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May 16, 2008
HOMES | DINING | HEALTH | RECREATION | CLASSIFIEDS
Wolverine girls win team track title
by Jennifer Birkland
Correspondent
Last Saturday’s Bay Valley
Athletic League track and fi eld
championships at De La Salle
High School brought out the
best in the Deer Valley girls team,
which took home eight of the 16
available fi rst-place medals en
route to its fi fth team title in six
years.
Carondelet fi nished second,
while Freedom, Heritage and Liberty
placed third, fourth and fi fth,
respectively.
De La Salle won the boys
team title, its last in the Bay Valley
Athletic League – at least for
a while, since the Spartans will
compete in the East Bay Athletic
League next season.
Deer Valley’s varsity boys
placed second as a team. And
although the Wolverines are the
odds-on favorite for next year’s
team title, head coach Bernard
Stephens would rather see De La
Salle stick around.
“I’m sad to see them go, actually,”
Stephens said. “You don’t get
any better running against teams
that are less athletic than you. We
have a good rivalry between us
and it’s always good competition.
They’re a great team.”
Clayton Valley fi nished third
in the varsity boys team division,
while Heritage, Pittsburg and
Freedom placed fourth through
sixth, respectively. Liberty fi nished
eighth and Antioch placed
seventh in both the boys and girls
divisions.
The top six fi nishers in each
event at the BVAL championships
advance to this weekend’s North
Coast Section Tri-Valley meet at
Granada High School in Livermore
for a chance to compete at
Taking a lap with
the BVAL’s best
by Avi Burk
Staff Writer
Hundreds of Contra Costa
County’s best and brightest young
swimmers converged on Heritage
High School on Saturday, May 10
for this year’s Bay Valley Athletic
League Swim Championships,
and a handful Far East County
athletes made a splash.
No local swimmer enjoyed
greater individual success than
Deer Valley’s Aaron Wayne, who
repeated last year’s performance,
capturing two league titles. The
star junior won both the 50- and
100-yard freestyle events, posting
times of 21.09 and 46.48 seconds,
respectively.
“It means a lot to me,” said
Freedom senior Hunter Simpson took fi rst place in the high
jump at last weekend’s Bay Valley Athletic League Track and
Field Championships, clearing a height of 6-feet, 8-inches,
besting his closest competitor by 8 inches. He’s shown here
clearing a height of 6-5 earlier in the season.
Wayne. “Last year I had two fi rstplace
fi nishes as well, so it feels
really good to have them again.
I had some great swims: I had a
best-time in the 50 and was pretty
close to a best-time in the 100 free,
and that’s setting me up for some
pretty nice swims at NCS two
weeks from now.”
Wayne’s teammate, senior
Gerald Gee, also swam his way
to an individual victory, clipping
Freedom’s Josh Meints by
less than a second to win the 100
backstroke in a time of 53.27 seconds.
Freedom head coach Robin
Kneer was quick to point out
that fatigue played a major role in
the outcome of the race, but was
equally quick to emphasize what a
phenomenal swimmer Gee is, and
Photo by Jolly Hanson
the NCS Meet of Champions at
UC Berkeley the following weekend.
In the varsity girls running
events, Deer Valley’s Unique Marshall
captured victories in both the
100- and 200-meter events, with
times of 12.75 seconds and 25.62
seconds, respectively. Senior Jasmine
Cox added to her resumé
of league titles, winning both the
400- and 800-meter events with
times of 56.16 and 2 minutes,
14.97 seconds, respectively. Cox
that he earned the win.
Both Wayne and Gee, who
will swim on scholarship at Fresno
Pacifi c University next year,
are North Coast Section veterans.
Wayne fi nished fourth in the 100
free and fi fth in the 50 free last
year, while Gee took ninth in the
100 backstroke. Both are expected
to fi nish even higher at this year’s
event.
Despite fi nishing second to
Gee in the backstroke, Meints, a
and Marshall will also compete at
the NCS Tri-Valley meet as members
of both winning relay teams.
Deer Valley senior Ese Ntekume
earned two league titles in
her fi nal season of competition,
placing fi rst in the 300-meter hurdles
with a time of 45.56 seconds.
Her distance of 36-feet, 1-inch in
the triple jump was nearly two feet
farther than the second-place fi nisher.
Freedom’s Aimee Rodgers
earned the victory in the 100 hurdles
with a time of 15.71 seconds.
She fi nished behind Ntekume in
the 300 hurdles.
The throwing events were all
Freedom, as Hina Kaleialii won
both the shot put and discus with
marks of 32-11 and 108 feet, respectively.
Liberty senior Ashley Reno
won the pole vault, clearing 10-
1. Reno will attempt to reach her
personal record of 10-6 for the
NCS Tri-Valley meet.
Deer Valley’s varsity boys
claimed seven fi rst-place fi nishes
on Saturday.
Senior Josh Winfi eld was the
only double winner for the Wolverines,
taking home titles in the
200 and 400 meters with times of
see Track page 5B
Josh Meints, a junior at
Freedom High School
shown here winning
the backstroke at a
previous meet, took
fi rst place in the 200yard
individual medley
with a time of 1:57.33
and fi nished second
in the 100 backstroke,
less than a second off
the pace.
Photo by Jolly Hanson
junior, still managed to take home
a league title in the 200 individual
medley, fi nishing in just 1:57.33,
nearly three full seconds faster
than his runner up.
Meints was joined in the winners’
circle by senior teammate
Robert Erikson, who took fi rst in
the 100 breaststroke with a time
of 1:01.19.
“Josh is going places,” said
see Swim page 5B
THIS WEEK
Peddling
clean energy
Strap on your helmet. A new
shop in town is gearing up to
offer frugal fun and singular
service.
Page 6B
Sweetening
the deal
Cancer survivors got the inside
scoop on the upcoming Relay
For Life at a recent Ice Cream
Social.
Page 10B
Over the
rainbow
The Yellow Brick Road leads
straight to Excelsior Middle
School, where a timeless tale
takes the stage.
Page 12B
Entertain
yourself
Theater, art exhibits, concerts,
karaoke – you’ll find a full
menu of fun in our Entertainment
Calendar.
Page 22B
Classifieds
Looking to buy or sell something?
Looking for a job? Look
no further than this section.
Page 15B