Carroll Finds Company in Rio Mesa Fast Lane

Angela Burnham.

Marion Jones.

Porchea Carroll.

They are not yet mentioned together when talking about the state champion track and field athletes who have come out of Rio Mesa High but they might be in a few years.

That’s because the 5-foot-7 Carroll has produced outstanding marks in the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump this year, and stamped herself as one of the nation’s top freshmen.

The Philadelphia native has clocked 12.06 seconds in the 100 and 24.70 in the 200, and spanned 18 feet 2 inches in the long jump. She is favored to win the 100 and 200 in the Ventura County championships at Royal High tonight and will be a co-favorite in the long jump with senior Jenny Kenyon of Newbury Park.

All that might seem like a lot to handle for a person who won’t turn 15 until October, but Carroll isn’t worried about meeting other people’s expectations.

“My goal is always just to do my best,” Carroll said.

Said Wanda Carroll, her mother: “We’re really happy with her progress. It’s a happy surprise. We’re thrilled that she’s done as well as she has, but we’ve always told her that you have to do it for Porchea, not for anyone else.”

Rio Mesa sprint coach Brian FitzGerald will be glad to hear that. FitzGerald, who is back coaching after a two-year hiatus, doesn’t want Carroll feeling pressure to live up to the accomplishments of Burnham or Jones, the 1997 World Champion in the 100.

FitzGerald guided Burnham to five state sprint titles during her career at Rio Mesa from 1986-89 and Jones won the 100 and 200 in the 1990 and ’91 state championships before transferring to Thousand Oaks as a junior.

“I think [the comparison to Burnham and Jones] is obvious because of the success at Rio Mesa,” FitzGerald said. “But [Porchea] reminds me more of Angela than of Marion.”

FitzGerald says Carroll looks more like Burnham than Jones and is similar to Burnham in at least two other ways.

First, neither one was particularly strong in the weight room when they came to Rio Mesa.

Second, Carroll is shy around reporters, just as Burnham was as a freshman.

“The one thing about [Carroll] that really catches my eye is she just has fantastic turnover,” FitzGerald said. “We want to maintain that frequency and lengthen her stride out gradually in the years ahead.”

While Carroll will make her first appearance in the county championships today, seniors Ryan Meuse of Simi Valley, Matt Lea and Heather Sickler of Camarillo, Elaine Canchola and Dusty Herman of Nordhoff, Angela Foster of Ventura and Jenny Myszkowski of Royal will compete in the meet for the final time.

Meuse, sixth in the 800 in the 1997 state championships, is favored to win his third consecutive title in that event.

Lea, undefeated in the 400 this season, is favored to win his second consecutive title in that event and his first in the 200.

Sickler is favored to win her second consecutive title in the pole vault after winning the Southern Section Division I and Masters Meet titles last year.

Canchola, 1997 state Division IV girls’ cross-country champion, is favored to win the 1,600 and 3,200 for the second year in a row.

Herman, runner-up in the West region cross-country championships in December, will be shooting for his first county track title in the 1,600.

Foster, who has set Ventura school records of 42-11 in the girls’ shotput and 131-11 in the discus this year, is favored to win her second consecutive title in the shotput and her second in three years in the discus.

Myszkowski, defending champion in the girls’ long jump and triple jump, will be an underdog to Carroll and Kenyon in the long jump, but favored to win the triple jump.

The meet will start with the open division at 3 p.m. The invitational field events will start at 6, followed by the invitational running events at 7.