HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD: JUMPING PAST EXPECTATIONS OAKS' MIGUEL A SURPRISE CHAMPION.Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL Staff Writer Josh Miguel heard of Oaks Christian's predicament Predicament Dancy, Captain Ronald must persecute friend to save own skin. [Br. Lit.: Loyalties, Magill I, 533–534] Gordian knot inextricable difficulty; Alexander cut the original. [Gk. Hist. . At the Westlake Village school, everyone talks about winning titles. The young athletic department's trophy case is full of team championships, none of which came from track and field. At the Southern Section divisional finals at Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public comprehensive community college founded in 1955 located in Norwalk, California. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a ranch that served prominently in the region in the 19th century. last weekend, Oaks Christian's coaches figured they were going to come up short again unless something unexpected happened. ``Josh made us a promise right then,'' Oaks Christian coach Wes Smith said. ``He said, `I can help. I'm going to do something big. I feel it.' '' The team didn't exactly begin celebrating. They had heard Miguel's talk before: How he would be the fastest sprinter on the team, how he would run on the relays. But he hadn't backed up a pledge yet. This time, he made good on his promise. Seeded eighth and expected to score a single point for his team while competing in the triple jump, Miguel improved his distance by more than 3 1/2 feet to shockingly win the event with a distance of 46feet, 1 inch. That difference gave Oaks Christian an extra nine points, enough to beat Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (ləg  `nə), city (1990 pop. 23,170), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1887, inc. 1927. and La Salle La Salle, city (1990 pop. 9,717), La Salle co., N Ill., on the Illinois River; settled 1830, inc. 1852. It forms a tricity unit with Peru and Oglesby. Corn, wheat, and soybeans are grown, and cattle and hogs are raised. of Pasadena (which was later disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. in the 1,600-meter relay) to take the Div. IV crown 64-61. Miguel became Oaks Christian's only individual champion, and its only athlete to advance to today's Masters meet at Cerritos. For him to even be on the team is a long journey that began with disaster on Aug. 29, 2005. That is when the NewOrleans home of Miguel and his family was destroyed by flooding from Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. . Miguel, his mother, father, brother, sister and grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl escaped the city the day before the storm hit, finding shelter at his aunt's house in Houston. They brought with them only a few days' worth of clothes, expecting to return home shortly. ``We weren't even going to think about evacuating because we've been through so many hurricanes,'' Miguel said. ``We were just going to ride it out and thought everything would be cool. But, at the last minute, we decided to go.'' Permanently displaced displaced see displacement. , the family got an offer to come out west and stay with Angela Jones Angela Jones is an American actress. She was born and raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a town southeast of Pittsburgh. She is a graduate of Point Park College in Pittsburgh. , the sister of Miguel's mother, Pam. It was a crowded house. Josh and his brother Jason took the guest room upstairs, the grandparents stayed in the guest room downstairs, with Pam in the living room and Josh's sister sharing a room with a younger cousin. His father went back to New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded to continue his work as a claims adjuster, living out of a hotel. The family has since moved into an apartment in Oak Park. Angela Jones' son is Marshall Jones, a standout football player at Oaks Christian. Oaks offered assistance to student Katrina victims, and Josh and Jason ended up joining their cousin at the school. In New Orleans, Miguel was a starting safety on the football team. He was about to play the first game of the season, Aug.27, before the threat of the incoming hurricane moved in. He earned a spot on the Oaks Christian football team, but found it difficult to get playing time on a squad already loaded with talent. By the end of the season, he was one of the first cornerbacks off the bench and had three interceptions. Miguel was stuck on campus after school anyway because Marshall Jones, his ride home, was running track. So Miguel decided to give the sport a try. As one of the faster players on the football team, he thought he'd be a natural in the sprints. It didn't turn out that way. He didn't try the triple jump until the beginning of April, but he hit the 40-foot mark for the first time at the Ventura County Championships on April 29. He followed it up by adding another foot the next week at the league finals, then hit a personal best of 42-4 at the Southern Section prelims. On his first jump at the divisional finals, he made noise with a 44-5 before hitting 46-1 in his final jump. ``I thought he'd get to 43, maybe the 44-foot range,'' said Andru Stewart, the school's best triple jumper all season, who came in second with a personal-best jump of 45-1 3/4. ``When he popped a 44-5 on the first jump, it just made us sit back and say, `wow.' That 46-footer was just crazy. Anytime you see somebody go through the hardship he has, it's always good to see them succeed at something.'' In March, Miguel went back to New Orleans for the first time since the hurricane on a mission trip with about 15other students from Oaks Christian. He saw the wreckage wreck·age n. 1. The act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked. 2. Something wrecked. 3. The debris of something wrecked. of his former home for the first time. ``We basically lost everything,'' Miguel said. ``The house was in six feet of water. It was real rough to go back and see it. The irony about the whole thing is one of the only things salvageable sal·vage n. 1. a. The rescue of a ship, its crew, or its cargo from fire or shipwreck. b. The ship, crew, or cargo so rescued. c. Compensation given to those who voluntarily aid in such a rescue. from my room was a blue L.A. Dodgers hat. It had a little mildew mildew, name for certain fungi and protists, for the diseases they cause in various crops, and for the discoloration (and sometimes the weakening and disintegration) they cause in such materials as leather, fabrics, and paper. on it, but not a lot. I was able to wash it and keep it as a good memory.'' matthew.kredell@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Oaks Christian's Josh Miguel won the triple jump with a leap of 46-1 at the Southern Section Divisional finals last weekend. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion