Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Local Athletes Vie at Elite Track Meet

By Steven Fernandez
Journal Staff Writer

    Daniel Gooris has been waiting for the chance to improve on his third-place finish in the decathlon at last year's Great Southwest Track and Field Classic.
    At this week's 32nd running of the Great Southwest, one of the elite athletes Gooris will seek to outperform is in-state rival— and friend since age 8— Curtis Beach.
    The two proved to be among the best athletes in the region in 2006 when Gooris finished in third place; Beach was fifth.
    Beach, who will be a junior at Albuquerque Academy, said the relationship and competitive nature that he and Gooris have can help the decathletes shine at this weekend's meet.
    "It's fun competing against each other because we always push each other in everything we do," Beach said. "We're kind of used to competing against each other because we're so close in the decathlon and we both want to beat each other."
    The meet will be held Thursday through Saturday at the UNM Track and Field Stadium and features some of the region's elite athletes from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.
    After his top-three finish last year, Gooris, who will be a senior at Cibola, said he is shooting for the gold medal in a meet he said features some of the toughest foes he has faced yet.
    And while he is eager to get started in the decathlon— which runs Thursday and Friday— Gooris said he is looking forward to watching the outstanding athletes in various events.
    "It's really great because there's a lot of national champions, a lot of national record holders," he said. "It's just great to see that kind of competition come to New Mexico and kind of give this meet a big name."
    New Mexico will be represented by 87 athletes, including numerous state champions.
    One of the local talents to keep an eye on will be Academy's Lindsay Harper. She won the Class 4A state championship in the 400- and 800-meter runs in 2006 and '07.
    At this year's state meet, Harper cruised to a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes in the 800, winning by nearly five seconds.
    Harper, who has committed to the University of Virginia, hopes to vastly improve on her 800 time in the final Great Southwest competition of her career.
    "Personally, I'm excited because I'm going to get to push myself harder," she said. "It will hopefully drop my time a little. Around 2:10 would be nice."
    Along with the potential to hit a fast time in her events comes the privilege of bonding with some of the best New Mexico has to offer, Harper said.
    She said the rivalries the in-state athletes have with each other all season are replaced with the common goal of showing off the best the state has to offer.
    "The school ties sort of just fade away," Harper said. "You become the New Mexico team."
   
Up next
    Thursday-Saturday: 32nd Annual Great Southwest Track and Field Classic, UNM Track and Field Stadium
 

Back to Great Southwest Track and Field Classic Page
 

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