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Alicia King (Rancho Verde)
puts the "us" in team!

May, 2006
Rancho Verde HS (Moreno Valley)
Thinking of the team first!

In a world of "Me, me, me," it is nice to come across a situation where someone today kind of looks to the "family" and "us" of an activity and makes some personal sacrifices for the good of the group. At last weekend's Southern Section Divisional meet in the Division I 200 we noticed the non-participation of Alicia King of Rancho Verde HS in Moreno Valley. It turns out in talking to Coach Chris Drescher of RV that Alicia felt the 4x400 relay squad would need her strong participation to move on to the State Qualifying meet, and she personally made the decision to drop the half lap event and rest up for the 4x4 race. The decision turned out to be a good one, with the squad racing a big seasonal best of 3:52.55 for 4th place Division I, a school record, and a qualifying time for the challenging Southern Section State Qualifying competition this Friday. With the mark the #7 qualifier for the Section finals, but ahead of the 3:53.17 "at-large" qualifier for the state meet, with a good race Friday the long baton group should be back in a week for State at Cerritos, with King's personal sacrifice a good part of the reason for that possibility!

Alicia took the time to answer some questions or us about her season, running, and last Saturday.

1) Sure seems like it has been an exciting year out your way in track this
season - how has it been to be a part of the Rancho Verde team action?

I'm glad to be a part of a team that has come so far. We have a great
coaching staff and they have done a good job coaching. It's because of them
that we have been able to do so well as a team. We set the school record in
both relay's. There are a lot of great people on the team and I had fun
getting to know them.

2) How long have you been involved in track and how did you get started?

I've been running track for almost 9 years and I became involved because most
of my family has and they thought that I would be good at it, I ended up
falling in love with the sport.

3) What other sports have you been involved with along the way?

I tried out flag football in middile school but for the most part the only
sport I've been involved in is track.

4) What is the sense of "team" that there is to this year's Rancho Verde
girls' squad? What has made it a positive one if you feel that it is?

For the most part all of us want to help each other out in any way that we
can. I guess that you could say we have a strong bond and genuinely care
about each other. We all are willing to do what's right for the team.

5) What events did you qualify into the CIF SS Divisional meet in?

I qualified in both the 400 and 1600 meter relay's the 100 and 200.

6) I seemed to notice that you did not run the 200 meters--what were your
thoughts about that event?

After I ran the 100 I realized that I would not be able to run the 200 and
pull my own weight in the 4X400. So I decided not to run the 200 in order to
give Melinda a chance to qualify in an event (ed note - Melinda 4x400 relay team member) .

7) I assume you came back to run the 4x400 relay - what were your thoughts
surrounding the 200 and relay late in the meet at the Divisional
competition?

I figured that since I didn't run the 200 I'd do a good in job in the relay
after I ran I was really tired but I knew that I made the right decision.

8) How did the 4x400 group do Saturday?

We did a really good job. We ended up breaking the school record with a time
of 3:52.55, and advancing to the Master's Meet.

9) Two weeks to go, what do you think you can accomplish in those two weeks?

Hopefully I'll be able to pull my weight again and help both relays advance
all the way to the state meet, and maybe I'll be able to sneak in, in the
100 too.

Thanks and best of luck
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com