2008 Woodie Awards
Sports Update
PREP JAVELIN THROWER BREAKS NATIONAL RECORD
Rachel Yurkovich, a senior at Newberg High School in Newberg, Ore., set a national high school record for the girls javelin on Saturday, April 30. Yurkovich set the mark with a throw of 176 feet, five inches, at the XO Invite at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The mark is also a junior national record. The throw was her second of the competition; Yurkovich had set a new personal record with a toss of 170-2 on her first attempt.
Yurkovich already held the leading mark in the nation for high schoolers prior to the competition, as she also did last year with a throw of 161-11. She also placed 16th in the Olympic Trials last summer. Yurkovich has signed to compete for the University of Oregon next year. She is the latest in a long line of successful javelin throwers from Newberg High School, both male and female. One of the most successful is Sarah Malone, now a senior at the University of Oregon and the Ducks school record holder. Yurkovich broke Malone’s school record of 172-0 with her record-setting throw.
NBA COACH FACES POTENTIAL BAN AFTER COMMENTS ABOUT OFFICIALS?
Jeff Van Gundy’s mouth has gotten him into trouble. The NBA fined the Rockets’ head coach $100,000 on Monday, May 2, for comments he made on May 1 about officials’ conduct toward Rockets center Yao Ming. The fine is the largest in NBA history for a coach. Van Gundy stated that he thought officials have been focusing on Ming during postseason play and blamed Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has often complained to league officials. The Mavericks are Houston’s current opponent in the first round of the playoffs. NBA Commissioner David Stern said that further action would be taken after the Rockets are out of the playoffs. Some feel that Stern is considering even barring Van Gundy for his conduct.
Part of Stern’s fury toward Van Gundy is because the coach will not state his source, an NBA referee not officiating in the playoffs, who called Van Gundy to tell him that referees “were looking harder at Yao because of Mark’s complaints” to the league. Van Gundy has not backed away from his comments, saying that he has also made them privately during the season.
RUN FOR THE ROSES; A YANKEES VICTORY?
Twenty of the country’s top three-year-olds are set to square off on May 7 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ken., for this year’s Kentucky Derby, horse racing’s most glamorous event. The race distance is 1 ¼ miles and the purse is the largest ever at $2,399,600.
Bellamy Road, trained by Nick Zito and owned by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, was the early 5-2 favorite at press time. Afleet Alex was second at odds of 9-2.
Zito has a total of five colts in this year’s Derby, a feat only one other trainer has accomplished, D. Wayne Lucas in 1996. One of his horses, Grindstone, won that year.
Some critics contend that Bellamy Road, to be ridden by jockey Javier Castellano, is not seasoned enough to win the Derby with just two starts this year. However, his last victory came in the Wood Memorial in April, where he won by an amazing 17 ½ lengths.
The full field for the 2005 Kentucky Derby, in order of post position, includes Sort It Out, Andromeda’s Hero, Sun King, Noble Causeway, Coin Silver, High Limit, Flower Alley, Greater Good, Greeley’s Galaxy, Giacomo, High Fly, Afleet Alex, Spanish Chestnut, Wilko, Bandini, Bellamy Road, Don’t Get Mad, Closing Argument, Going Wild and Buzzards Bay.
NBA IN MIDST OF PLAYOFFS; CHAMPION TO EMERGE
The NBA playoffs are well underway with some first round series’ already completed. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the pesky Denver Nuggets four games to one in the best-of-seven-series with a 99-89 win on Wednesday, May 4. The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Sacramento Kings 4-1 as well.
Also in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns swept the Memphis Grizzlies in four games, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 103-100 on May 2 to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
In the Eastern Conference, the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons downed the Philadelphia 76ers in five games to advance to the second round. The Miami Heat swept the New Jersey Nets to move on. The Indiana Pacers led the Boston Celtics three games to two at press time. The Washington Wizards held a 3-2 advantage over the Chicago Bulls at press time in a match up between two teams that watched the playoffs from home a season ago.
In the second round, Phoenix will take on the winner of the Houston/Dallas series, while Seattle and San Antonio will collide to see who advances to the Western Conference Finals.
In the East, Miami will play either Washington or Chicago, and Detroit will face either Boston or Indiana in pursuit of a second-straight NBA crown.