Great meet... great throws!

Great meet with a tiny bit of drama thrown in.

The boys were separated into three flights... the first flight with the shortest-throwing boys (based on their regional championship throws), the second flight with the longer-throwing boys and the third flight with the longest-throwing boys. Kees was in the third flight with the sixth-longest throw in the country.

I can't post pictures... yet... but you wouldn't believe the size of these ten and eleven year olds... from 5'6" to 5'9"... making Kees, at almost 5' (and the second-tallest in his class) look tiny!

The drama: they rulled Kees' discus illegal... saying it didn't fit into the template, being slightly too thick and too small in diameter. A discus varies pretty dramatically from one to another with their feel and weight distribution and a thrower gets used to the feel of his own disc. To young throwers this is especially true. Kees throws a Polish disc with 55% rim weighting which allows him to get a good spin on it with his smaller size. Without that disc, and perhaps being forced to throw a more rim-weighted discus, his performance could be seriously affected... let alone the psychological consequences that come with not being able to use his "favorite" discus.

Since I had coach credentials, I went to the implement certification and requested that they re-measure it in front of me and lo-and-behold... it measured in! Now, why it didn't before I don't know, but his discus was in and the drama was averted... time to compete.

This was serious business... eight field judges in white shirts and straw hats, strictly cordoned-off throwing area, a rotating board with throw distances displayed for the spectators, coaches and team cars fom all over the country with matching team uniforms, video cameras on tripods... it was just like a college meet, just with younger athletes.

The first flight was uneventful since the kids were no threat to the longer-thowing boys in the third flight, but in the second flight one kid got off a seventy-something foot throw and woke everyone up!

Then came the final flight... the big boys with the long throws... and things got interesting.

Kees typically starts slowly... throwing longer with each throw during practice and then longer with each round he throws in competition.

After the first round Kees had the seventh-longest throw... then after the second round he had the fifth longest throw... with kids sector and foot fouling, and with Kees' usual consistent throws in the middle of the sector and never fouling, there was a chance he could move up... unfortunately in the third round he came a little bit straight out of his turn and over-rotated slightly and did not throw longer than his second throw and fell to 10th as other boys got in longer throws.

He was disappointed, but with only a couple feet separating third from eleventh he did a fantastic job... and come on... tenth in the country... that's fantastic!!! What was most impressive was that he was the smallest of the long-throwers, in a sport where size is a huge advantage, he threw with the big boys... some almost a foot taller than him!

He has vowed to come back next year and make it into the top-five... and considering he had less than a quarter of the experience of the boys in the third flight I don't doubt that he can do it... stay tuned!

Made it!

With all sorts of detours, delays and even some divine intervention... we've finally made it to Knoxville. It's been an amazing experience in only this first day: we've already seen several friends, made new ones, the kids each have over twenty pins, but more than anything else they're Junior Olympians!

Kees was finally able to get on the throwing ring this evening, and even though his sprained right ankle was still bothering him some, he got off some good throws. We limited his practice time and he iced it this evening and he said he feels good for tomorrow.

Kiersten got in a easy three mile run while Kees threw and feels good as well.

We'll try to update as much as possible.

Off to the Junior Olympics! Wish them luck!

(There won't be much blogging, if any, until Kees' event is over on Monday.)

Surfing lessons!

Today the kids took surfing lessons and surfed for the very first time!

Nicole, a local surfer, went through everything with them from water safety, board care, and technique and then took them out in the water.

She taught them how to paddle, pick waves, and balance on their boards... then, once they sort of had that down they went for the real surfing... standing up!

They had a blast!!!

Nicole was great... getting out there and making it fun for them both!

They both stand for the first time!

Unfortunately a wave hit me right as Kiersten was getting up so I had to get my camera away from the splash (it did get a TEENY bit wet) and I missed her :-(

Back to training!

Kiersten does a workout with one of the Texas A&M University long-distance runners, while Kees got in some throws from the ring... and tried his hand at discus bowling ;-)

Harry Potter craziness!

We popped into Barnes & Noble to check in on all the Harry Potter festivities and craziness... no we didn't stay until midnight!

He's in the Junior Olympics!

I just got the news from the national office that Kees was, in fact, the fourth-place thrower and is going to the Junior Olympics! Apparently third and fourth places were both wrong, and several coaches called to complain and support that Kees was the fourth-longest thrower.

Kees knew he threw fourth-longest and is relieved that he can now rightfully compete at the Junior Olympics.

