SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis Athletics Hall of Fame was established to recognize the school’s best participants in sport and Karen Lysaght Perkins is at the top of the list. As the first and only individual state champion in school history, the winner of the 1980 CIF high jump title with a state record, she highlights an impressive list of former Troubadours scheduled to be inducted on Nov. 17.
“I really didn’t at all (realize the enormity),” said Perkins of the accomplishment in 1980. “I had no idea but I knew 6-0 was a pretty good jump. The national record at the time was 6-1.25. I was so excited and it was (the mark) I was going for. The bar went up to 6-1.5 (at the state meet) and I got psyched out.”
Perkins won the state title as a junior for a signature achievement that will immortalize her in the first class of the Athletics Hall of Fame. But her cumulative resume is equally accomplished.
She was a three-sport letter winner for St. Francis. In addition to her state title, she was a two-time section champion in the event. She was twice selected to the Sacramento Bee All-City team in basketball (1980-81) and was a standout on the volleyball team as well.
“I loved all the sports for different reasons,” recalls Perkins. “With volleyball, I loved jumping as a high as I could and hitting the ball as hard I could. Plus the training for volleyball was super intense. It made me a physically better-rounded player.”
Perkins was also named to the Street & Smith’s High School All-America team for basketball in addition to her Adidas All-America honors in track and field.
“Basketball was all about the team,” said Perkins. “You are cooped up in a gym all winter. It is cold and raining. But you are with this team. We painted our thumb nails black and we played Queen at the beginning of our warmups. It was a big team experience.”
She could not believe she is the only state champion when first told by AD Mark McGreevy and is most proud of her PAL record that still stands in the high jump.
“I was really surprised that I was still the only individual state champion,” said Perkins. “My record still stands at St. Francis and stood for eight years state wide. What I get more tickled about is I still have the PAL league record for high jump. It is fun to see that standing after more than 40 years.”
She started high jumping at St. Mary’s down the street, setting her on a track to the Hall of Fame in what became her signature event. She started jumping in the fourth grade with event coach Gary Herlinger and was coached by John DuCray at St. Mary’s and St. Francis.
“The first time I saw a high jump pit it was a bunch of foam shoved in a net and tied off on the end,” recalls Perkins. “They dragged it out into what is now the parking lot at St. Mary’s and brought a metal bar out. I thought I had to pole vault over it. I had no idea. I did the Western roll but then my coach told me I had to flop.”
Once she started flopping, the high jump technique popularized and perfected by American gold medalist Dick Fosbury, she improved every year.
“I was trending towards 6-0 every year since sixth grade,” said Perkins. “I was going up two inches, then six inches, two inches, then six inches. Six feet was what my coach was focusing on for me.”
She credits Sacramento State high jumper Bill Abbott for helping her develop her technique in practice sessions on the collegiate campus during her sophomore year. “He really is the one who got me over the bar,” said Perkins.
While she was in the gym each fall and winter, she really looked forward to the spring.
“In the spring it was warm and you are outside,” said Perkins. “(In track) it is all on me. I did high jump, hurdles, quarter mile and the mile relay. It was more of an individual sport and it was my time to think and take responsibility for my own success and failure.”
After winning the state title as a junior, she had a chance to defend her title as a senior. She won the section meet but a wrong step on the track set her back on the chance to repeat.
“It was tough,” said Perkins of the expectations. She was featured in stories in the Bee and Sacramento Union newspapers for her accomplishments. “I did not feel the pressure until sections. It was tough at sections (where she repeated as a champion). I qualified for state and I was walking across the field and I stubbed my toe. I ended up having a fractured toe on my right foot, my jumping foot and I had a bone spur already. I had to defend my title (with the injury) and it was really hard for me mentally. I got third my senior year. It was all I could do to compete.”
Perkins would go to Stanford on a full track and field scholarship and would make the volleyball team as a walk-on, continuing her dual sport success.
“It was a really great experience,” said Perkins of her time in Palo Alto. “It was really humbling walking into Stanford, especially for volleyball. I was not anywhere near the best but I was able to walk-on and make the team. Going from being the big fish in a little pond to a little fish in an ocean, that was how I liken my college experience both academically and sports wise.”
Today, she works in government administration as the Principal Advisor to the Board President at CalPERS. She and husband, Phil, have a Troubie daughter, Gabriella ’20, and are active volunteers in the St. Francis Booster Club. Karen is the President this year.
“It is so special,” said Perkins of her daughter’s St. Francis experience. “She has one of the teachers who taught me – Mr. Norman. He was one of our greatest basketball supporters along with Jane Trippet. (It is great) to have her have the St. Francis experience and the many opportunities to feed her passions. It means a lot that she is able experience the sisterhood at St. Francis I did. I still get together with my high school buds and we have a wonderful time and have great memories.”
Perkins will be inducted as part of the inaugural Hall of Fame Class on November 17 at 6 p.m. For tickets to the dinner banquet in the St. Francis Gymnasium, click here.
