Track and field athletes warm up at Royal Twilight Invitational
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers SUPER SPEED- Mike Gallardo, center, of Thousand Oaks competes in the boys' 400-meter race at the Royal Twilight Invitational on Saturday. Gallardo won his heat with a time of 59.93 seconds.

For the past six months Royal High's girls' track coach Heather Ream has had to endure the task of making sure everything ran well at the Royal Twilight Invitational. Last Saturday at Royal, 19 schools did just that- they ran well.

The track and field season officially kicked off last weekend at the Invitational, where more than 2,000 kids competed. For Ream, the meet was the end of a long process, one she finally got to enjoy late in the afternoon.

"As soon as the semester started I had coaches e-mailing me and calling me to ask what was up with the meet," Ream said. "It got to be so much work that I was afraid to check my email sometimes. We were stamping Royal on the name of the meet, so we wanted it to be very good.

"It wasn't until around 3 p.m. last Saturday when I had some schools like Nipomo, who came 146 miles on a bus to be here, say that they loved it and wanted to do it again next year. Comments like that made it all worthwhile."

The Invitational also received help from over 130 adult volunteers as well as several student volunteers. Vendors such as Starbucks and Ben and Jerry's showed up as well as a first-aid unit to help kids cope with the warm weather.

For the coaches, the meet provided an opportunity to find out what their respective teams were made of. Unlike league meets, the Invitational provided the chance for every athlete to compete in at least one event.

"I have been to the Royal Invitational in the past and really liked it," Thousand Oaks head coach Steve Kloch said. "What I try and do at this meet is have our kids compete in many events that normally they might not do. This way I get to see everyone and how they might best help the team."

Simi Valley coach Roger Evans said the Invitational was a good way for newcomers to track and field to see what the sport was all about.

"The kids that are competing for the first time come to this meet and see that this is how track is, this is what it will be like for them," Evans said. "A meet like this can go up to 12 hours because everyone gets an opportunity to compete and see if they like the sport."

One of the athletes competing in a track meet for the first time was Calabasas junior Chris Woods, who had previously played cornerback and wide receiver for the Coyote football team.

"I played some fast positions on the football field, so I thought I would give track and field a try," Woods said. "I competed today in the 100meter, the 200meter and the 4x100 sprints. Overall, the whole track experience today has been better than I thought it would be."

Joey Snyder, the boys' coach at Westlake High, said he enjoyed the meet as well.

"Royal put in a lot of hard work and the meet has been great," Snyder said. "I love the way they set it up where a lot of the kids are doing events they normally wouldn't try. I think the meet is also good because all the kids start to feel confident in themselves by competing, but not feeling any pressure to finish high in the standings."

Although many coaches and athletes said the day was a success, it's unknown right now whether or not Ream will volunteer to be in charge of the Invitational again.

"After everyone came up to me at the meet telling me how much they loved it, I started to feel that kind of pregnant amnesia," Ream said, with a laugh. "I started thinking, 'Yeah, I can do this again,' completely forgetting all the hard work I had to put in to make it happen."

Saturday's highlights

Westlake- The Warriors were led by Victoria Smith, who came in third place in the girls' 3200 with a time of 11 minutes, 57 seconds. Junior Bradley Cicotti finished in fifth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.92 seconds, and also came in fifth place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.92. Junior Justin Bignell came in fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.40 seconds.

Thousand Oaks- The Lancers had a record breaker in Brianna Blair, who tied the pole vault record for the Royal Invitational with a jump that landed at 10 feet, six inches. Jeff Altizer won the pole vault jump for the boys with a leap of 14 feet.

Eric Smith, a junior, placed third in the 300-meter hurdles with time of 42.36. Sophomore Sean Gildea placed third in the 3200 with a time of nine minutes, 47 seconds. Senior Richardo Dorado placed second in the 200meter dash with a time of 23.74 seconds, and he placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with an 11.88.