LJ track: Mt. Carmel - it truly was a 'Carnival'

By Ed Piper

Rodolfo Sanchez was in-between warmup throws before the boys shot put event at the Mt. Carmel Field and Distance Carnival Sat., March 7.

He was asked how his throws were feeling.

"When I spin, my knee feels it," the La Jolla High senior said, not making excuses, just being honest. The knee had an elastic support around it.

What caused the knee problem initially?

"Just from training," he said. He gave a big smile for my first photo of him. A very engaging young man.

Sanchez has a personal record of 33 feet, 5 3/4 inches, which he achieved last year as a junior in a dual meet against Serra March 7.

This day Sanchez threw 31 feet, 1 inch. The top two finishers in the prestigious event, drawing competitors from a wide area, were both from Great Oak in Temecula: James Wright and Nicholas Meeker, who threw the shot 54 feet, 7 1/2 inches, and 53 feet, 11 inches, respectively. The hard-working Viking was well back in the pack. No shame in that against elite competition.

Meanwhile, a Mt. Carmel competitor came over: "Photographers have to be on the other side of the fence." I responded courteously, "I don't think so, but I will cooperate."

It wasn't 9 a.m. yet, and I had been at similar Mt. Carmel meets several times and had never been confined as a media member behind a barrier separating me from athletes.

I walked to the stadium infield, looking for a meet official. I found Dennis McClanahan, 45-year coach at Mt. Carmel High, who retired two years ago, but still head of this meet. I explained what his team's athlete had told me. "I can't cover my athlete from the other side of the fence," I explained. "I don't have a telephoto on my point-and-shoot camera." "I'll come straighten it out," he said, beneath big floppy hat to protect him from sun that hadn't come out yet.

McClanahan, a giant among San Diego track and cross country luminaries, explained to the coach running the shot put and me the media protocol: "He needs to stay out of the sector. The sector is the triangle in which the athletes are throwing the shot put. He can be on the side."

As soon as McClanahan left, the Sundevil coach said, "You can't be here." I said, "He just told us I can't be in the sector, but I can stand on either side of the pit." I had been conversing with Rodolfo to get some basic info for a story on him. "You can't coach," she said. I said, "I'm not coaching. I'm working media." I showed her my CIF media pass. She was perturbed. It was going to be power day.

She came up with another tack. She said, "You can't talk to athletes." This is totally false--how would a media site do interviews about the meet without talking with athletes? It was becoming ridiculous.

Finally, she said, "You have to go on the other side of the fence." I said, "I can't cover my athlete from there."

Fuming, I left to go find McClanahan again. Not spotting him anywhere on the infield, I decided I needed to maximize my time by going to cover another athlete. I walked the half mile or so out of the stadium, past the tennis courts to a secondary discus site. Anabel Foster, a Viking senior, was warming up. Right after I walked up, she took a practice throw. I quickly snapped some shots of her spin and throw through the protective netting surrounding the circle.

I introduced myself. "I'm the only athlete you're covering at this event?" she asked. "Yes," I replied.

How do you feel?

"Ehh," she said, not impolitely. It was barely 9:30 or so in the morning, on an overcast day. Not a warm day at all.

"You don't usually start this early, do you?" I asked. "Normally you're throwing at afternoon meets."

Anabel: "We have morning meets. It's not unusual."

It was just that the spirit wasn't flowing yet.

What do you concentrate on when you're throwing?

"I don't think. It just works better to go ahead and throw," the likeable student athlete said. She employs a fully spinning motion to launch the projectile.

I got a nice photo of her right around the time of release, standing at the extreme front of the cement circle for throwing.

Then, for one official throw of her four tosses, I crawled around the netting in back and onto the tiny hill just behind the launch circle to take a series of photos breaking down her throw. Anabel started out swinging gently clockwise repeatedly--to load force--then wheeling around in the opposite direction to build momentum and energy for the thrust.

After she left the sector, she chatted with a competitor from another school, laughing and a big grin on her face. Having a reporter/photographer covering only her, I think, was part of it.

Her best throw in the discus for the morning turned out to be 69 feet, 5 inches. Her personal record is 75 feet, 5 inches, established last year against San Diego High April 18.

"May I take a photo of your clipboard?" I asked the official running the event. "Sure, no problem," he said with a kind expression on his face. No power trip here.

I got a photo of Foster's entry on the flight sheeet.