Grant Joins the Long List of Stars at Arroyo Grande

It is not in Billie Jo Grant’s nature to rest on her laurels.

But if it were, the junior shotputter and discus thrower at Arroyo Grande High would have a hard time doing so because of the track and field program of which she’s a member.

Arroyo Grande has a history of producing outstanding throwers since the early 1990s.

So when Grant uncorked a throw of 164 feet 6 inches in the girls’ discus in a meet last Thursday against visiting San Luis Obispo, she moved to the top of the yearly national list but found herself well short of the school and Southern Section record of 181-3 set by Stephanie Brown in winning the 1998 state title.

“It’s incredible to me that I could be the national leader right now, but someone is still 17 feet ahead of me,” Grant said. “But [Coach Robert Budke] has done a phenomenal job here.”

Budke, 33, coached the discus throwers at Arroyo Grande from 1987-94 before taking over all the throwers in 1995.

Arroyo Grande throwers have won six state titles in either the shotput or discus since then and at least one thrower from the school has placed third or better in the state championships from 1994-2001.

Grant was unaware of Arroyo Grande’s tradition until her freshman year when Budke instructed throwers David Rivera and Sean Shields, last season’s state champion in the boys’ discus, to encourage her to go out for the track team.

“I was kind of roped into it,” said Grant, who has also lettered in basketball and tennis at Arroyo Grande. “But I’m so glad I was.”

Although Grant had never picked up a shot or discus until high school, she won the Southern Section Division II discus title as a freshman and just missed qualifying for the finals of the state championships.

She improved her best from 140-5 as a freshman to 155-8 last year and placed fourth in the state meet after finishing second to teammate Michelle Pequignot in the section’s Division I final.

The 155-8 remained her best until last week when her 164-6 effort moved her to fifth on the all-time Southern Section performer list.

“She’s just starting to understand a little more what throwing the discus is all about,” Budke said of Grant, the seventh-ranked shotputter in the state with a season best of 42-41/2. “She’s starting to understand that she has to hit certain positions [during the throw] if she wants to throw to her capability.”

Low-key approach: High jumper Kaylene Wagner of Goleta Dos Pueblos has been on a roll this season with a victory in the L.A. Invitational indoor meet at the Sports Arena on Feb. 23, a runner-up finish in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City on March 8 and a career-best jump of 5-10 to win the Camarillo Invitational on Saturday.

But don’t expect the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo-bound senior to make any bold predictions about the rest of the season.

“I take every meet day by day,” said Wagner, sixth in the state championships last year. “I just try and do my best on that particular day.”

She wants to break the school record of 5-101/2 set by Denise Yamada in 1983 and clearing 6 feet would be “absolutely wonderful.”

Keeping things in perspective: Junior David Shipp of Valencia upset some high-quality quarter-milers Saturday when he won the 400 meters in the Northridge-Alemany Relays at Cal State Northridge.

But Coach Mike Pontius realizes that the Southern Section championships are two months away.

“It was a good race for David,” Pontius said. “But it’s still the middle of March and nothing is won in the middle of March.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Shipp, a defensive end in football, had a best of 50.41 entering the Northridge-Alemany Relays. But his 49.62 clocking in cool and breezy conditions gave him a victory over second-place Justin Tryon of Woodland Hills Taft, third-place Jarvis Littleton of Compton Dominguez and fourth-place Tyrone Melton of Taft.

Tryon ran 48.02 last season while Littleton clocked 48.55 and Melton had a hand-timed 48.8.