SAN DIEGO’S GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Brian Negrete, El Cajon Valley, Grossmont League

No matter what foot Negrete puts forward, it is his best.

Negrete, a high jumper, soccer player and punter/kicker, broke his right foot last year while jumping and switched to the left.

“I didn’t have any form after the switch,” Negrete said. “It was really weird, but now I don’t even notice.”

The injury is one of the hazards of being a multisport athlete. But Negrete as been able to take advantage.

“I always knew I had more spring in my left foot,” he said.

Negrete sprung into the county lead in the high jump with a mark of 6-9 at the Grossmont League championships earlier this month. The jump was tops in the county this season and broke the league record of 6-9 set by Dean Owen, also of El Cajon Valley, in 1969.

Negrete has not just earned 10 letters--four each in soccer and track and two in football. He has excelled in each of the sports.

Last season he tied for third in the section high jump at 6-6 but missed making the trip to the state championships when he lost a jump-off. (He finished eighth in the section this year.) Negrete also won the league triple jump title this season.

In just two years, Negrete has made a mark in football, kicking a school-record 51-yard field goal this season and averaging 40 yards per punt. Negrete also had two touchdowns as a wide receiver.

Negrete’s main interest is soccer, where he was a two-time first-team all-league selection and a second-team all-section pick this year despite the fact El Cajon Valley won just two matches.

More important, Negrete has been able to keep up his grades--a 3.85 GPA. As for college, Negrete hopes play soccer and compete in track at San Diego State.

The time Negrete spends on athletics is increased by competing for the El Cajon Hotspurs youth soccer program year round.

“It gives me something to do all the time,” Negrete said.