PHILADELPHIA – Sheron Mark was ready for Thursday – her day at the beach that is the long jump sand pit. The sophomore track and field performer had warmed up and completed her run-throughs in great weather at the 111th Penn Relays Carnival.

Penn’s Franklin Field received a 20-minute downpour though, minutes before the Eastern Long Jump competition. High tide at the beach passed and the sky was again as blue as Mark’s Adidas spikes, and the sophomore took six trips down the runway, placing second in her field.

‘Average jumps,’ coach Enoch Borozinski said of the trials performance. ‘She had a good opener. I thought it was gonna happen here. It still might.’

But that first jump, 5.87 meters, was Mark’s best of the day. Her best effort came in her fourth jump, the first of the final round, as she uncorked what would have been a jump of more than six meters, but she fouled.

‘I’d rather see her get big jumps and foul then tense up and not jump as far,’ Borozinski said.

Mark hoped to qualify for regionals with a 5.95 jump. She has already jumped that far this season, but the distances don’t count because the meets did not use a wind gauge to determine whether she performed under legal wind conditions. The Penn Relays did have a wind gauge but Mark didn’t hit the regional qualifying standard.

‘I really wanted to qualify so it’s kind of upsetting,’ Marks said. ‘The fourth jump was the best. My speed felt good.’

Mark’s first jump almost held to give her the win, but she lost her lead in the sixth round. Her last jump, to get the lead back, was another foul.

Borozinski said Mark is ready for a big breakthrough in both the long jump and triple jump. If she plans to have one tomorrow in the triple jump at 11 a.m., she will have to do so against lesser competition. Mark wasn’t entered in the championship flight, which shocked her coach. Mark participated in the NCAA Championships last year as a freshman triple jumper.

‘I just want to improve,’ Mark said. ‘Hopefully, everything goes well.’

Mark’s teammate, Jenna Grimaldi, was also surprised by her placement in the meet, but for the opposite reason. Grimaldi, who hasn’t performed seriously at a meet in a month, according to Borozinski, will return to the high jump in the 12-woman high jump championship.

‘It’ll be trial by fire here,’ Borozinski joked. ‘She’s going against the best in the United States. She’ll handle it fine, try not to let all the other jumpers pull her out of her game plan.’

Borozinski said Grimaldi could have a big day because her legs are well rested, so the opportunity is there if her timing is right.

Mark’s timing was just a bit off Thursday. After her fourth jump, she wiped sand off her body and looked to her coach for his assessment. Even though the red flag was up, signaling a foul, and officials were raking over her foot imprints without taking a measurement, Borozinski was pleased.

‘Just like that,’ he yelled.

Mark said she was just happy for the atmosphere around her and the large Caribbean population that attends the meet. Mark is a native of Trinidad.

‘I get to see a lot of my friends so that’s great,’ she said.

And she’ll get one more day to leave them a good ‘impression’ in the sand.

Published on April 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm