Memoirs from the Simplot Games 2009

WOW!!!!!! - Is all I can say about this meet. I don’t know where to start.

Pocatello, Idaho is beautiful and cold in the winter. Idaho State University and the locals who hosted the Simplot games need to give lessons on hospitality. I have never been to a meet that showed absolutely no bias to any of the participants. During the opening ceremonies our kids got to experience “Olympic-like” festivities including the parade of states. It was absolutely the best atmosphere for a track meet. People knew the sport and cheered everyone as they competed. The kids were able to compete against kids from all over the country from New York, California, Texas, Georgia and Canada. They had training tables for kids who got hurt or just wanted or need a massage. It was first class all the way. I loved it and hope to return in the future.

Now let me talk about the kids who went to the meet. It saddens me because all are seniors and I will not be able to bring any of them back next year.

I will start with the only female who traveled to Pocatello, ID., Tierra Holloway. She competed in the 200m, 400m and long jump. In the 200m where 94 girls competed, Tierra easily won her heat with an indoor PR of 26.98, finishing 20th overall, just missing the final by two spot or .15 seconds. By the way, she relaxed and cruised into the finish line with a comfortable lead. Never do that! Remember the clock is your opponent not the people you’re racing. In the 400m, once again besting the field, she crossed the line 61.53. She finished 20th out of 73 girls who participated in the event. The long jump gave her highs and lows. She qualified for the finals on her very first attempt so she put her sweats back on and waited for the final on the next day. Her first attempt in the final was near or over 18 feet but she scratched by two inches. I had her back up six inches for her second attempt which was near the same area as her first but she was nearly eight inches over the board. On her last attempt I had her back up fourteen inches; she jumped well behind the board and managed a jump of 14’5.25. Good for 20th in the event out of 75 girls who participated.

Patrick Redic had a good but not great meet on his accounts. After a slew of false starts and stumbles at the start of the 200m. Patrick was the only kid DQ’ed from the event for a false start. In the 60m he rebounded. He won his heat and PR’ed by .01 in flats on boards. He came back in the final to finish 15th overall out of 114 participants with a PR of 7.19 in the 60m.

Orange “Ray” Lipscomb and Tyrell Anderson are troopers They both got hurt at the meet and spent a lot of time in the training room getting massages trying to assure there spots in the final for the relay. Ray won his heat and qualified for the final in the 400m in a time of 52.82 just off his indoor PR of 52.76. Complaining about his knee and with trainers looking at it, they said that he had some inflammation and gave him a sleeve to wear for the remainder of his races. He failed to qualify for the long jump due to pain in the knee. In the 400m finals Ray lead for nearly 320m of the race. At 340m he was spiked from behind and twisted his knee and fell of the track unable to finish his race. Tyrell hurt his thigh in the prelim of the 4x400m relay and had to get deep tissue massages three times a day while at the meet. He recovered to give the relay team what they needed to finish well.

Kevin Fogg was a superstar in Idaho. He and Patrick have a friendly rival going on in the 60m and the 200m. Patrick bested Kevin in Maryland last week in the 55m 6.56 to 6.59. I guess Kevin decided it was his turn to shine, and shine he did. Kevin won his heat in the 60m and qualified 18th in the 200m thus making it to the finals in both races. In the three heat 60m final, Kevin and Patrick would have an opportunity to go head to head once again with one person between them. Kevin getting the better of Patrick this time won the heat with a PR of 7.10 finishing tied for 8th overall out of 114 participants. In the 200m, Kevin really stepped his game up. Coming into the final as the last qualifier in the event, he wasn’t viewed as a favorite to place in the event. Running out of lane 6, the outside lane in indoors, Kevin didn’t see anyone during the entire race. He finished with a very fast 22.42 in his heat. He had to sit around the rest of the day and watch the other races to see where he would finish overall. As it all played out, Kevin ended up on the medal stand placing fourth overall in the 200m.

Now let me talk about the relays. I had a very difficult decision to make on who would be the fourth person for the relays for this meet. There were three people that were nearly equal on talent so I had to pray and look at practices closely to make this decision. The relays were the first events competed at the high altitude of Idaho and the boys had a difficult time adjusting to the thin air up. The 4x200 was first and after watching the first few and seeing quite a few falls I told the guys to use safe handoffs. They won their prelim with a time of 1:35.64 just making it into the final. The 4x400 was only one hour later and with the guys as well as myself struggling to breath, it proved too difficult. They finished 15th out of 38 teams, three spots or 2 seconds out of the final.

In the final of the 4x200m, running from lane one, Kevin got the team out with an early lead and Patrick opened it up to nearly 10 meters. With Tyrell running third leg, he gave the team what they needed as he held on to most of the lead that Kevin and Patrick gave them. Tyrell gave the baton to Ray who, now running with the sleeve that the trainers gave him to use, ran a very courageous race. We notice that he slowed up and gave up some ground in the final 50 meters. He later told us that the pain in his knee was beginning to intensify, however he held on for the win in the heat with a time of 1:32.84 finishing 7th out of 52 relays that competed.

We had a great meet and better times in Pocatello, Idaho. I want to say thank you to all the people who help made it possible for the kids to experience this great moment.

THANK YOU