Easter Sunday

A lot of birthdays are happening this week. Best wishes to my sister Rita, my nephew Edward and a few friends I know. The weather is still rather gloomy but that is to be expected this time of the year. Yesterday was earth day and I drove down to Napa for a meeting and noticed that their were some blocks sealed off. A lot of people were milling about and checking out the vendors booths. Mostly, it was a host of environmental groups showing people how to recycle and plant sustainable vegetables and stuff. I saw my ex-girlfriend there, and went to sit down to ponder what to do. Then after careful reflection, I decided to leave.

Later, I went to view my High School’s history and statistics on Wikipedia and read some interesting information.My friend Eric Swenson will appreciate the following…

For a school with an enrollment of less than 700 students, the recent athletic history of St. Mary’s is rather impressive.

St. Mary’s continues to have outstanding success in track & field under the guidance of head coach Jay Lawson '81. Known for the 1600 meter relay, the 1992 version of the team AKA the 4 Horsemen ran a time of 3:11 and was one of the best teams in the country. The 1998 version of the team was arguably the most rounded team, anchored by a great boy’s 1600 meter relay squad which was ranked 9th in the U.S. and had a best time of 3:13.79. The relay traveled to the famed Penn Relay’s where they finished top 10 in an international field of 500 teams. The boy’s hurdles and jumps were also strong with Jerrod Mack jumping a best of 51 feet in the triple jump, earning him 3rd in the U.S. that year. The deep boy’s squad also had 6 members running sub 50 second 400 meters, led by Jafar Williams who went on to play football at the University of Washington. The boy’s team had continued success through the turn of the century in sprints and jumps helmed by Lawson, and jumps coach and Cal Berkeley jump legend Jeff Rodgers. In 2010 Maurice Spikes, current high school state champion in the high jump, reached an impressive 6'8. Another quite astonishing record is that of current hurdles champion, Trinity Wilson.