SIBLINGS MAKE THEIR RUN SPERRYS' MOM IS PROUD.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News Marietta Sperry circled the date Nov. 20 on her calendar two months ago. It's a day she has anticipated - and dreaded. Her daughters, Anna and Caren Sperry, competed in separate cross country championship meets Friday, forcing her to choose which she would watch. Anna, a Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. High sophomore, ran in the Southern Section Division I finals at Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill. Mt. . Caren, a Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. sophomore, qualified for the junior college state meet at Woodward Park Woodward Park (34 acres) is a public park, botanical garden, and arboretum located between 21st Street and 24th Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is open to the public daily. in Fresno. Sperry chose to watch Caren run in Fresno, where her eldest daughter placed fifth in 18:40 over the 5,000-meter course despite suffering a fall while running with the leaders in the second mile. In the end, Mom made the right decision. She'll get to watch Anna run at Woodward Park in the state high school meet next Saturday. Anna placed third in a school-record 17:44 over the 2.91-mile Mt. SAC course Saturday to qualify as an individual for the high school state championships. Anna had plenty of company, with an entourage of more than a dozen supporters of teammates, classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Perhaps most important, Anna had her good luck charm, named ``Joe,'' a rubber snake she bought at Disneyland. Anna sleeps with the snake and carries it in her athletic bag for every competition. ``It's been really, really tricky and kind of trying to love each one the best you can,'' Marietta Sperry said. In September, she attend two meets in one day. She watched Anna compete in the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , then drove to Huntington Beach Huntington Beach, city (1990 pop. 181,519), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast, across from Santa Catalina Island, in an oil-producing area; inc. 1909. It manufactures aerospace vehicles, aircraft parts, optical instruments, and heat transfer equipment. to watch Caren run in the Golden West Invitational The Golden West Invitational (GWI) high school track & field all-star meet brings together top high school athletes from throughout the country and provides them with the very highest levels of competition. . A registered nurse in the maternity ward maternity ward n. The department of a hospital that provides care for women during pregnancy and childbirth as well as for newborn infants. at Tarzana Regional Hospital, Sperry allowed two Saturdays off per month. She didn't think she would be able to watch Anna run in the Southern Section preliminaries last weekend until she was called off from duty at 4:30 the morning of the race. ``I was lucky that there weren't many babies born,'' Sperry said. This month, Sperry requested Friday and next Saturday off in anticipation her daughters would qualify for their state meets. ``It's not really a problem if she goes to one meet or another,'' Anna said. ``It depends on the hospital and whether she can drive to a meet. I just wanted to run well enough so that she could see me run at the state meet.'' It's a busy schedule in the Sperry household. Anna and Caren don't typically get to run together because of conflicting schedules and practices. The only exception was last summer when the sisters met during a neighborhood training run and finished the workout together. ``We don't run much together, but we talk about our workouts and races,'' Caren said. The Sperry tradition at Simi Valley was started by Caren, who was a senior on Simi Valley's first team to qualify for the state meet, in 2001. This season Anna became Simi Valley's first individual Marmonte League and Ventura County champion. She's gone through a rapid progression, dropping more than two minutes off her Mt. SAC time of 19:48 as a freshman and lowering Caren's school record of 18:28 three times this fall. Anna has followed the lead of her older sister by putting her running medals in chronological order around her bedroom wall. Like Caren, Anna also saves each race bib bib - BibTeX with the time and place written on it. Their running styles are markedly different. Caren is 5-foot-5 and possesses a lengthy floating stride. Anna is 5-1 and runs with a more compact stride. Both sisters place strong emphasis on team unity. It's not uncommon for Caren and Anna, after finishing, to run back onto the course to cheer for teammates. ``They're both similar in that they're both driven and have this ability to set their goals pretty lofty and focus on that and drive themselves to achieve it,'' Simi Valley coach Roger Evans said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Moorpark College's Caren Sperry, left, and her sister, Simi Valley High's Anna, have qualified for their state meets. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News |
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