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For your California Prep Track & Field Needs
2000 Buffalo National JO's Interviews Page 1
Glenn Digiorgio – Unattached, Bayonne, New York (above) It’s not easy when your brother was one of the top athletes in the nation at the prep level for the last few years and now has gone on to great success at the Collegiate level, but Glenn Digiorgio, following closely on the heels of brother Kevin, a 69-08.25 Prep Shot Putter with the 12 pound ball a couple of years back, is doing just great!! At the USATF Junior Olympics in Buffalo, New York, he started off the first morning of a full schedule on Thursday with a big win in the Intermediate Boys Shot Put, tossing the prep level iron ball 57-08.25 to win his division handily. We caught up with the 5’10” 205 pound Bayonne, New Jersey, star just after his event in Buffalo. His best for the regular prep season was 61-07, and he added that his goal for the last spring was to get over 60 feet sometime during the year. With his brother’s best at the same soph grade level of 60-08 he added that he was ahead of Kevin’s pace at the same level. With an August 20th, 1984 birthdate he is not yet sixteen, and added before he left that he had a best of 191 feet with the Discus during the year. Interestingly, he stated that he is a one sport athlete and does not play football.
Sarah Shelby – Unat – Shelbyville HS, Illinois (leads the pack above in her 3000 meter race) She cruised to a smooth 10:12.70 3000 meter win at the Intermediate level, then caught her breath to talk. Running with the pack through a 5:25 first 1600 meters, Shelby eased away to a 40 meter margin of victory by the end of her event over Jessica Ordway (10:19.94). A young lady who has done a lot of traveling this summer, “with the intention of getting better,” she competed after the regular prep season in the Foot Locker Outdoor Championships in Raleigh, North Carolina, and traveled to Denton, Texas last month to compete in the National Junior Championships. A Small Schools “A” level athlete in Illinois, Sarah added that she won both the State Cross-Country and Outdoor Track 3200 meter titles, with a 10:51.54 3200 best from her converted two mile run at Raleigh. Sarah added that she was happy with her race here, but “with the standard for the World Youth Meet at 9:51 I felt I had to run faster than I did. I wish there would have been a little more competition during the race than there was to push me.” (ed note: We are not aware that any entry standards have been set up yet for the second of the World Youth (under 18) Championships scheduled for next summer off of the placings in this and the USATF Youth Championships for athletes of that age level). Shelby added, “The heat here did affect me a little bit, and we kind of warmed up forever waiting for the start of the event (her race was split into two sections with the top seeds in race number two).” When asked about her “past state” effort this past fall in the Foot Locker Cross-Country Regional Sarah added, “that was not a good one, I think I finished about 100th place in the Midwest race.” With the quality of her performance this week, it seems she’s come a long ways since that time, and down the road the sky should be the limit.
Robyn Stevens (West Wind Flyers) - Vacaville HS (Calif) - Young Women's 3000m Race Walk (To Keith Conning) Robyn had the time to talk to Keith Conning while dining early the afternoon after her Thursday morning effort in the Young Women's 3000 Meter effort. The greater Sacramento area star who is also a fine 4:57 1600 runner on the regular running track and one of California's fine prep cross-country runners is quite versatile! In Buffalo, Robyn won the Young Women's 3k walk event by nearly half a lap in 14:49.26. The record is 14:20.8 by Lisa Chumbley from 1993, with Robyn kind of having her eye on that mark with a 14:13 personal best for herself. Commenting on the race, Robyn said, "I like the track, I felt very comfortable during the event. However I wish they would have read the lap times, as there were no splits read after the first two circuits. I think this affected my race a bit. I had a good lead during the race, and had heard that I need to watch for the tough judges they would have here. I walked clean today with no infractions. I did notice that they called the splits for the Boys' race and wish they had done the same for us. In the walk you have to be careful to watch your form (with her dad Robert commenting on the politics of race officiating that takes place in different areas of the world where athletes from one continent have problems when they compete in another part of the world. Based upon her international competition in the past Robyn wonders about the quality of judging in other areas of the world, with some stars having difficulty in matching their "local" times when they venture out to compete internationally or in other areas )."
Westwind Flyers TC Star Robyn Stevens Here winning Junior Nationals continued her great summer with a win in the Junior Olympics
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