Payovich throws huge PR in discus to take sixth in So Cal Finals

Skylar Payovich shattered his personal best in the discus by nearly nine feet on Saturday in the Southern Cal Men's Track & Field Championships at Cerritos College but it wasn't good enough for a spot in the State Championships.

The freshman from Santa Barbara High grabbed sixth with a throw of 44.36 meters and recorded the No. 5 all-time mark in school history of 145 feet, 6 1/4 inches. It was 2.74 meters further than he'd ever thrown before.

"Skylar threw an impressive PR of nearly 3 meters to place in the coveted sixth and final qualifying spot for the State Championships," said coach Scott Fickerson. "However, he does not meet the A standard required to compete and so will not be able to travel to the meet. The minimum mark required to compete is 45.48m. The 5th-place finisher also will not compete. The North Region had a stronger field of discus throwers, so they will send eight representatives to the South Region's four."

Edward Jones took ninth in the shot put (13.35m) and 12th in the javelin (40.27m). Evan Askar was ninth in the 5000 (15:36.13) and Cameron Shinn finished 10th in the triple jump (13.20m).

"Eddie Jones placed ninth in the shot put and 12th in the javelin and neither were season bests for Jones, who struggled after a tough week of exams," Fickerson explained. "Eddie said he just felt flat and not fully energized. Our school schedule makes this meet a particularly challenging one for our athletes who maintain difficult academic schedules. Lots of late night's studying, stressful exams, etc., tend to leave the athletes a bit drained this weekend. All we can do is show up and compete tough and do our best. Sometimes it doesn't quite work out.

"A similar situation occurred with Engineering major Cameron Shinn. Shinn, who qualified for the state meet last year, was definitely off his game from last week, jumping only 13.20m, one of his lowest marks of the season. He just said he never felt in it."

Askar, a freshman from Ventura High, was in position to qualify in the 5000, then had some breathing problems.

"Evan was in the hunt for a top-6 position in the men's 5K with 800m to go when he suddenly encountered severe breathing problems and slowed dramatically and lost contact with the lead pack," said Fickerson. "He rallied slightly on the final lap to place ninth, but it was a disappointing end for what looked like a solid top-6 placing and a trip to the State meet.

"I told Evan that all we can do is everything we can to put ourselves in a position to be successful. If we do that, we can be proud of our efforts, despite the outcome. Today the outcome was not what we wanted, but Evan gained valuable experience and will be back next year hungry to combine his preparation with a better result."

Mt. SAC won the Southern Cal title with 195 points, easily outdistancing Riverside with 104.