Saltzman Says...Derion Taylor wins State

Derion Taylor wins State

CSM’s Taylor wins NorCal triple jump title on last leap

May 18, 2010, 01:31 AM By Fred Baer, Special to the Daily Journal

Northern California triple jump champion Derion Taylor will lead a quintet of College of San Mateo athletes into the California Community College Athletic Association Track and Field State Championships at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster on Friday and Saturday. Taylor does not like to lose. The Bulldogs’ freshman produced a personal best of 48 feet, 7 1/2 inches on his final jump to win the NorCal title over the weekend at American River College in Sacramento. He equaled his personal best of 47-5 in the fifth round to take the lead — briefly. But favored Ka Wai Ng of De Anza responded with a jump of 48-0 3/4. “I thought about what I needed to do after that,” said Taylor. “It was a competition and I don’t like losing.” Taylor, who had jumped 47-5 to win the Central Coast Section title for Evergreen Valley last year, composed himself for his final jump. He had a “perfect” tailwind of exactly 2.0 meters per second, just at the allowable limit to get the win on his sixth attempt — although missing the CSM school record by a half inch.