Sanford, Bethel Leap to Top

Several have landed within a shoe print of the 20-foot barrier, but before last summer only one Orange County girl had actually flown that far in the long jump--wind aided or not.

That list tripled within an hour last June, when Woodbridge sophomore Michelle Sanford and Mission Viejo senior Dana Bethel, the county’s top returning athletes in girls’ track and field this season, accomplished that feat at the USATF junior nationals in Denton, Texas.

Three weeks after winning a state title as a 14-year-old freshman, Sanford jumped a wind-legal 20-2 in one of three heats at the University of North Texas, becoming the first county athlete to surpass 20 feet since Corona del Mar’s Karen Attlesey went 20-8 3/4 in 1971.

Sanford later jumped a wind-aided 20-3 1/2 to place sixth behind four collegiate athletes and Wake Forest-bound senior Cassandra Richards of Winchester-Thurston High in Pittsburgh,

“It was surprising,” Sanford said. “My goal at the start of last season was to jump 18 or 19 feet and, hopefully, make the state meet. But after winning state and coming so close [to 20 feet], I started focusing on that during the summer.”

Bethel, who placed fourth in state as a junior last year and was runner-up as a sophomore, jumped a wind-aided 20-1 in the same heat at the junior nationals to finish eighth. Bethel said she was tickled to get over that hump after several close calls.

“It was a nice feeling,” Bethel said. “I’d like to do it on a regular basis this year.”

The top 22 marks at the junior nationals were wind-aided, but Bethel and Sanford still finished ahead of several seasoned competitors, including Tiffany Greer of Arizona State, who won the Pac-10 championship last season and finished fourth in the NCAA, and Ychlindria Spears, who had the nation’s leading high school mark as a sophomore at Luling (Texas) High last spring.

Those credentials alone would put Sanford and Bethel among the nation’s best returning high school track and field athletes this season, but that’s just part of their repertoire.

Sanford also won Orange County and Southern Section Division II titles in the 100 meters last season and a county title in the triple jump. At the FloJo Memorial Arcadia Invitational, Sanford finished third in the triple jump and produced the fifth-best mark in county history at 39-7 3/4.

Bethel advanced to the state finals in the 100 high hurdles the last three years, finishing runner-up as a sophomore and earning Times’ Orange County runner of the year honors. An accomplished heptathlete, Bethel is also among the county’s top 300 hurdlers, high jumpers and sprinters.

“I kind of consider the hurdles my main event because I’ve been doing it so long,” she said.

After finishing 12th in the young women’s division at the USATF National Junior Olympics in Buffalo, N.Y. in July, Bethel cut back on her training last fall while playing volleyball for the Diablos.

She resumed training in November, but had a poor showing at the L.A. Invitational indoor track meet in January, arriving late for the long jump competition and fouling on two of her four attempts. She showed midseason form Saturday, however, jumping 18-2 1/2 to finish second at the Simplot Indoor Games in Pocatello, Idaho.

“I’ve been working really hard,” Bethel said. “Hopefully I’ll be jumping the high 18s and mid-19s early on.”

Bethel is planning a recruiting visit to South Carolina.

Sanford has been away from the track since winning the intermediate girls’ long jump at the Junior Olympics in July. She is a reserve shooting guard for the undefeated Warrior basketball team, which plays a Division I-A quarterfinal game tonight at Saugus High.

She plans to be on the track the day basketball ends. She intends initially to focus on the sprint events and her footwork in the horizontal jumps.

“I need to even out my second phase in the triple jump,” Sanford said. “My second phase is short.”

Woodbridge Coach George Varvas is looking forward to Sanford’s return as well. He was shocked when Sanford became the first girl from the county in 23 years to win a state long jump title, and he’s still having trouble believing what she accomplished over the summer.

“It’s a special achievement,” he said.