Sunday, April 28, 1996

Cooper's Rhiddlehoover breaks state record at regional track meet

By TED DUNNAM
Assistant Sports Editor

LUBBOCK - Bring on the endorsements.

Put him on a box of Wheaties, in a Nike commercial or, at the very least, let him be honored with a Kodak moment.

And even then, you'll need an extra roll of film.

Jon Rhiddlehoover waged a discus-throwing display with El Paso Irvin's Edmund Stansbury Saturday at Texas Tech's Fuller Track like few have seen before.

When Rhiddlehoover uncorked a throw of 192 feet, 10 inches on his final fling, it sent the crowd abuzz. But it did much more than that. Much more.

• His final effort bettered the old regional record - for the third time in the day.
• It stole an apparent victory from Stansbury, the defending state champion, who had just thrown 190 feet, four inches on his final throw.
• Between the two, they bettered the old regional mark six times Saturday.
• Rhiddlehoover's last throw gave him the state's best mark in the event and shattered the Cooper school record. It also bettered his previous best toss, before this meet by almost 20 feet.

"When I got in the ring today, I felt this tingling sensation," Rhiddlehoover said. "I knew either something good or something bad was going to happen today."

And Rhiddlehoover knew which it was going to be after his first throw of 180 feet, 11 inches.

After that, his throws were 181-2, 182-8, 171, 184-4 and 192-10.

"I've never seen discus competition as dramatic and emotional as this today," Rhiddlehoover said. "It was just one great throw after another.
"Something in me just clicked today. I was tired of all these guys beating me when I knew I was capable of beating them.

"Everything just popped for me. My theme this year has been 'Let go and let God'. He certainly helped me today."

It wasn't until Rhiddlehoover's final throw that his prayers were totally fulfilled.

'When I threw the 184, I knew I was at state. I was telling myself I have a chance to beat this guy. I knew he was the No. 1 guy in state and I was pumped up.

"And then he throws it 190-7. That throw scared me to death. When I let my final one fly, I knew it was good. I just didn't know if it was good enough."

It was plenty good, and it put Jon in the winner's circle with twin sister Ann who won her discus competition on Friday.

'This is really special," Jon said. "Ann winning Friday and me today. I couldn't have done it without her support and the support of all my teammates. Ann and Matt Royals are my two biggest supporters.

"For Ann and myself to each win, it's great. It's really a unique situation."

Unfortunately, Rhiddlehoover was the only Cougar or Abilene High athlete to earn a state berth Saturday. However, several athletes recorded personal bests.

Cougars Peter Abrigg and Chris Cherry finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the long jump. Cooper's Dominic Rhodes (21.95) was sixth in the 200 meters while teammate Michael Smith was fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.03).

In the triple jump, Lady Cougar Erycerla Willie narrowly missed out on a state berth with her 37-53/4 effort. Second-place Cherri Jackson of Odessa High sailed 37-81/4.

"I was disappointed, but it was a personal best for me," Willie said. "I'm not upset because I did my best. I'm satisfied, but I wish I could have done just a little better."
Abrigg sailed 22 feet, 73/4 inches on his long jump.

'I wanted to go 23 feet, but I'm real happy," Abrigg said. "I wanted to place and I did that. I got excited about the competition and the adrenalin was flowing. I was very happy with the way I jumped."

Cooper also got a fourth-place finish from Gloria McDonald in the 100 hurdles and a sixth-place finish from Willie in the 100 meters.

"I was very pleased with Erycerla," Cooper head coach Barbara Crousen said. "She had her personal best today. Gloria came in here tied with the fourth-best time and she finished fourth. I keep waiting for her to bust out and I think she will."

Abilene High's 800-meter relay team also ran a personal best time of 1:42.24. Unfortunately, that only got the Lady Eagles seventh place in a talented field.
Rhiddlehoover, though, saw his best pay off in a big way.

