Sunday, April 30, 2023

The Ventura County Youth Track Conference JV East County Finals


Fri.-Sat., April 28-29, 2023

These two days were dominated by Saturday's Ventura County Youth Track Conference JV East County Finals which would be Jacob and Mary's last meet of their initial track season.

Athletes from the Camarillo Cosmos, Moorpark Striders, Newbury Park Panthers and Thousand Oaks Flyers gathered at Camarillo H.S. for six hours of fun and frivolity.

But first, there were some happenings on Friday.

First, I brought my dominos set to Pasadena to take on my Mother in a titanic 17 game series in the recreation room of her skilled nursing facility.

At one point in this epic face-off which was broadcast live on ESPN 8, a.k.a., "The Ocho," she asked me what the score was. I answered truthfully that she was ahead seven games to three. Her observation of that score was simple and to the point, "I'm beating you badly. I've been playing this game all my life."

So much for our bonding moment. I did make a bit of a comeback after that but it was a case of too little, too late. The final core favored my 98 year old Mother 10-7.

A rematch is scheduled for next Wednesday, I'll be studying on-line for every tip that I can find about this ancient game.

Also on Friday, a Prom

As I mentioned in an earlier post this week, our son Michael likes to work in his off-time with the Special Needs students at Newbury Park H.S. Mostly he does this by volunteering to coach the group's various Unified Sports teams.

On Friday night he took Mary along as his date to the NPHS Special Needs students' Prom. They both said that they had an enjoyable time at the function.

Time for a big track meet

The flowers were in bloom at
the Camarillo H.S. track

The first event at 8:30 a.m. was
Mary's 8U Long Jump

She stuck the landing

Mary's best jump of the day was 6'-9" placing her 15th out of 39 Girl jumpers aged 8 and Under.

Jacob running a great first leg of his
Boys 11-12 4 x 100 Meter relay

That's Laurie at the fence rooting Jacob on.
 
Making up the stagger

Jacob's team ran a time of 1:03.76 in finishing second of the six teams in their age group.

Jacob was happy with 
his start of the meet

Next, it was Jacob's turn
at the Long Jump pit

Good hang time on this leap

Jacob had a PR jump of 12'-3" which made him the third best jumper out of 30 competitors.

It was time for Mary's 100 Meter Dash

She was in a tough heat
with lots of speedy girls

Her time of 20.45 was the 23rd fastest of the 40 sprinters in the 8U age group.

Jacob had a good start in his
100 Meter Dash for Boys aged 11-12

This was a really close heat

He battled to the end finishing
third in his heat

He ran a PR time of 15.46 which was the 13th fastest time of the 48 sprinters in his age group.

Mary's favorite race is the 800Meter Run

That is two long laps around the track

Mary finished eighth out of 11 girls in her age group with a clocking of 3:54.38.

The 200 Meter Dash is Jacob's
favorite event

He made up the stagger quickly today

WOW!

He was way ahead of all of the competition in his heat as they neared the straightaway.

Striding out

This was a proud Poppo
moment for me

Overall, Jacob's 32.88 time ranked him seventh out of the 22 sprinters in his age group today.

Mary also ran the 200 Meter Dash

Her 47.91 time ranked her 13th of the 17 girls aged 8U.

Jacob starting the third leg
of the 4 x 400 Meter Relay

This was the best he had looked
in this grueling event all year

Finishing his leg in good time

Although we had four youth track clubs in attendance, only the Camarillo Cosmos entered teams in the Boys 11-12 race.

Jacob's ran the race in 5:41.05 to finish second.

Mary was happy at the end of the day

Actually, they were both happy
with their first ever track seasons

They both said that they want to be a Cosmos again next Spring which was great to hear. They will both be in the same age groups next season but will compete as the older kids in their groups, not the youngest as they were this year.

It should be fun. Laurie and I both look forward to seeing them run and jump again in 2024.

Here is a list of the kids PR's for the season:

Mary Contreras
Iron Chick Award Winner
2023 Girls 8 & Under Age Group
Personal Records
100 Meters - 19.92
200 Meters - 47.63
400 Meters - 1:39.36
800 Meters - 3:31.25
1600 Meters - 7:55.60
4 x 100 Meters Relay - 1:24.21
Long Jump 7'-9 1/2"

Jacob Contreras
Iron Dude Award Winner
2023 Boys 11-12 Age Group
Personal Records
100 Meters - 15.46
200 Meters - 32.79
400 Meters - 1:24.70
800 Meters - 2:54.03
1600 Meters - 6:29.07
3200 Meters - 14:33.56
80 Meters Hurdle - 18.26
4 x 100 Meters Relay - 1:03.27
4 x 400 Meters Relay - 5:39.02
Long Jump 12'-3"
Shot Put - 16'-1 3/4"

The now traditional post-meet meal
at El Tecolote Mexican Restaurant
in Camarillo

Michael let Mary order his meal

I let Jacob do the same for me. Both Michael and I enjoyed two great meals picked by the kids.

Mary crashed

After attending that Prom on Friday night and then competing in her four events on a warm today, it was allowed.

American Football news . . .

The Rams NFL Draft picks the
past two days in Rounds 2-6

Let the re-building commence.

As is the norm, the Rams had no picks in the 2023's First Round on Thursday.

The Black Demons won the
2023 Spanish Serie A Championship

The LG Oled Black Demons (10-0) beat the Osos Rivas (7-3) for their first ever Serie A title after having lost in the championship games in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

All three of the defending champion Osos' losses in the 2023 campaign came at the hands of the Black Demons by scores of 3-2, 7-0 and now 22-13.

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