2008 Woodie Awards
Monarchs Rule at Mini-Meet
Valley runs circles around the competition in Bakersfield
David Brown
Issue date: 3/3/04 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
The Monarchs' track and field team walked away with five wins Saturday, including two first places, two second places and one third place, despite being the smallest team at the meet.
Athletes from Bakersfield, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Monica and Valley gathered in the cold at Memorial Stadium for the Western State Conference mini-meet to compete on a puddle-riddled track.
The Monarchs started off strong, placing in the first two events of the day with Paul Hines' 129-foot javelin throw good for third and D'Andre Good's 21-foot-6-inch long jump taking second.
"That was a nice throw," commented an official watching Hines' toss, "he's using all arm."
Valley dominated the sprints, taking two wins in the 100 meter. Arthur Sulcer finished first with a time of 10.8 seconds; Good came in second at 11.1.
Before the race, Good told his teammates that he was just going to jog because he had re-aggravated a hamstring injury from football (he is a star defensive back for Valley). He had everyone fooled.
"Of course he did [run full speed]," said Coach Francois Wolman, "he is a competitor."
Sulcer also claimed first in the 200 meter with a time of 22.7 seconds, despite never having competed at that distance before the meet.
"Winning isn't everything," Sulcer said, "but is sure does feel great."
Philip Parks, one of the team's distance runners, missed the vans to Bakersfield, but managed to get there in time to compete in the last event, the 3000 meter. He took a Greyhound bus all the way to downtown Bakersfield and hitched a ride from there to Memorial Stadium. Parks missed two races Saturday, including the 1500 meter.
"I was in the coach's office yelling," Parks said, "because I had miss the vans and one of the staff told me to take a Greyhound."
Although the track team has enjoyed a boost in its roster size lately, Coach Wolman stressed the need for more athletes to join. The team is losing scoring opportunities because they do not have enough athletes to compete in all of the events.
Nevertheless, the undermanned Valley squad came away with plenty of honors to make the trip to Bakersfield worthwhile.
Athletes from Bakersfield, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Monica and Valley gathered in the cold at Memorial Stadium for the Western State Conference mini-meet to compete on a puddle-riddled track.
The Monarchs started off strong, placing in the first two events of the day with Paul Hines' 129-foot javelin throw good for third and D'Andre Good's 21-foot-6-inch long jump taking second.
"That was a nice throw," commented an official watching Hines' toss, "he's using all arm."
Valley dominated the sprints, taking two wins in the 100 meter. Arthur Sulcer finished first with a time of 10.8 seconds; Good came in second at 11.1.
Before the race, Good told his teammates that he was just going to jog because he had re-aggravated a hamstring injury from football (he is a star defensive back for Valley). He had everyone fooled.
"Of course he did [run full speed]," said Coach Francois Wolman, "he is a competitor."
Sulcer also claimed first in the 200 meter with a time of 22.7 seconds, despite never having competed at that distance before the meet.
"Winning isn't everything," Sulcer said, "but is sure does feel great."
Philip Parks, one of the team's distance runners, missed the vans to Bakersfield, but managed to get there in time to compete in the last event, the 3000 meter. He took a Greyhound bus all the way to downtown Bakersfield and hitched a ride from there to Memorial Stadium. Parks missed two races Saturday, including the 1500 meter.
"I was in the coach's office yelling," Parks said, "because I had miss the vans and one of the staff told me to take a Greyhound."
Although the track team has enjoyed a boost in its roster size lately, Coach Wolman stressed the need for more athletes to join. The team is losing scoring opportunities because they do not have enough athletes to compete in all of the events.
Nevertheless, the undermanned Valley squad came away with plenty of honors to make the trip to Bakersfield worthwhile.
