Barry FaulknerWith a name made for headline...

Barry Faulkner

With a name made for headline writers and the talent to command the

large, bold type that hovered over dozens of stories detailing her

greatness, recent Costa Mesa High graduate Sharon Day amassed a

largely personalized scrap book in four memorable seasons in three

varsity sports.

Glory Day(s), indeed.

A two-time state high jump champion who owns the CIF Southern

Section and Orange County record with a clearance of 6 feet, 2

inches, she was also the CIF Division III Offensive Player of the

Year for the Southern Section Division co-champion girls soccer team.

And, though she downplays her fall sport as merely something to do

before soccer begins, she was Golden West League MVP in volleyball,

after leading the program to its first league title as an imposing

middle blocker.

Not surprisingly, she is the Mustangs’ Girls Athlete of the Year,

after earning similar honors in Orange County and the Golden West

League. Few would argue that Day, who will compete in soccer and

track and field at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is not the greatest

female athlete produced by the school.

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

meters (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 championship as a team.

Perhaps her crowning moment in track and field, however, occurred

much earlier in the season, when she soared 6-2 to win the Trabuco

Hills Invitational April 5. That mark stood up as a national best for

the season and also broke the CIF Southern Section and Orange County

standard.

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.

Her senior soccer season included a 22-1-3 record, capped by a

scoreless tie in the Division III title game against Walnut, as well

as a prodigious 29 goals and 34 assists. With Day controlling the

midfield, Mesa outscored opponents, 105-15, for the season. The CIF

final standoff ended a 17-game winning streak -- including a 12-0-0

Golden West League run in which the Mustangs outscored the

opposition, 78-2 -- but extended the team’s season-ending unbeaten

streak to 23 games.

The run to the CIF Division III co-title included four playoff

wins, from a program that had just one postseason triumph its first

12 seasons of existence (a first-round win in 2002).

As a 5-foot-8 middle blocker, she was a dominant force, according

to volleyball coach Allison Salladin, who joined other coaches in

unanimously voting her Golden West League MVP.

Leading the Mustangs to an unprecedented league title, running the

table in 12 league matches, she helped Mesa make its first trip to

the CIF playoffs in five years. A first-round playoff loss finalized

the team’s record at 13-3.

The 2002-03 athletic year was but icing on a multitiered career.

In addition to the aforementioned two state high jump crowns, she

was a four-time section Division III title winner and a four-time

league champion in her featured event.

She was fourth at the section Division III 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 also

league 200 champion as a junior.

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

high jump at the state meet (5-8) and she finished fourth in state

with the identical mark as a freshman. She tied for second at the

Masters Meet as a sophomore and was the outright runner-up as a

freshman.

She was second in the 400 at section Division III finals as a

sophomore and was a section Division III finalist in the event as a

freshman.

Her junior soccer season included a run at the PCL title, before

finishing runner-up to Newport-Mesa District rival Corona del Mar.

She was named Co-MVP of the PCL, finished with 17 goals and nine

assists, and was named second-team All-CIF Division IV.

As a sophomore, she collected 23 goals and 16 assists, en route to

first-team All-PCL laurels and she had 14 goals and 12 assists as a

freshman, also earning first-team All-PCL recognition.

She was second-team All-PCL in volleyball as a junior.