Cal Poly’s Day fails to clear 6-2 1 /4, finishes 24th in Olympic debut

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Sharon Day finished tied for 24th place today in the women’s high jump qualifying at the Beijing Olympics, failing to qualify for Saturday’s final.

Day, who graduated from Cal Poly, struggled from the beginning today in the rain at the Bird’s Nest in her Olympic debut.

Day missed her first attempt at the opening height of 5 feet, 10 ¾ inches, then cleared the height on her second attempt. She then made 6-0¾and then missed three times at 6-2 ¼.

Fifteen jumpers advanced to the final by clearing 6-4. Chaunte Howard, who briefly lived in Templeton early in her childhood, was the only one of three Americans in the field to qualify for the final.

Day has struggled since finishing third in the high jump at 6-3 ¼ at the U. S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., to make the Olympic team.

Day took 10th in the high jump at the IAAF Golden League Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis on July 18, clearing 6-2.

Eight days later, she cleared 6-1 to finish sixth at the London Grand Prix.

Day, 23, achieved the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 6-4 3 /4 at the Big West Conference Championships on May 17.

Day enjoyed a fantastic meet at the Big West Championships, where she won the heptathlon, high jump and long jump and finished third in the javelin.

She was named the Big West Conference’s Female Field Athlete of the Year. She was later named the Cal Poly Female Athlete of the Year for the second time.

She also won the award in 2005 when she won the NCAA outdoor meet with a then-personal record of 6-4, upsetting Howard, who was competing at Georgia Tech at the time.

Day, who was also a star soccer play at Cal Poly, finished her Cal Poly career June 13 by placing second at the NCAA meet in Des Moines, Iowa.