South Texas Walking Club

This weekend the STWC will have its biggest best contingent yet to go to the Indoor National Scholastic Track and Field Championships. First the team will fly to Maryland to compete in the 1-mile race on Saturday at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Then they will all fly up to New York City to compete in the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Armory. Last year saw Chris Diaz palce 2nd in Maryland but have some bad luck in NY, meanwhile the Vergara twins just kept improving in both states. This year, the team will be lead by Chris Diaz, one of the fastest walkers last year in the United States. He will have a difficult time, as his main competition from last year Zach Polinger is only getting faster and faster. Joining Chris in the boys 1-mile events will be Adrian Jaime - who improves every race that he has done this year, Ricardo Vergara - who is a very tough fighter once he gets onto the track, Roberto Vergara - who thus far is the fastest on the team for the STWC in 2004, and Ernesto Vergara - who has a tremendous opportunity as he gets older and moves into doing longer races. Also competing for the South Texas Walking Club will be Corina Ortiz - who has been running cross country for the first time in her life, Karla Mireless - who has impecable technique, Samantha Olivarez - who is one of the most gutsiest walkers that I have ever met, and Jeanette Avitia who is one of the hardest workers on the team. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL!!!

While Tim and Erik were the "stars" of the show, it was Roberto Vergara who stole the show with his great break through performance. Dropping over two minutes off of his PR, he gave Chris Diaz a bit of a scare but Chris did a great job himself showing that all of the hard work that he put into his technique over the past few months had paid off. Tim and Erik walked a nice easy race both keeping their heartrates under 165 the whole time - especially because this was their 5th day down from altitude and it is normally the "worst" day. There were 79 finishers with each getting to come through the finish line with the Marriachi's playing their great Mexican/American songs. The kids had a lot of fun and even though they raced the day before in the 1-mile event, they did a great job. For Adrian Jaime, who hasn't been training, it was a very good start to the year - basically his first practice since Miami!! After the race, Tim, Erik and Coach Kuhles held the first part of their clinic. They watched videos from the races, and the three of them gave the kids some ideas on how to improve their technique. Erik was a great addition to the "team" for the clinic, and although english is his third language, he was able to elaborate things so that the kids could understand and learn with great ease and comprehension. I even found out that I was doing something wrong with my arms, that I only found out through him explaining things to the kids. Last Name, First Name, Sex, Place, Time Seaman Tim M 1 21:33 - 31 years old Tysse Erik M 2 21:36 - 23 years old Diaz Chris M 3 23:41 - 17 years old Medina Alberto M 4 25:18 - From Puerto Rico Vergara Roberto M 5 25:37 - 13 years old Vergara Ricardo M 6 27:23 - 13 years old Jaime Adrian M 7 29:53 - 17 years old Vergara Ernesto M 8 31:05 - 15 years old Ortiz Corina F 9 31:11 - 13 years old Villarreal Abraham M 10 31:38 Mireles Karla F 11 31:52 Knifton John M 12 31:53 --- 14 US National Titles Avitia Jeanette F 13 31:54 - 12 years old Olivarez Samantha F 14 33:05 - first race since Miami Bergquist Les M 15 33:06 Donaldson Presley M 16 33:40 Ortiz Claudia F 17 34:07 - 10 years old Reybal Jessica F 18 34:40 - 10 years old Izard Norman M 19 35:18 Villarreal Elizabeth F 20 35:23 Valadez Steven M 21 35:27 Mendoza Andrew M 22 35:52 Alvera Juan J M 23 36:15 Pantoya Juan H M 24 36:30 Celedon Ralph M 25 36:31 Gomez Nicole V. F 26 36:34 - 10 years old Thomas Alejandra F 27 36:37 - Ramirez Percilla F 28 36:49 Zimmerman Mary Lou F 29 36:51 Zimmerman Ronald M 30 36:52 Ramirez Casey E. M 31 36:53 Chavez Alejandro M 32 37:17 Dunaway Jim M 33 37:37 Tarkowski Robert M 34 37:46 - Winter Texan Smith Chuck M 35 38:01 Flores Diana Lee F 36 38:32 Olvera Clarissa F 37 38:54 Hinojosa Ernestina Zavala F 38 38:58 Cantu Raul M 39 39:01 Peel Robert M 40 39:04 Voisin A. J. M 41 39:16 Koliba Patricia F 42 39:37 Poutre William M 43 39:44 Gassner John M 44 39:52 Santa Maria Jose M 45 40:06:00 Hinojosa Ed M 46 40:25:00 Ramirez Maurine F 47 41:51:00 Rodriguez Cesar M 48 41:52:00 Salinas Juan M 49 42:07:00 Cortez Dulce F 50 42:31:00 Montano Jennifer F 51 42:32:00 Poutre Jerry F 52 42:38:00 Keyes Lee M 53 42:39:00 Valdez Moniquez F 54 42:51:00 Mireles Crystal F 55 42:57:00 Valadez Carolyn F 56 43:04:00 Guzman Ariana I. F 57 43:15:00 Gomez Yvette F 58 43:31:00 Vergara Martha F 59 43:32:00 Garza Edna Gonlazez F 60 44:19:00 Jones Nancy A. F 61 44:20:00 Hestir Jacquelyn F 62 44:23:00 Cortez Jose Luis M 63 44:34:00 Cortez Rosa F 64 44:35:00 Ortiz Carlos M 65 44:39:00 Johnstone William J. M 66 44:59:00 Morales Arturo M 67 45:04:00 Valdez Stacie F 68 45:24:00 Hestir Willis M 69 45:49:00 Keys Emma Lou F 70 50:54:00 Foster Faith F 71 53:14:00 Foster BD M 72 53:18:00 Gelinskey Gladys F 73 53:19:00 Gelinskey Don M 74 53:38:00 Taggart Will M 75 53:39:00 Lowthor Jim M 76 53:49:00 Farmer Jean F 77 53:30:00

