FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

Last weekend, Vanessa and I road-tripped to LA to be spectators for the hepthlon/decathlon portion of the conference championships. Daddio is back there, today, with his team again, where the "rest" of the events are being contested. Daddio says it should be 105 degrees on the track today.

You're all experts on the heptathlon, thanks to my earlier blog explanation, right?

Daddio's three collegiate heptathletes happen to be three of Vanessa's most beloved babysitters, Sarah, Katie, and Sharon. See them, here, celebrating the end of their competition with an ice bath. All three scored for the conference championship and all three topped their best-ever score. Nice going, Mustangs!



Competing in the decathlon were two of Daddio's little freshmen, pole vaulting phenom Connor and Cousin-Desmond-look-alike Corbin. They are quite the entertaining duo. Unfortunately, Connor had to pull out of the competition early with an injury. Liittle Corbin didn't get a mark in the discus, but still managed to place 6th overall - which is just crazy for anyone, let alone a freshman.



Vanners was darling and a bit of a rascal. Let's just say sitting quietly and intently watching a sporting event is not her forte just yet. Running, climbing and jumping were much more her bent, however, there are rules about non-competitors entering events.








Whenever she'd see Daddio standing alone quietly, concentrating on an athlete, she'd let out a howl and a screech that could surely be heard in the O.C.. Coach Daddio had to ask that his wee daughter be removed from every event requiring his focus. Even so, I was able to manage a couple pictures. But I'll bet you a buck the Sports Illustrated photographers don't tote around a 16 month old toddler.




So let's talk about Sharon, shall we? She's known for her high jumping. Most women in the U.S. jump their own height plus an inch or two. Sharon is 5' 9" and she has jumped 6' 4". She's pretty good. She's vying for a spot on the Olympic team, actually.



This year, Sharon - Shae or "Auntie" Shae-Shae as we call her - has jumped 6' 3", which is good enough to qualify her for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon. To make the U.S. Olympic Team you have to place in the top 3 at the Trials and also make the minimum standard - 6' 4.75" - sometime in the year leading up to the Olympics. Shae hasn't made the standard yet. Only two Americans have this year.

But Sharon was competing in the heptathlon last weekend - not the high jump.



Her coach, Daddio, introduced the idea of the heptathlon to her in 2007 and, on ***two weeks'*** training, Sharon placed second in the conference heptathlon. In 2008 she trained longer for it, but not much. She was busy with soccer then the indoor track season (high jump only), so training for the other 6 events didn't really begin until, oh, late March.

Okay. So. Sharon won the heptathlon. She broke the meet record. She broke the school record. Her mark qualified for Division I Nationals - second in the country. And she qualified for the Olympic Trials.

"How'd you do, Sharon?"

"Okay."

Um, I think "Historic" would not be overstaing things.

But, see, here's the thing: at both the Division I Nationals and the Olympic Trials the heptathlon is contested before the high jump. Sharon will skip the hepthlon to save her legs for the high jump, her marquis event. At least this year it's her marquis event, but all that is perhaps about to change.




"Hey, Shae: are you a high jumper or a heptathlete?"

"Heptathlete!"

You may know that college track and field athletes cannot get any kind of sponsorship while they are NCAA competitors. To even accept a free pair of shoes from a shoe company results in ineligibility, and Sharon had to decline prize money for all her elite high jump competitions. But a [shoe company] rep contacted Jack after Sharon's heptathlon and said he'll attend Nationals and would like Sharon to sign a contract there, as soon as the high jump finishes. He also said the [shoe company] wants her to continue to train as a heptathlete with Jack as her coach. Isn't that nice? Sharon is Daddio's first professional athlete!

How did Daddio know Sharon would be such a prolific heptathlete? She can jump, she runs a smoking 400 meters, and Jack saw her do a throw-in in a soccer game that could have scored a goal. "So I knew she could throw, too."

The school newspaper wrote she may be the most talented athlete in the school's history.



So, you heard it here first, folks: Sharon Day, London, 2012.