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DyeStatCal Athletes of the
Week
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***2006 DyeStatCal
Featured Meets***
  
 
   
DyeStatCal Athletes
of the Week The weather was not perfect this past weekend for action,
but the weatherman has kind of turned to the track and field crew's
side with some tolerable conditions, and the marks on the track
and in the field reflected the determination of the state's athletes
to
get out there and perform at a high level. There were some great
competitions and efforts, with the sport turning the corner
into April with its series of top Invitationals before the road to
the state meet starts in May. This week's Athletes of the Week
both come from the Mt. Carmel Invitational in San Diego, with that
competition having to give up its title as the "world's (or maybe at
least Southern California's) greatest invitational on a dirt facility"
with the meet this year probably the competition's best ever on the
school's new, fine all-weather track and field layout! An interesting contrast in size and events, the huge Savage (6-4 and 315) and at least a foot shorter Collins fill the range of events in the sport, with Collins one of the nation's top sprinter/hurdlers on the female side, and Savage one of the country's best in the boys' weight events! Ebony is the defending State 100 Meter and 300 Meter Hurdle champion, along with legs on the Bruin winning 4x100 and 4x400 crew last June at State, with Savage the State Discus Champ and 6th in the Shot last year in Sacramento.
Destined to be one of the Golden State's all-time greats, and with a combination of speed and hurdling ability that appears capable of putting the prep long hurdle records somewhere out there in the stratosphere, Ebony Collins, who has accomplished so much, yet is surprisingly only an eleventh grader! With the #2 US prep time ever in the 300 meter hurdles (and national soph class record) of 40.10 in her state meet win last year, Collins only has teammate Lashinda Demus's National Record of 39.98 ahead of her on the high school lists. Each time she steps on the track to seriously compete in the event there is the possibility of real sub-40 fireworks. Speed, no shortage, with a silver medal from the World Youth Championships last summer in Morocco, at 11.44, a competiton in which she also was the 400 meter hurdles winner in a startling 55.96 (#3 Prep time ever and another US soph class record). Her win in the State meet 100 last June showed her toughness and focus, with the hold-up of that event while the crowd protested the controversial disqualification of Kristina Davis quite distracting. When they got down to running the event Ebony trounced a super field by .17 at 11.50! Ever since we watched Ebony run as an elementary age student in the Junior Olympics there has been a fearless intensity to her serious competitive efforts that make it clear this is one young lady who can really "go to the well!" This past weekend in San Diego at the Mt. Carmel meet she was the 100 meter hurdles winner at 14.01, the 300 meter hurdles winner at 43.82, the 400 meter flat winner at 54.24, and our guess is that she was on the 46.65 winning LB Wilson 4x100 team. Not a bad day, and a range of successes that few at the prep level have the capability to match! It should be a great next couple of months in the sport, with Ebony's 400 meter hurdle successes hopefully translating into success at the US Junior level and possible participation all the way to the World Junior (under age 20) Championships in Beijing, China in late summer! She is the fastest in the world returning eligible age-wise for that competiton, and who knows it might be the practice run for a serious effort to make it back to China in 2008 for the meet that has five rings to it (Olympic rings that is)!! I know Ebony will love to hear this, but we honestly
think she might be a good candidate to be the first prep ever under
2:00 for the Girls 800. Ah, for the days of the good old Pepsi
Invitational the Frankens used to run at UCLA on a Sunday in May,
where Collins could hook on to some of the nation's best at the senior
level, cruise along at about 1:28.5 at the 600 (how hard could that
be for an 11.44 sprinter who can crank probably a 51 second 400 relay
split) and see what takes place over the final 200! But, oh
well, we will be content with action that ends at one lap and are