4 Qualifiers for Indoor Nationals A great start to a great weekend as the South Texas Walking Club qualified four of its walkers for the National Scholastic Indoor Nationals. Chris Diaz walked a smart race, taking the lead from the beginning and never looking back. Showing a new and improved technique, he was able to brake 7:00 minutes, easily walking away with the win and if there is funding, a trip to New York. Meanwhile, Ricardo must have decided it was his turn to win as he went out very strong the first 600 meters, but his twin Roberto walked a smart and steady race and was able to catch his brother before the beginning of the last lap. Their older brother Neto, who was been a member of the swim team the last few months, showed great strength as he was able to muster up the courage to break 8 minutes and also the right to go to New York. Also, in the girls race, Jeanette and Corina battled back and forth with the younger Jeanette finally taking the lead with 200m to go. The STWC hopes to have another qualifying race at the end of January or the middle of February because there are a few more kids who will be able to get the times needed with a bit more training. Last Name Frist Name Sex Age Place # Time Diaz Chris M 17 1 6:52 ** Vergara Roberto M 13 2 7:35 ** Vergara Ricardo M 13 3 7:44 ** Vergara Ernesto M 15 4 7:58 ** Avitia Jeanette F 12 5 8:59 (almost qualifies - 8:45 is the Qualifying time) Ortiz Corina F 13 6 9:03 Jaime Andres M 12 7 9:09 Ortiz Claudia F 10 8 9:10 - ONLY 10 YEARS OLD!! Reybal Jessica F 10 9 9:43 Villarreal Elizabeth F11 10 9:54 Thomas Alejandra F 11 11 10:09 Gomez Nicole V. F 11 12 10:14 Valadez Steven M 9 13 10:34 Carrisales Melissa F 11 14 10:34 Pichardo Becky F 17 15 10:37 Chavez Alejandro M 10 16 11:17 Flores Diana Lee F 9 17 11:19 Ramirez Maurine F 10 18 11:40 - FIRST RACE EVER!!! Kellar Marcos M 11 19 11:45 Keller Esteban M 9 20 11:49 Guzman Ariana I. F 9 21 11:49 Valadez Carolyn F 9 22 11:50 Valadez Brian M 11 23 12:10 Rodriguez Cesar M 11 24 12:35 Carrasco Angel M 13 25 12:35 Diaz Angela F 9 26 12:41 Gonzalez Jonathon M 11 27 13:31 Pena Stephine F 9 28 13:50 Carrasco Shianne F 9 29 14:07 Carrasco Dominique M 11 30 14:49 ** Qualified for the Indoor Nationals Results of the 5km will be posted tonight

This past weekend, at the USA Track and Field (USATF) convention in North Carolina, the South Texas Walking Club placed 2nd in their attempt to get the 2005 USATF Jr. Olympic Track and Field Championships. Indianapolis get the nomination with 35 votes, while the STWC got 19. The Pre-Convention favorite, Omaha, Nebraska, finished third with 11 votes. The STWC will try again next year to get this great event to South Texas so that the kids of Texas will have the opportunity of a life time in their own backyard.

The first is that we will be hosting a clinic with Olympian Tim Seaman, Coach Ray Kuhles, of the University of California - PA, as well as Erik Tysse - the Norweigan who beat Tim at both the 5km and 10km in Hildesheim, Germany this past September. The clinic will be conducted for the South Texas Walking Club as well as anyone else who would like to come and join the festivities. It will coincide with the Largest Judged 5km Race Walk in Texas on Saturday December 13th. The clinic will be both Saturday from 1 - 6pm and Sunday from 10 - 1pm. We will also be having a very special 1-Mile Kids race at 5pm on Friday the 12th. The price is just $25 per person, and all proceeds go towards supporting the kids of the South Texas Walking Club. The second opportunity is for any male US National Team member who would like to come to Texas to race against Erik and Myself. The South Texas Walking Club, in order to give the kids the opportunity to see an action packed race, is offering two free nights in a hotel for any member of the US Men's National Team that would like to challenge us. So come on down to southern Texas where the US and Mexico come together to give us the great people of the McAllen/Pharr area. For more information and to get an application - please visit www.eteams.com/stwc or contact Coach Jaime at 956-686-2337. Also, many of you have contacted us about our fighting turtles t-shirts. The price is just $15 and all proceeds go towards the kids. We will have a photo of the t-shirts up on the web site shortly.