With a state championship in hand, Jessica Waggoner is taking her discus and shot put to the Sacramento area to compete at the 50th annual Golden West Invitational track and field meet on Saturday.
Athletes from across the nation will converge on Folsom High School's Prairie City Stadium for the Adidas-sponsored meet. Opening ceremonies are set for 5 p.m. The girls discus is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. and the girls shot put at 6.
Waggoner, who picked up her diploma at Douglas High School last Friday, already holds school records in the discus (153-9) and shot put (42-6) as well as the Northern 4A Regional discus record. She is still looking for more at Golden West and then at the Junior Nationals on June 27 in Eugene, Ore., where she has qualified in the discus.
"It should be pretty fun. I'm just going down to throw far and have fun," Waggoner said of Golden West.
"My goal before the season was to throw 200 feet ... I've come close to 180 in practice ... I just wish I could throw that far in a meet," she added, referring to her discus ambitions.
Mike Louisiana, who has worked with her as a technical adviser the past two seasons, believes a long discus mark is possible.
"Given the right conditions and, really, the right time of year," Louisiana said. "At Golden West, the competitors could push her to get a long throw. And up in Eugene ... I've been there as an athlete and coach, and that's just a neat place.
"She still hasn't begun to tap her potential," he added. "If you total all the months she's been throwing, it's been less than a year."
The Golden West girls discus field will be loaded with talent, led by Anna Jelmini of Shafter, Calif., who set the U.S. high school record with a throw of 190-3 in April. Last weekend, Jelmini won the California state title with a mark of 186-9 that broke the meet record set 11 years ago by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Brown Trafton.
Waggoner, who met Brown Trafton at a barbecue hosted by Louisiana last fall, came out and had a big senior season year that included her 4A state discus championship on May 23 in Las Vegas. Waggoner won her state gold medal with a mark 143-10 - a stadium record at Del Sol High - but it still wasn't that long throw she's been hoping for.
"After the competition was over, she was a little disappointed," Louisiana said. "I told her, 'That's something nobody can ever take away from you. The state record, that could be taken from you next year, but nobody else will ever be able to say that in 2009, they were the state champion.'"
