LJ track: A conversation

LJHS athletes at the high jump pit: Cameron Reikes,
second from right. Isabel Willis to his right.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Event: Eastern League dual meet between La Jolla and Serra
Location: Serra High track
Date: Thurs., March 7, 2019 - 3:30 p.m.

Student athlete: Cameron Reikes
Year: Sophomore
Age: 16
Height: 5'8"
Event: High jump

EP: Are you a high-jumper?
CR: No. (partially joking)
(Small talk consisting of joking back-and-forth)
EP: No, really, are you a high-jumper?
CR: I haven't cleared a height to qualify for the meet. (Seriously) I'm the president of a club called LJHS Games. We're looking for people who can program.
EP: Why is it called coding now, instead of programming?
CR: There's a paradigm shift.
EP: (pointing to a Serra coach running the high jump) There's "Momma T" (stitched on her coach's jacket). You can't beat that.
CR: He's "Papa G" (pointing to LJHS Coach Jim Geddes).
EP: Do you think you're funny?
CR: No.
Isabel Willis (teammate/captain/fellow high-jumper) Behave yourself.
EP: Give me a height.
CR: 5'8". That's not how high I jump.
EP: How high do you jump?
CR: I have no height.
Isabel Willis: He has cleared no recorded height.
EP: What height do you clear in your dreams?
CR: (laughing) 7'5".
EP: Back in 1977, I played the Jackson 5 without Michael in a celebrity-media basketball game at Santa Barbara High. The Jacksons performed a dance show at halftime. Randy Jackson or somebody was their guard, and he would telegraph where he was going to pass the ball. So I was guarding Reynaldo Brown, a famous high-jumper from the L.A. area back then. I stole the ball four times on passes to Reynaldo Brown. At the end of the game, our coach told us to let the Jacksons win. I thought, No way. I blocked their shot at the buzzer to win the game. I sent all the Jacksons' fans home sad.