One fine Day

Barry Faulkner

Still shorter than the average high jump pit and lacking the ability

to string together words and phrases, Sharon Day provided a clue as

to the competitive side of her developing personality.

“I remember going to the Laundromat when she was about a year

old,” said Eugene Day, her father and high jump coach at Costa Mesa

High. “We were sitting on the bench waiting for our laundry and

another little kid comes walking in. The kid tried to climb up on the

bench to sit down and Sharon went over to her and, with her limited

vocabulary, tried to tell the kid she wasn’t going to sit on

[Sharon’s] bench. I had to tell Sharon ‘No, no, this isn’t our

bench.’ But, right there, that told me the fire she had under her. I

figured she was going to be a strict boss, or she was going to do

something great.”

A few years later, greatness is no longer a forecast for the

standout many believe is the best female athlete produced by the

school, which has been open for more than four decades.

Day unveiled her greatness in three sports for the Mustangs,

leading her volleyball, soccer, and track and field teams to Golden

West League championships as a senior, the first two unprecedented in

school history.

Her talents helped produce a CIF Southern Section Division III

co-championship in soccer last season and she won two CIF State high

jump titles, as well as four section division crowns in her favorite

event.

Her personal best in the high jump -- 6 feet, 2 inches -- is the

Orange County and CIF Southern Section record and was also tops in

the nation this spring among her prep peers.

She amassed 29 goals and 34 assists as a ubiquitous senior

midfielder to earn CIF Division III and Golden West League Offensive

Player of the Year laurels, while leading her soccer team to a 22-1-3

record.

A 5-foot-8 middle blocker whose jumping ability helped her provide

a dominant presence at the net, she earned Golden West League MVP

honors after helping the Mustangs to an unbeaten league volleyball

season.

The Mustangs, in fact, did not lose a Golden West League contest

in volleyball, soccer or track and field in 2002-03, largely due to

Day’s preeminence.

Such all-around brilliance also led to her being named Orange

County, Golden West League, and Costa Mesa Athlete of the Year. She

can now add Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Girls Athlete of the Year

recognition to her legacy.

Equally as impressive as her athletic accomplishments is the

humility and poise with which she conducts herself. Revered by

teammates, coaches and competitors alike, she simultaneously seems to

rise to the challenge of the biggest spotlight, while diffusing the

accompanying fuss that goes with the results of success on such a

grand stage.

“Of our three kids [Louis, a former Mesa football standout, and

Jasmin, already a standout in soccer and track and field as a

freshman], Sharon is the serious one,” Eugene Day said. “She sets her

mind to something and she does whatever she has to, to get it done.”

Day, who will compete in soccer and track and field at Cal Poly

San Luis Obispo, first drew notoriety as a freshman soccer star. She

scored 14 goals and added 12 assists to earn first-team All-Pacific

Coast League recognition. She also helped the Mustangs earn the

program’s first trip to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

Her freshman track and field campaign included PCL and CIF

Southern Section Division III high jump crowns, the latter with a

leap of 5-6. She cleared 5-9 at the section Masters Meet to finish

second, then went 5-8 to finish fifth at CIF State finals.

She was also second in the 400 meters (58.20) at the 2000 PCL

finals.

After playing varsity volleyball for a second season, she became a

full-fledged soccer star as a sophomore, when she collected 23 goals

and 16 assists, en route to first-team All-PCL laurels. The team

finished second in league and, though eliminated in the first round

of the CIF playoffs, won a then-school-record 14 games.

Her sophomore year culminated with a third-place showing in the

high jump at the state meet (5-8) after she tied for second at the

Masters Meet.

She was second in the 400 at section Division III finals in 2001

after winning the PCL high jump crown for a second time.

She was a second-team All-PCL choice her junior volleyball season,

then helped Mesa make a run at the PCL soccer title. Her 17 goals and

nine assists that season helped her earn co-MVP honors in the PCL, as

well as second-team All-CIF Division IV recognition. The team won its

first CIF playoff game, then lost in the second round to finish

13-6-4.

She won the 2002 state high jump crown with a then-personal-best

5-11, which also set the school record. She cleared 5-10 to finished

tied for second at the Masters Meet, after winning the Southern

Section Division III title with the same mark.

She was also fourth at the section finals in the 400 as a junior,

after winning the Pacific Coast League crown in the same event with a

personal-record 57.33 two weeks earlier. She was league champion in

the 200 as well that spring.

Her senior year began by spearheading the aforementioned league

title run in volleyball, which led to the program’s first trip to the

CIF playoffs in five seasons. Coach Allison Salladin’s Mustangs lost

in the first round to finish 13-3.

Culminating in a scoreless tie in the Division III title game

against Walnut, Day’s prep soccer career finished with 83 goals, 71

assists, a 57-20-21 team record and a 23-game unbeaten streak.

“Sharon is the engine that makes it all go,” Mesa girls soccer

coach Dan Johnston said of Day’s role on the team.

Her senior spring included the aforementioned state high jump

crown (5-10 before 11,862 at Cerritos College June 7). Prior to

repeating as state champion, she won the CIF Southern Section Masters

Meet (5-10), as well as her fourth straight section Division III

crown (6-0, a division record).

She won Golden West League titles in the high jump (5-8), 100

(13.07) and 200 (26.30) and also anchored the league champion 1,600

relay, which clocked a league-record 4:07.44, to help the Mustangs

win the league team championship.

For good measure, she was sixth in CIF Southern Section Division

III in the 200 (a personal-record 25.37) and helped the 1,600 relay

finish eighth at section finals.

She soared over the bar at 6-2 to win the Trabuco Hills

Invitational April 5. That mark was her season best.

She cleared 5-10 to finish second at the USA junior outdoor

championships June 21 at Stanford University.