The Magic of
Hughes Stadium
By Rich Gonzalez

By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal
       (SACRAMENTO) -- My first sojourn to Hughes Stadium was way back in 1995 when, as a cub sports reporter for a daily circulation chain of just over 120,000 readers, my assignment was to cover the USATF (then-TAC) national championships of track and field.
       Although 12 years ago, my most vivid recollection of that action-packed week was of Michael Johnson storming across the finish line in the 200-meter dash, facing sideways and smiling wide the last few strides, arms oustretched and raised in the air as if to tell Sacramento, "What Do You Think Of Me Now!"
      From that moment on, I was 'hooked.' The crowd went crazy, the press box was abuzz, and "Michael" was well on his way to dominance at the Olympic Games in Atlanta the following summer.
      But the most memorable meet here surely occurred nearly three decades earlier -- before I was even born -- when the then-AAU National Championships were conducted on this very same Sacramento City College track, with the ensuing drama becoming one for the history books.
      In what became dubbed as "The Night of Speed", an unprecedented three individuals dipped under 10 seconds for 100 meters in the same race on that one magical June night in 1968 as the world record took a beating and racewinner Charlie Greene set the new world standard at 9.9 seconds!
      This was also the track where Tommie Smith became the first human to run 20 seconds flat for the 220-yard race distance employed at the time. And the track where "King Carl" Lewis stormed into stardom at the 1981 national championships!
      Fast forward a few decades and the Hughes Stadium track is at it again, albeit at the high school track and field level. Home to the annual late-April Sacramento Meet of Champions high school meet, the MOC has quickly gained momentum as one of the top regular-season meets in the nation.
      Then of course, there is the California state meet, which has been hosted here 10 times before -- first in 1950 (when five meet records were set), and also five times within the past 10 years.
      The big reason for Hughes Stadium's popular lore? As always, it's about SPEED!
      Over the years, the likes of Angela Williams, David Gettis, Quincy Watts, Ebony Collins, Steve Kerhoe, Lindsay Hyatt, Lionel Larry, Monique Henderson, David Klech, Janeene Vickers, Kevin Craddock, Lashinda Demus, Kareem Kelly, Sherri and Denean Howard and Co. have dazzled the crowds with their fabulous footwork, recording clockings that have perforated the all-time lists with wreckless abandon.
       In fact, the girls' national 4x400-meter relay record has been broken twice before in this decade on the Hughes Stadium surface, with Long Beach Wilson turning the feat in 2001 and archrival Long Beach Poly claiming it three years later.
      True, California is downright loaded with talent, but it takes a special environment to consistently produce alarming times.
      So why the super-fast times? What's the secret? If you listen closely and stand steadily, you can hear the answer.
      ** ** **
      In my first trip to Hughes Stadium for a high schools-only meet three years ago, the solo trek northward was undertaken to winess the Sacramento Meet of Champions. It had been a freakishly busy season and this reporter needed to get away from the Southland for a weekend to de-stress, taking in a NorCal-based meet that seemed to have some good entries. It would be a chance to "re-charge" my batteries before the "Road To State" was to begin. Plus, the images of Michael dancing along that magical track a decade earlier were still ringing in my subconscious.
      It was the mid-afternoon, and the 'non'-invitational races were playing out. Much to my pleasant surprise, plenty of fine marks spilled out. By the time evening hit, I figured maybe the seeding was wrong and there'd be some letdown in the invitational races. Huh, huh, huh. Not quite.
      Athletes began posting alarming times, with a national leader, a few state leaders, and a being chunk of region-leading marks. As a wind purred across the track, the speed events were particularly entertaining.
      But the times were just too damn fast, and deemed wind legal! I admit it -- more than once, I strolled over to the wind gauge, aiming to ensure that the readings provided by the volunteer were reliable. They appeared to be. Unrelenting, this reporter stuck around the gauge for two more races as the steady flow of air siphoned across the facility. Sure enough, the next wind reading came back under the allowable 2.0 meters per second. This place was magical.
      Upon my return to Los Angeles, I told my astute colleagues, Mike Kennedy and Doug Speck, "Hey, you gotta guys make it out to this meet next year... it's the best-kept secret meet on the West Coast."
      Kennedy and Speck eventually bought my pitch and were in attendance 12 months later. A few hours into the unseeded day meet, the fast times started rolling in. Impressed by the marks, Kennedy began talking to himself on the in field. The hours passed and the sun began dipping. Faster times continue to drizzle into the results tent. Kennedy, no doubt as skeptical as his predecessor the year before, dallied over to the wind gauge. Then he stood guard at the gauge for another race. Then another. I smiled and chuckled to myself.
      Another race; and another fast time. Speck was on the infield. The building breeze was a nice respite from the unrelenting heat of earlier in the day and furled his hair across his forehead as he stroked it back into place. Speck asked Kennedy what the reading was. Kennedy shot back: "Legal!" Speck half-playfully dropped his jaw.
     We discussed it for a few minutes, noting the wind pattern. Observing the lightly flickering flags on the pole at one end of the track, feeling the gentle streams of air at the same time, and noting the legal wind readings, it was clear the the gust patterns at Hughes Stadium were tangential, creating just enough "aid" to help produce fast times, but arriving at just the right angle to the wind gauge to not record over the allowable.
      Any more parallel to the gauge, and the air flow would create a wind-aided reading. Any more perpendicular, and the effect would be hindering the athletes to a mild degree. But as it was, the very mild current was absolutly perfect.
      A sprinter's dream. A sprint coach's dream. A track fan's dream.
      A track facility's wonderful little secret.

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