Keinan Briggs

Bryce Alderton

Ever since he stepped on a track his freshman year at Valencia High

in Placentia, Keinan Briggs was hooked.

The Orange Coast College track and field sensation was already

ingrained in basketball and football, but wanted to give track a

shot.

“It was something I never thought about doing,” Briggs said. “I

had watched [track] in the Olympics and wanted to try something

different. I thought it was something I could be good at and wanted

to take that chance and see what I could do with it.”

At 19, Briggs, the Orange Empire Conference Male Athlete of the

Year, rode his legs and the rest of his body all the way to the state

meet May 16-17 at Chabot College in Oakland. Briggs finished fourth

in the triple jump with a leap of 49 feet, 3 inches and took sixth in

the 110-meter high hurdles (14.82) to help Coast place eighth among

40 teams with 33 points.

An injured tendon in his right leg hampered Briggs during the 2002

Southern California finals, where he finished fourth in the triple

jump and missed qualifying for the state meet.

“I knew where I should have been [in 2002] and that made me

realize even more that injuries can happen,” Briggs said. “You can be

fine one day and the next day, be out of the sport. It makes me

appreciate being healthy and being able to compete.”

Though Briggs acknowledges he was a little disappointed with his

finish at the state meet this season, 2003 brought him several

accomplishments.

The Fullerton resident set school records in the 110 hurdles

(14.2) and triple jump (50-3) this season en route to leading Coast

to an OEC title. Briggs’ 50-3 mark in the triple jump earned him

third place at the Southern California finals and was a personal

best. He soared 49-6 1/4 to claim the conference triple jump crown

along with a first place in the 110 hurdles (14.71) at the OEC

championships.

“My first jump was 49-7 1/2, an inch off the school record,”

Briggs recalled about the So Cal meet, where competitors are allowed

three jumps compared to six at the state meet. “Usually, I like to

get my best jumps out of the way. In my head, I knew I could to it,

but my body seemed like it wasn’t ready to accept jumping 50-3.

“It was the last jump, so I decided I was going to have some fun.

I was already sitting on fourth place, so I said to myself, ‘Let’s

see what I can do.’ ”

In addition to the triple jump and hurdles, Briggs also competed

in the high jump, long jump and ran on Coast’s 400 relay team

throughout the season leading to the state meet. After playing on

Coast’s basketball team for the 2001-02 season, Briggs decided to

devote more time to track.

Often Briggs gets to the track an hour before anyone else and

leaves after everyone is gone.

“He is the type of kid to stay and train real hard,” John Knox,

Coast’s track and cross country coach said. “He has a lot of doors

open for him.”

Even before he entered Coast, Briggs ran hurdles and competed in

all the jumping events as a prep. The hurdles raise his blood

pressure the most.

“One slight mistake can affect the whole race,” he said.

Briggs remembers his first track event -- the 110 hurdles while a

freshman at Valencia.

“The guy next to me knocked over the first two hurdles and I

couldn’t finish the race,” Briggs said. “I was racing with the

varsity guys. I think I won a relay event the next week racing with

the frosh-soph team.”

A similar scenario happened to Briggs at this year’s state meet.

“The guys next to me were hitting the hurdles and the last two

[hurdles] moved back toward me,” Briggs recalled. “Runners were

complaining because the lanes were a bit smaller in width than usual.

With hurdles, it is a different race. Anything can happen.”

Briggs maintains a similar training regimen to last year, working

with Coast jumps coach Alan Hodgert and Erich Moreno in the hurdles.

The Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month plans to continue

training throughout the summer in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic

trials, which precede the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

“One standard is 52-6,” Briggs said about the mark needed in the

triple jump. “I feel comfortable with the triple jump, but still have

a lot of work to do with the hurdles as far as my footwork and

technique is concerned.”

Coaches from four-year universities such as Michigan State, Cal

Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State

Los Angeles and Adams State in Colorado, have all expressed interest

in Briggs, who plans on redshirting next year at Coast. He said he

will take classes at OCC through spring 2004 in hopes of getting an

associates degree.

The Home Depot Track and Field Invitational, held June 1 at the

new $150-million Home Depot Center in Carson on the campus of Cal

State Dominguez Hills, featured some of the sport’s stars such as

sprinters Maurice Green and Ana Guevara. Briggs did not attend, but

sees himself competing on a similar stage.

“I had to work, but I know I will be running there someday,”

Briggs said. “Running pro track is my goal.”