Jun 24, 2008

Cardinal coach launches longest hammer throw in county

From Daily News Dispatches

The longest hammer throw in San Mateo County history highlighted an Olympian showing at College of San Mateo Sunday for a USA Track & Field Pacific Association Championship meet.

Two-time Olympian Kevin McMahon, who came out of retirement two months ago, spun the 16-pound implement 243 feet, three inches to highlight a day of throwing, which included the official PA Masters Championships for athletes over age 30.

Competition was open to all athletes, however. So CSM freshman Kelly Young, a Capuchino High product, took advantage of the opportunity on her home field to compete in all five throwing events. She produced the top women's mark of the day in a new event for her, the weight throw, and also topped the shot put and hammer and throw.

But the focus was on the men's hammer throw, which featured a half century of USA Olympic throwing, headed by three-time Olympian Ed Burke. His South Bay Explorer Scout Post pioneered throwing opportunities for teenagers, including McMahon, in the 1980s. Burke, 68, had the third best throw Sunday, 171-6.

The 24-year-span of Burke's three Olympics, from 1960 to 1984, holds the record for the longest span of Olympic competition by an American runner or field athlete (along with discus thrower Al Oerter, 1956-1980).

McMahon, 36, won the USA Junior National title in 1991 as a Bellarmine Prep grad and went on to earn U.S. Olympic Team berths in 1996 and 2000. Now a teacher at Bellarmine and the throws coach at Stanford, he retired from competition after becoming an alternate for Athens with a fourth-place finish at the 2004 Olympic Trials.

"I started playing with it again a year ago with a light hammer," McMahon said. "But my first competition wasn't until Modesto in May."

He ranks No. 4 all-time among Americans at 260-0, which he achieved in 1999. A.G. Kruger is the only American to throw that far since 2000 and is the current U.S. leader at 258-2.

"I was just looking for another competition before the Trials," McMahon said when asked why he was competing when many athletes are in their final Trials preparation. "I hadn't competed for a while (four weeks). I had heard this was a great facility to throw."

It was almost too good. McMahon showed consistency by hitting on the far embankment on all six of his throws (all over 230 feet and 70 meters), including one just out of the sector and well up the embankment that was unofficially measured at 246-10. His Stanford coaching duties had kept McMahon busy through last week's NCAA championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Longtime area observers, such as Burke and CSM throws coach Mike Lewis, could not recall any athlete previously surpassing 240 feet in San Mateo County.

Stanford grad Sarah (Hoppins) Veress won the women's hammer with a throw of 220-7. The San Francisco resident, who is coached by McMahon and trains with him at Stanford, was trying to reach the Olympic "A" standard of 228-0. She ranks No. 7 entering the Olympic Trials with a best of 223-9.



Orioles in Omaha

The San Mateo Orioles, a 19U American Legion team, spent the better part of last week in Omaha playing in the 48-team Decker College World Series Tournament.

The Orioles finished pool play with a perfect record before losing to Coeur d'Alene from Idaho 5-2 in the quarterfinals on Sunday. San Mateo beat Bismarck 3-2 Wednesday, the Slammers 10-5 Thursday and won twice on Saturday (10-2 over Erie and 2-0 over Associated Fire Protection) to finish 4-0 in the Papio South pool.



Change of venue

Veterans Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Buchanan High in Clovis, will serve as the home for the CIF State Track and Field Championships Presented by Farmers for the next three years, 2009-2011, the CIF Executive Committee has announced.

This will not be the first time the CIF State Track and Field Championships have been held in this community, as it was contested locally in 1915 (Fresno High); 1931, 1940, 1947 (Visalia High) and 1935 (Ratliffe Stadium, Fresno). In addition, Fresno's Woodward Park has been the site for the CIF State Cross Country Championships since the event's inception in 1987, and the 1987 State Wrestling Championships took place at Selland Arena in Fresno.

"The CIF is pleased to bring another state championship event to the Fresno/Clovis area," said CIF Executive Director Marie M. Ishida. "We are appreciative and thankful that the Clovis Unified School District and the Fresno Sports Council have long realized the community and financial benefit of hosting CIF championship events and understand the internal workings that go on behind the scenes in order to put on the premier high school track and field event in the nation. Their support allows us to keep our ticket prices low and reasonable for students and families."

The venue features a Mondo Super X Track, installed in Spring 2007, as well as colored relay zones, hurdles marked on track and staggered starting lines around three turns. In addition, the scoreboard will display event results as well as real-time timing of running events. Veterans Memorial Stadium features more than 8,500 permanent stadium seats and additional seating will be added to bring the capacity to more than 12,000.

The 2009 CIF State Track and Field Championships are scheduled to take place June 5-6, 2009.



NDNU signs 3 recruits

The Notre Dame de Namur men's basketball program and head coach George Puou have announced the signings of three recruits for the 2008-09 season. Guards Bennie Murray and Cheynne Lishman along with forward Trent Henwood will all join the Argos as freshmen next season.

Murray, a 6-4 guard from Will C. Wood High in Fairfield, led the Wildcats to a 24-5 record last season while scoring 15.9 points per game. He was twice named an All-Monticello Empire League performer and earned League MVP honors as a sophomore.

Lishman, a 6-2 guard from Kailua, Hawaii, earned All-State accolades in each of the past two seasons. He is also a two-time All-League performer and was named the Oahu Interscholastic Association Player of the Year this season after scoring 18 points per game.

Henwood, a 6-6 forward from West Campus High in Sacramento, is a two-time All-Capital Valley Conference performer. He averaged 13.3 points and 9.2 rebound last season while being named the team's MVP.

The Argos finished the 2007-08 season with a 10-16 overall record and tied for fifth in the conference.