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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Southwest Classic So-So for Athletes

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      There's always next year.
    The high school athletes from the East Mountains and Estancia Valley areas barely registered on the results sheets for the 2008 Great Southwest Track and Field Classic. The event was held June 5 through 7 at the University of New Mexico's track stadium.
    First off, there were only three local athletes competing after four had originally indicated their intention to participate at the prestigious postseason meet. The Great Southwest invites the best athletes from a seven-state area as well as a few elite competitors from across the country.
    Estancia's Kaiya Coburn was ill during the second day of the arduous, two-day, seven-event heptathlon under a hot sun. The 2008 Class 2A girls 100-meter hurdles silver medalist had to go to the bathroom several times during the long-jump portion of the multi-event in order to vomit in private.
    “Wow, like six or seven times, I had to leave while I was trying to compete,” said Coburn, a 5-foot-6 Lady Bears senior-to-be. “My stomach started hurting on Thursday (June 5) night. I didn't feel good at all. I just didn't do well because of that. I just wanted to finish it, get through it.”
    After placing sixth in the javelin, her best showing with a throw of 96 feet, 1 inch, she mouthed, “I don't feel good” to her father, Estancia boys coach Troy Coburn.
    Kaiya Coburn wound up in 19th place overall with 3,083 points in a field of 22. She was 19th out of 21 with 3,177 points in 2007, and 17th for last place with 2,845 points as a first-year sophomore.
    Pennsylvania's Ryann Krais was first this year with 5,522 points. Cibola's Amber Menke, the top New Mexico finisher, was 17th with 3,401.
    “I'm excited about next year in all the sports,” said Coburn, who will now concentrate on various volleyball camps and tournaments for the remainder of the summer. “It's going to be fun.”
    Estancia's Derek Georgia, a 6-foot, 170-pound rising junior, was accepted into the meet's boys decathlon field only a few days before the two-day competition. He was a Great Southwest rookie entrant.
    “I finished the highest in the 110 hurdles, in the first event of the second day,” Georgia said. “I ran a 16.83 (seconds). I think my best time at state in the 110s was a (16.64) for fourth place.”
    Georgia was listed as DNF (Did Not Finish) in the final decathlon standings, though in actuality he did. The officials stopped recording his points after he did not report for the pole vault on Friday.
    “He's not going to do it,” Troy Coburn said as the other pole vaulters warmed up. “I don't want him to get hurt. He's never done it before.”
    “I went and did the javelin,” Georgia said later regarding his final two events. “I did about 100 (feet) in the warmups, but then I only did about 90. And then I went and ran the (1,500). I ran a (5 minutes, 34 seconds). I'd only been running it for about a week. Coach said, 'Just get your feet wet.' I just wanted to get out there and try. By participating this year, I automatically get invited next year.”
    Albuquerque Academy senior-to-be Curtis Beach, who attended South Mountain Elementary in Edgewood prior to moving to the Duke City, won the decathlon with 7,262 points.
    Beach's Academy teammate, Kyle Cooper, who recently graduated, was 17th in the 2,000 steeplechase with a time of 8:05.81. Cooper lives in Cedar Crest.
   

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