seemed to generate more speed than those in San Diego County, which forced additional caution to avoid a foul.

“The runway was faster than normal, so we had to back her up about 5 feet,” Edwards said.

Stallman’s preliminaries distance placed eighth. The 12 jumpers who reached the finals were each given three initial jumps, and the nine jumpers with the longest distances from those three jumps received an additional three attempts. Stallman’s second jump produced a distance of 18-2 1/4, which was her best showing for her three June 4 jumps.

“Twelfth in the state of California in the 100 and 10th in the long jump is pretty awesome,” Edwards said. “I was pleased with her performance.”

The University of Utah track and field program does not give scholarships to freshmen, although Stallman can earn a scholarship for subsequent years through her performance.

“I’m excited to see how she’ll improve when she goes up to Utah,” Edwards said. “She’s still a relatively young jumper.”

Stallman, who will likely also run sprint races for Utah, began her long jump career as a Ramona junior. She also holds the Ramona High School record in the 200 dash and was part of the 4x100 relay team that broke the school record this year.

“She had a great year,” Edwards said.

Stallman was a sprinter all four of her high school seasons and won the Valley League championship in the 100 dash and the 200 dash all four years.

“It’s going to be hard to even imagine RHS track and field without her next year,” Edwards said.