certainly looking forward to two more years with the local star!! BOYS ATHLETE OF WEEK - Darius Savage (Morse, San Diego) With cat-like quickness and control that few of his size are capable of, Darius has moved himself to the elite level on the gridiron in the Fall and in the weight events in the Spring track and field season! This past weekend the Morse twelfth grader finally achieved his 60-foot Shot Put, with a 60-03 win at the Mt. Carmel Meet, and he added a super 197-10 Discus effort there! During the last few months he concluded the recruiting trail by signing with the UCLA Bruins. UCLA Coach Art Venegas is one who can take Savage to the next level with the collegiate-size implements, with Carl Dorrel having plans for Savage on the defensive line. During a ten win season this Fall the Bruins still had a defense that regularly sprung some pretty serious leaks on the way to a #113 (out of 117 teams listed) ranking in the NCAA Division I final listings on that side of the ball! With the guy across town indicating very successfully recently that players of any year on campus have an equal footing as a possible starter, we are inclined to think Coach Dorrel will make that same commitment to his talented frosh stars, and that Savage will have a chance to play early for the Bruins. During the spring under Art Venegas's direction, anything is possible, with the Bruin program in the weights simply the best in the nation! But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, with Darius part of what is developing into a great group of Golden State weight throwers, with some super competitions at our level over the next two months. As a matter of fact it will become very intense in the immeidate future, with the April 7th-8th Arcadia Invitational featuring, along with Savage, in the Discus 197-11 star Bo Taylor, Washington thrower Korion Morris (Renton) 195-03, 194-03 thrower Cameron Carter (with a 206-05 foot foul at Surf City), and Nick Robinson (El Toro) 190-00. The Shot Put at Arcadia features Cameron Elisara (Ferris, Spokane, Wash) 61-09, Robinson 61-02, Morris 60-05, Savage, Joseph Fraijo (St. Mary's, Stockton) 59-10, and a flock of others over 57 feet!! Should be fun!!! Athletes of the
Week - Sections Statewide San Diego Section Girls - Katy Andrews (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad). Talented soph chased Christy Adamyk of Glendora from the Southern Section in the Mt. Carmel Invite 1600, with Adamyk recording a 5:00.52 win, and Andrews a fine 5:03.28 in second for the area's fastest of the spring!! Northern
Section Boys - Austin Fritzke (Mt. Shasta) - Defending Section 1600 meter champion is off to a fine start for the 2006 spring season with a 4:25.1 in early season action! Girls - Erynn Rebol (Red Bluff) talented frosh distance runner had a fine 5:23.1 1600 in a dual with Chico, then added a 2:29 800 win in the same competition. North Coast Section Boys - Mike Perez (Lower Lake) - amazing four-lapper
continues to shock with his improvement, this time with a monster
final half-lap burst that had him end ahead of Foot Locker National
Finalist Ben Sitler in the St. Francis Invitational with a super
4:13.3 for a full mile! Central Coast Section Girls - Tori Anthony (Castilleja, Palo Alto) was part of the vault celebration at the St. Francis Invitational, with the recent National Scholastic Indoor Champion, taking the local outdoor competition at 12-04.
San Francisco/Oakland Sections Boys - The McClymonds' Boys 400 meter relay won the Mustang/Gator Invitational over the weekend at San Francisco State in a good 43.80.
Central Section Boys - Damon Bly (Mt. Whitney, Visalia) is one of the Central Section's top sprinters, with an 11.08-22.58 double sprint win in the Yosemite Divison of the Monarch/Exeter Relays last weekend. A quality footballer, junior Bly is considered a top defensive back statewide for next year, with 47 rushes for 282 yards this past season on the offensive side of the ball. He marked a win over USC FB recruit at Exeter, as David Ausberry (Lemoore) was second in the 200 at 22.84.
Los Angeles section Boys - Tran Howell (Los Angeles) Took the Surf City 400m at 48.73, with a 10.71w for second in the 100 there. After a 10.3 100m in a dual that turned out to be on a 93 meter course, the Los Angeles athlete proved himself to be among the state's best sprinters, with the usual high quality of competition at his LA City level!! Girls - Myra Hasson (Gardena) A lot of action this week for the Gardena senior, with a 24.0w 200 (24.7 in an end of the week dual meet), 57.7 400, with the USC signee felt to be one of the nation's top long sprinters adding a 5-02 effort in the High Jump this past week. Southern Section
Girls -Shannon Murakami (Saugus) the Saugus junior has just been on a tear this spring! This week it was a 2:14-1-4:55.0-11:38.9 dual meet triple, then a 4:51.08 win in the Surf City Meet over 1600 meters that left viewers very impressed with her conditioning to this point. She is another who will face a monster group in two weekends at Arcadia, with company assured as she attempts to better her times. Sac Joaquin Section Boys - Ryan Shuler (Granite Bay) - Part of the great Granite Bay vaulting crew, Shuler took the Bella Vista Bronco Invitational Pole Vault at 15-06 to continue a great season of vaulting. Girls - Hillary Kigar (El Camino, Sacramento) The El Camino soph has continued right where she left off in Cross-Country, running a series of very solid races at the start of the track season, with an 11:05.0 solo run to win the Bella Vista Bronco 3200 this past weekend.
Charting the State & Section Athletes of Week!!
Link to 3/06/06 Athlete of Week
Summary
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