HEAVY-METAL ENTHUSIAST

Quirke wants to put aside injuries and spin a 70-footer at state

(04-22) 21:48 PDT -- When Los Gatos High senior Colin Quirke was a little boy, he didn't chase his father around a baseball, football or soccer field. His childhood athletic education involved a more esoteric setting, but no less inspiring.

Paul Quirke, a shot putter for Ireland in the 1992 Olympics, brought up his son in a world in which he mingled with discus throwers and shot putters, many of whom were legends in the sport.

To read the entire article from the San Francisco Chronicle, check out the following link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/22/SPSA109T8I.DTL

Local athlete qualifies for Olympics in Marathon

•Olympic women's marathon trials: Lewy Boulet bound for Beijing, Lundy does not finish

• A DREAM COME TRUE
Tearful Lewy Boulet is on U.S. Olympic team

•Local marathoners to Olympics

•Lewy Boulet caps an Olympian rise

More Newspaper coverage from past week's Track and Field meets...

James Logan Top 8 Meet in the SF Chronicle
•Oakland senior wins in hurdles (Julian Purvis of St. Elizabeth)

CCS Top 8 Meet in the SF Chronicle
• Leaper's high aim falls short (Los Gatos senior still wins long jump with his best leap of season)
Woody Wilson Invitational in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat
•Results for Redwood Empire athletes

Phillips-McCain Invitational coverage in the Contra Costa Times
•Jung sets records on vault

College Track and Field signings in the Sacramento Bee
•On a fast track to college

Mtn. View vs. Gunn in the Los Altos Crier
•Mtn. View’s depth leads to sweep of Gunn

If you have any more links, please feel free to share them below in the comment box.

CCS Top 8 Meet Newspaper Coverage

From the San Mateo County Times
•Serra 4x100 relay team wins

From the San Jose Mercury News
•Surprenant hurdles field at Top 8 Classic

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel
•Aptos' Hunt wins both distance race at Top 8 meet

More to come on Sunday as we catch up with the James Logan Top 8 Meet, Phillips-McCain, Woody Wilson, Mt. SAC and a few more meets.

Changing Speeds to Go the Distance

Check out the following article courtesy of the New York Times featuring Sara Hall (formerly Sara Bei of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa).

SARA HALL experienced an instructive epiphany in 2006. In the fall, she’d won the national road-running championship for 5K (3.1 miles), a distance she specialized in at Stanford. At the time, she considered herself a 5K runner. So did everyone else.

A few weeks later, everything changed when she won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, a glamour event in American road racing. “Afterward, I thought, ‘That’s my distance,’ ” she said. “It plays to my strengths. I loved the fast pace. I’m not a patient runner.”

To read the rest of the article, check out the following link:
•Changing Speeds to Go the Distance

Must see Track and Field Videos

The coverage of Track and Field meets keeps improving by the day and this past week was no different many videos are online for your viewing pleasure. Here are my picks for must see videos that will either inspire or amaze you.

First, for anybody that has been to the Arcadia Invitational, here is a brief video that gives you a great feel for one of the best meets in the United States:
•Moses Galindo Video (courtesy of www.dyestatcal.com)

I was only able to view a few videos of the Arcadia Invitational but if you are a distance fan, the two must see races are the girls' 3200m. and the boys' 5000m. The former is a great dual between two of the best runners in the US and the latter race is a showcase for future Stanford runner Chris Derrick:
•Girls' 3200m. Invitational race (www.flotrack.com)
•Boys' 5k Invitational race (courtesy of www.flotrack.com)

Lastly, you can check out Scott Bauhs (former SRV runner, current Chico St. runner) break the four minute mile for the first time as he finishes in 3:59.81. The video is a bit shaky but worth the view just the same:
•Chico Twilight Mile (courtesy of www.flotrack.com)

Catch up of Track and Field articles...

•SM's Spencer gets the jump (Serra Invitational coverage)

•Meet provides championship previews (SacBee coverage of Arcadia meet)

•Franco medals in national competition (Eureka Reporter)

•CCS TRACK AND FIELD LEADERS (Palo Alto Online)

•Sub-four Scotty: Bauhs breaks school record with 3:59.81 mile

College Notebook: From Berkeley to Seattle, change of scenery good for Schmitt

Great update on former Redwood HS (NCS) star Jake Schmitt

WHEN Jake Schmitt arrived in the Pacific Northwest on New Year's Day of 2007, he had to wonder whether his decision to transfer to the University of Washington's track program from Cal was really such a good idea.

Hospitalized the night before he left with tonsillitis, Schmitt threw up on his flight to Seattle, and when he arrived on campus, it was snowing. Needless to say, the Redwood High graduate was having some second thoughts.

"At that point, there were a million things going through my mind, but mainly it was, 'What am I doing here?'" Schmitt said with a chuckle. "But I just kept smiling and kept my head up."

To read the rest of this article, check out the following link:
•College Notebook: From Berkeley to Seattle, change of scenery good for Schmitt

Northern California teams and individuals shine at Arcadia

Check out the results at the following link (more excitement to come today):
•Arcadia Results

SJ Mercury News/SF Chronicle Athletes of the Week

Lynbrook's Eric Surprenant gets this week's award following another impressive performance over the really long hurdles race (full 400m.) at the Stanford Invitational.

You can view the article at the following link:
•Eric Surprenant, Lynbrook - San Jose Mercury News

Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth gets the Athlete of the Week honors in the San Francisco Chronicle:
•Athletes of the Week

ALSO, Oak Grove middle distance ace, Sebastian Sam, gets a mention in the Highlight reel in the SJ Mercury for his impressive 400m. victory:
•Highlight reel

If you know of other newspaper links for Northern California Track and Field athletes, please send them to albertjcaruana@gmail.com