"I don't know why it happened today," he said, "but I'm glad it did."
ort Worth Dunbar won the girls title with 61 points and Cooper tied for 13th with 20 points. In the boys division, Fort Worth Wyatt won with 54 points while Cooper tied for seventh with 24 points.
GIRLS
eam totals - 1. Fort Worth Dunbar 61, 2. (tie) El Paso Burges, Flower Mound Marcus 58; 4. Arlington Sam Houston 48, 5. (tie) El Paso Eastwood, L.D. Bell 36; 7. Odessa Permian 31, 8. Fort Worth Wyatt 28; 9. (tie) Arlington Bowie, Mansfield 24; 13. Cooper 20.
Triple jump - 1. Lloret Coleman, EP Eastwood, 38-31/4; 2. Cherri Jackson, Odessa High, 37-81/4; 3. Erycerla Willie, Cooper, 37-53/4.
High jump - 1. Brittney Sublet, Fort Worth Dunbar, 5-7; 2. Alisa Chavez, EP Montwood, 5-5; 3. Carolyn Sublet, FW Dunbar, 5-5.
Long jump - 1. Shareen Sharrieff, L.D. Bell, 18-91/2; 2. Lloret Coleman, EPEastwood, 18-53/4; 3. Latasha Williams, Keller, 17-8.
Shot put - 1. Wykiesha Thompson, Plainview, 41-9; 2. Monique Paige, Marcus, 40-10; 3. Lisa Dossey, Permian, 40-11/2; 10. Talitha Brewster, Cooper, 36-6.
400 relay - 1. Arlington Sam Houston 47.24, 2. FW Dunbar 47.36, 3. Midland High 47.49.
800 - 1. Armida Valles, EP Burges, 2:17.12; 2. Sandy Ramsey, Grapevine, 2:17.51; 3. Heidi Francen, Grapevine, 2:19.59.
100 - 1. Sadonna Thorton, Arlington Bowie, 11.69; 2. Jimyria Hicks, Arlington Sam Houston, 11.70; 3. Shareen Sharrieff, L.D. Bell, 11.91; 6. Erycerla Willie, Cooper, 12.12.
100 hurdles - 1. Danielle Chapman, Permian, 14.57; 2. Stephanie Willis, Marcus, 14.74; 3. Tiffany Davis, The Colony, 14.74; 4. Gloria McDonald, Cooper, 15.20.
800 relay - 1. Arlington Sam Houston 1:39.53, 2. FW Wyatt 1:39.92, 3. Mansfield 1:40.84, 7. Abilene High 1:42.24.
300 hurdles - 1. Danielle Chapman, Permian, 44.62; 2. Jessica Guild, Marcus , 44.70; 3. Nicole Mitchell, Arlington Lamar, 45.37.
200 - 1. Sadonna Thorton,m Arlington Bowie, 24.02; 2. Shareen Sharrieff, L.D. Bell, 24.41; 3. Latasha Williams, Keller, 24.66.
1,600 - 1. Amani Terrell, Marcus, 5:09.04; 2. Blanca Reyes, EP Eastwood, 5:13.62; 3. Leigh Daniel, Lubbock Monterey, 5:21.34.
1,600 relay - 1. EP Burges 3:46.55, 2. FW Dunbar 3:47.31, 3. FW Wyatt 3:47.40.
BOYS
Team totals - 1. Fort Worth Wyatt 54, 2. Odessa High 43, 3. Midland Lee 32, 4. Hurst Bell 27, 5. San Angelo Central 26, 6. Grapevine 25, 7. (tie) Cooper, ElPaso Bowie, Lubbock Monterey 24; 10. Flower Mound Marcus 23.
High jump - 1. Jud Bryant, Crowley, 6-10; 2. Aaron Minehan, Richland, 6-8; 3. David Stroud, Amarillo High, 6-4.
Long jump - 1. Aaron Wright, Marcus, 23-41/2; 2. Antwan Thomas, FW Southwest, 23-3; 3. Ita Uda-Ema, Lubbock Coronado, 23-21/2; 5. Peter Abrigg, Cooper, 22-73/4; 6. Chris Cherry, Cooper, 22-51/2.
Discus - 1. Jon Rhiddlehoover, Cooper, 192-10; 2. Edmund Stansbury, EP Irvin, 190-4; 3. James McCarthy, Grapevine, 177-8.
400 relay - 1. FW Wyatt 40.81, 2. EP Andress 40.92, 3. San Angelo Central 40.98.
800 - 1. Jonathan Pike, Odessa High, 1:51.24; 2. Rod Phipps, EP Austin, 1:53.58; 3. Blair Hansard, Richaland, 1:53.95.
110 hurdles - 1. John McAfee, Midland Lee, 13.88; 2. Lenny Jurado, EP Irvin,14.40; 3. Kwasi Pryor, Arlington Sam Houston, 14.40.
100 - 1. Demario Wesley, FW Wyatt, 10.56; 2. Anthony Johnson, Lubock Monterey, 10.64; 3. Jaquay Wilburn, Odessa Permian, 10.76.
400 - 1. Sam Singleton, San Angelo Central, 47.24; 2. Johnnie Collins, FW Wyatt, 47.49; 3. Jason Prann, Odessa Permian, 48.23.
300 hurdles - 1. John McAfee, Midland Lee, 36.94; 2. Mark Ransom, WF Rider, 38.35; 3. Andy Moreno, EP FRanklin, 38.60; 5. Michael Smith, Cooper, 39.03.
200 - 1. Anthony Johnson, Lubbock Monterey, 21.49; 2. Demario Wesley,FW Wyatt, 21.51; 3. Brian Ten Eyck, Hurst Bell, 21.64; 6. Dominic Rhodes, Cooper, 21.95.
1,600 - 1. Alberto Esquivel, EP Bowie, 4:25.39; 2. Danny Salazar, EP Bel Air, 4:25.79; 3. Carlos Delira, Mansfield, 4:35.57.
1,600 relay - 1. Odessa High 3:14.45, 2. Hurst Bell 3:14.54, 3. Midland Lee 3:15.14.