There are only two kids who throw longer than Kees can, but with one week left maybe he can get some more distance and shoot for the gold!


The cool thing: they're both in the Junior Olympics

The not-so-cool-thing: Kees throws on day one... Kiersten on day six!

I guess we'll be doing some sightseeing for that week in between!

Braces!

... with pink and blue rubber-band-thingies no less!

Update: Scoring errors?

It turns out there may have been scoring errors and Kees might actually have the fourth-longest throw after all (like he thought)... stay tuned!

Junior Olympics... bittersweet

Who would have thought that Kees, at over 4'10" tall and 110 pounds and in the 95% percentile in height and weight for a 10-year old and the second-tallest in his class would be the smallest competitor in his age group in discus?!

The first picture is Kees in the group of the top-8... he's third from the right.

Essentially... what you have here are five-percenters... the kids in the top-5%... with the tallest and eventual winner being over 5'9" and shaving... at ten!!! That kid is in the second picture with his back to the camera and Kees is to his right... you can see the difference in their heights!
























Six weeks ago Kees has never touched a discus... in his first meet he placed second and then won the next three meets to qualify for the district championships... he then qualified for the regional championships... the final step to qualify for the Junior Olympics... and with 70-foot-plus throws in practice knew he had a chance to make the top-four.


















His warm-ups were a little short but then he got into the groove and started throwing long... not as long as he'd thrown in practice but long enough to keep him in the hunt. Only two kids were throwing in a range that he had never achieved before, so he knew he had a chance. Unlike the other kids, Kees was consistent... getting longer with each throw, never foot or sector fouling, and landing within the same section of the sector each time. With his final throw he threw long enough to jump up several places and make it to the final flight.

Under pressure is where Kees shines... and while the other kids starting throwing shorter, or sector fouling, Kees has the longest throw through the first round and then the second-longest through round two.

Unfortunately confusion ensued because while it appeared that Kees had a 70+ foot throw... which was confirmed by the field judge... upon later review of the scoring sheet his long throw was missing. That was not the only scoring problem and it got so bad that the field judge was dismissed during the finals because of the complaints by some of the parents.

In the end it appears that instead of Kees having the fourth-longest throw, he was credited with having the fifth-longest throw... so no Junior Olympics for him. Kees was devastated.

I told him repeated how proud I was of him... his hard work and dedication that got him this far.. . and especially when you consider that he was the smallest, with the least experience (all of the top-8 had been coached for at least 8 months... Kees: five weeks) yet he still threw with all the top kids... he has a lot to be proud of!

It's bittersweet because Kiersten qualified and Kees did not... her time will leave her mid-pack at the Junior Olympics whereas Kees' would probably get him on the podium since this meet had the longest-recorded throws in the country and the winner set a national record!

Next year!

Kiersten is in but feels miserable for Kees... they're best friends so she hates that he's worked that hard and didn't make it.

Considering her inexperience racing 3000 on the track she had a good race. At my instruction she let the girls go at the start and took the first 200 meters easy, then she ran the next four laps with metronomic precision... not within a second of each lap but EXACTLY the same time for for each lap.

Pacing herself is something that she is has always been extraordinary at... in triathlons going hard enough to go 99% on the bike but not blow up for the run which she would run at 100%. I knew she could pace herself like I wanted her to do... I was just shocked that she was able to pace herself so precisely!

With two laps to go she sat comfortable in fourth and upped her pace and slowly started to reel in numbers two and three. At the start of the final lap she was about 100 meters behind them and at about the 300m mark turned on the afterburners and picked up her pace to around her 200m speed... she passed into third and was set to pass into second when "boom!" she blew up at the 100m mark and was left on the backstretch. It was a nuclear explosion and she limped down the backstretch and finished fourth.

She knows that she has a 200m kick, but she said that she was nervous that it wasn't enough distance to pass the girls and had to take a chance... she learned a lesson that a 200m kick started at 300m equals kaboom on the backstretch ;-)

She's got a few weeks to work with the college coach here to get some more speed, but she realizes that right now she doesn't have enough miles under her to be fast enough to win... she just wants to be competitive and enjoy the experience... the Junior Olympics.

Movie Star!

Kees is interviewed by a television station for qualifying for the Junior Olympics semis... and he threw 73' for the cameras!

Hook-em!

Working out with UT's All-American discus thrower at UT's field... thowin' down some hook-em-horns!