August 7, 2008

SPORTS

Speed with honor: USA nationals in San Jose

Steven Mielich of San Jose sits at the front of the starting lineup for the Points Race competition at the Northern California/Nevada Champion-ships held as the Hellyer Park Velodrome in San Jose on Aug. 3. He earned fifth place in that race, but will be hard-pressed to equal his efforts when the USA National Masters Track Championships are staged in San Jose next month—Sept. 2 through 7—on the same one-third mile banked cement oval.” To have such a big event in our own back yard is a pleasure,” said Mielich, 46, a Santa Teresa-area resident who earned the NorCal/Nevada’s “Best All-Round Rider” award in 2006. He noted that he and his San Jose Bicycle Club teammates have been preparing for the USA Nationals for more than a year. Competition will begin at 9 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. each day except for the first and final days when the action begins at 10 a.m. For more information go online at www.ridethetrack.com. — By Karl Laucher

Almaden swimmers star in three championship meets

Almaden year-round swimmers met at three recent meets in the past several weeks.

The first leg of the championship season took place on July 26-27 at the Morgan Hill Aquatic Center. Almaden placed second to Mission San Jose at the always-competitive South Bay Swim League Championships.

Highpoint winners Morgan Kerley (6 & under girls), Stephen Shilling (13-14 boys), and Jason Martin (19 & up men) led over 145 Almaden swimmers to 70 percent best times for the second straight year. Out of the 145 Almaden swimmers, 139 set at least one personal best to help the team pull away from third place Valley Splash. San Jose Aquatics and West Coast Aquatics also competed in the meet.

There were 20 Almaden swimmers competing at the Far Western Championships hosted by West Coast Aquatics from July 30 – Aug. 3. Far Westerns is one of the fastest and most prestigious 18 & under age group meets in the nation. Almaden swimmers competed against many of the best teams from Southern California to Canada. The 10 & under boys relay of Jonathon Laughlin, Jackson Burrill, Kyle Ergas, and Matthew Sandoval placed sixth in the 200 freestyle relay and seventh in the 200 medley relay to record the team’s highest placement at the meet.

The 13-14 boys 800 freestyle relay of Austen Noh, Chris Scheaffer, Jonathan Kane, and Stephen Shilling capped off an outstanding season with a new team record of 8:50.94 en route to a seventh place finish in the event. The 13-14 boys also finished in the top eight in the 200 and 400 medley relays and the 200 freestyle relay to finish the season as Almaden’s highest scoring age group.

The CCS high school 100-yard breaststroke champion, James Sonu, is representing Almaden at the Junior National meet in Minneapolis this week. James qualified to compete against the best 18 & under swimmers the United States has to offer in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events.

The Almaden Swim Team will hold tryouts beginning at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 25-28 at the Almaden Swim & Racquet Club, 6604 Northridge Drive. E-mail asrcswimteam@ earthlink.net for more information.

About South Bay Swim League
The South Bay Swim League is a group of USA Swimming teams that compete in a series of summer dual meets culminating with a season-ending league championship meet in early August. League members in 2008 included Almaden Swim and Racquet Club (ALMA), Mission San Jose Aquatics (MSJA), San Jose Aquatics (SJA), Valley Splash (VS) and West Coast Aquatics (WEST). In previous years, other teams (Santa Clara Swim Club, Kona Kai SRC, Sunnyvale Swim Team and DeAnza Swim Club) have also been involved. Almaden (1972) and West Coast Aquatics (1982) are the teams with the most years of membership. MSJA won the team title this year followed by ALMA, and Valley Splash.

The league provides an opportunity for all swimmers on the team, regardless of ability, to take part in the meet. It is not limited to beginners (C swimmers) or the fastest swimmers (AA and above). Swimmers taking part in this league and its championship meet have included Olympic trials finalists, national and junior national championship finalists, NCAA champions and finalists, and Far Western champions and finalists. Many swimmers have used these competitions as a stepping-stone to compete in major college (UCLA, Cal, Texas, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, ASU, USC and Texas A & M) swimming programs around the country. It is very exciting for the young swimmers to watch the college swimmers return to their roots and represent their youth clubs.

Sports Briefs

Go 4 Gold Soccer School
Go 4 Gold Soccer School presents its 2008 Summer Soccer Camps program. We offer week long, coed soccer camps for players age 5 - 16 in both San Jose and Los Gatos, coached by our staff of highly trained, certified professionals. Go 4 Gold also offers year round GoalKeeping & Field Player Academies every Sunday from 5 – 7 p.m.

For a camp schedule, locations or additional information, please call 997-7775 or visit www.go4goldsoccer.com.

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