South Texas Walking Club

2002 AAU Jr. Olympics - Day 1 Knoxville, TN South Texas Walking Club www.eteams.com/stwc BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES When most people think of racewalking they thing of big tall people strolling along the road, but this morning 9 year old Claudia Ortiz from Mission broke the mold. She also broke the AAU 9-year old (sub-bantam) Jr. Olympic national record, with a time of 9:08.7 ( 9 minutes, 8.7 seconds) getting the Gold Medal in the 1500m walk. Her two teammates did not let her stay alone, because they brought in the 3rd and 4th place medals. Krystal Mireles of Alamo and Laura Zepeda of Weslaco walked great races with times of 10:06 and 10:11. Laura's time of 10:11 was a :59 second improvement on her personal best time of the year. In the Bantam division (10 year olds), Maria Villareal of Pharr won the Silver Medal in a time of 8:48 for the 1500m race walk, getting her best time by 24 seconds. Brooke Shannon of Mission walked the second fastest time of her 5 month old career to get 4th, with a time of 9:17, and Sarah Garcia of Edinburg placed 5th with a time of 9:22, which was her fastest time ever by 13 seconds. In the Boys Bantam division, Marcos Kellar of Pharr was the lone entrant for the South Texas Walking Club as he broke his PR (Personal Record) with a fabulous time of 9:48 to win the Bronze Medal. It was his best time by 41 seconds, and he had flawless technique doing it. In the Girls sub-Midget division (11 year olds), Jeanette Avitia of Pharr gutted it out to win the Bronze in a time of 8:54 for the 1500m race walk. Jeanette battled the whole way showing her best technique of the year. Samantha Olivarez, from Edinburg, who has been sick for the past week, walked a very smart race and outkicked 3 other girls in the last 100 meters to place fourth in a time of 9:09. Karla Mireles, whose nervous stomach had little left in it before the start, placed 9th in a time of 9:43, just missing a medal. In the Boys sub-Midget division, Andres Jaime ran out of track in his quest for gold, as he walked the fastest last lap of the day. Andres started off slow but quickly made up ground as he got stronger and stronger throughout the race. He finished with a time of 8:24 in the 1500m race walk to get the Silver Medal. In the Girls Midget division (12 year olds), Corina Ortiz of Mission walked a smart race to get the Silver Medal in a time of 8:31. It was her third fastest time ever, and she looked made it look easy to be the second best in the United States. In the last 1500m race walk of the day, the Boys Midget division was not a sleeper, as the Vergaras twins, in only their first year with the South Texas Walking Club, battled each other the whole way. Ricardo eventually beat brother Roberto, both of whom are from Edinburg, for the Silver with a time of 7:28.33 to 7:29.57. Roberto, who has never beated his brother, was ahead the whole way until the last 50 meters when Ricardo put it into overdrive and outkicked his twin. Tomorrow the "big" kids of the South Texas Walking Club will be competing in the 3,000m race walk beginning at 10am at the University of Tennesee - Knoxville. Complete results: 1500m race walk Sub-Bantam (9 year olds) - girls 1. Claudia Ortiz STWC 9:08.56 (New AAU National Record) 2. Nicole Woelper El Paso, TX 9:18.39 3. Krystal Mirless STWC 10:06.06 4. Laura Zepeda STWC 10:11.04 (59 second PR) 5. Andream McCollum KS 10:11.88 6. Isis Dennis Wash. DC 10:43.06 22 finishers 1500m walk Sub-Bantam Boys (9 year olds): 1.Ian Geer Ohio 8:30 2. Brandon Downs Florida 9:42 3. Takeem Andrews Georgia 10:08 4. Jonathon Dziewior Elgin, IL 11:37 7 finshers 1500m walk Bantam Girls (10 year olds) 1. Irais Villa Elgin, IL 8:39.01 2. Maria Villarreal STWC 8:48.27 (24 second PR) 3. Danielle Plunkett Ambler, PA 9:07.78 4. Brooke Shannon STWC 9:17.13 (2nd fastest time) 5. Sarah Garcia STWC 9:22.83 (13 second PR) 6. Caroline Johnson Kentucky 10:01 16 finishers 1500m walk Bantam Boys 1. Correy Abbate Houston, TX 9:34.02 2. Patrick Wiley Georgia 9:45.23 3. Marcos Kellar STWC 9:48.04 (41 second PR) 4. William Mix South Dakota 10:00.11 5. Kyle Hutchinson California 10:22.76 11 finshers 1500m Sub Midget girls (11 year olds) 1. Alesha Cain Massachusetts 8:42 2. Stephanie Martinez Elgin, IL 8:45 3. Jeanette Avitia STWC 8:54 4. Samantha Olivarez STWC 9:09.66 5. Emily Tiller South Carolina 9:09.98 6. Kaitlin Rella New Jersey 9:10.05 7. Rachel Apostoles Virginia 9:19 8. Kayla Harrod Kansas 9:30 9. Karla Mireles STWC 9:43 12 finishers 1500 meter Sub-Midget Boys 1. Nicholas Parker Elgin, IL 8:17.82 2. Andres Jaime STWC 8:24.62 3. Chris Stuart New Jersey 8:30.09 4. Rob Bradley VA 9:22 5. William Smith North Carolina 9:50 18 finshers 1500m Midget Girls 1. Allison Snochowski New Jersey 7:33 2. Corina Ortiz STWC 8:31 3. Nicole Klein New Jersey 8:40 4. Mercedes Mancha Elgin, IL 8:48 5. Kodie McCollum Kansas 9:13 22 finshers 1500 meter Midget Boys 1. Eric Lawson Crystal Lake, IL 7:16.20 2. Ricardo Vergara STWC 7:28.33 (2nd best time) 3. Roberto Vergara STWC 7:29.57 (9 second PR) 4. Paco Villa Elgin, IL 8:18.50 5. Abraham Villarreal STWC 8:19.86 (2 second PR) 6. Gamaliel DeLaTorre Elgin, IL 8:22.26 14 finshers OVERALL MEDALS: 1 - Gold 4 - Silver 4 - Bronze 2 - 4th place 3 - 5th place