lakers
05-23-2009, 05:42 PM
Clyde student athletes face the decision of a lifetime
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/may/22/when-worlds-collide/
CLYDE -- Once in a great while, every planet in the solar system aligns with the sun to form a straight line. It is a highly infrequent occurrence -- so infrequent it is often seen as an ominous sign.
Clyde High School seniors P.J. Martinez and Emily Yates can relate to this analogy. Both qualified for the state track meet in the 800 relay during Wednesday's Region I-2A meet in Odessa -- Martinez with the boys; Yates with the girls. Now, each is facing dilemma which few people envisioned.
Following the University Interscholastic League's rescheduling of the state meet due to the swine flu scare, the event now directly conflicts with multiple commencement ceremonies across the state. Commencement at Clyde is slated for 7 p.m. June 5 at the Abilene Civic Center -- roughly 30 minutes before two relay teams are scheduled to compete in Austin.
To make matters worse, Martinez recently was named valedictorian -- a title he pursued relentlessly. Yates was named the salutatorian, and five of Clyde's eight relay runners are set to graduate with honors.
It is precisely the type of conflict that the UIL works to avoid, and forces Martinez and Yates into a decision no administrator ever wants a student athlete to make. Two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities have collided on the same day, with both teenagers, their teammates, coaches and families all caught in the middle.
Martinez and Yates remain undecided and will take the weekend to think it over before coming to a decision when track practice resumes Monday.
"I've never seen a family so happy on one end, and so heartbroken on the other," Clyde principal Terry Phillips said. "In a way, it's a good problem to have because we're talking about achievement.
"But they've spent 12 years working on one of these goals."
In the case of Martinez, earning valedictorian was less a goal than it was a mission.
Heading to Baylor University, where he will major in child and family studies as a pre-med student, Martinez has wanted to deliver a speech at Clyde's graduation for as long as he can remember.
"Academics has always been what I was really aiming at," he said. "I'm going to be better-known for academics than athletics, because athletics will only get me to a certain point.
"But I know whatever decision I make, I'm going to regret it, no matter what. Twenty years from now, I'll have to tell my kids 'I didn't go to graduation or I didn't go to state,' and that scares me."
This would be the first trip to the state meet for Martinez, who along with Devin Boren, Will Graham and Karrson Strohl finished second at the Region I-2A meet. The Bulldogs' qualifying time of 1:29.89 ranks third among state qualifiers, meaning they have an excellent chance to win a medal in Austin.
"If we didn't have a chance, it would make my decision very easy," said Martinez, who says he doesn't feel pressured by his teammates to go to state. "But we have chance to get a medal, which is something I can never do again."
Yates, on the other hand, has competed twice at the state meet as a sophomore and as a junior, but never medaled.
However, the time of 1:44.99 which she, Jennifer Portlock, Amy Withrow and Torie Lewis produced in Odessa is the fastest 800 relay time of all state qualifiers. In other words, the Lady Bulldogs are gold-medal favorites -- making this the chance of a lifetime for Yates as well.
The UIL will conduct a graduation ceremony in Austin for those who are missing their commencements at home. But in Yates' view, this is no substitute for graduating with lifelong friends.
"This is the toughest decision, by far, that I've ever had to make," said Yates, who will attend TCU as a business major. "These are two really big things happening in my life at the same time.
"It's not every day that you graduate from high school and I've been looking forward to this forever. But then again, I've worked hard in track and we've worked hard as a team. We've got the best time going in, and (athletics) is a big deal in Clyde."
Both Yates and Martinez have been standouts in other sports. Martinez was a first-team guard in basketball, advanced to the regional tennis meet in mixed doubles with Santanna Astleford and played on Clyde's district championship football team. Yates was an all-Big Country guard in basketball.
Several ways to accommodate the teens have been discussed by faculty members, including videotaping their commencement speeches and playing them for their classmates during graduation. A live video feed from Austin to Clyde also is being discussed, depending on availability and the decisions made by each athlete.
One concession which cannot be made, however, is the rescheduling of the graduation ceremony. With more than 100 other students scheduled to graduate, many of whom have family and friends traveling to the event, a late scheduling change wasn't possible.
"Both of these kids have done things the right way, through hard work and studying," athletic director David Ritchey said. "You can ask any administrator at this school and they'd tell you if they had a daughter, they'd want them to be like Emily, or if they had a son they'd wish they were like P.J.
"I sat both of them down and gave them every fact I could possible give them. I told them whatever they choose, they'd have my support. To me this a 100-percent kid-mom-dad decision."
track coach Jarrett Vickers said, agreeing with Ritchey but admitting he is biased.
He is openly ecstatic that his relay teams have qualified for Austin, and is hoping to see both of them there, intact.
"Part of my job as head track coach is to try to persuade them to (go to state)," he said. "Of course, that's with the understanding that this is high school graduation and one of the biggest things in their lives.
"I can only persuade them so much, because it's their decision and their life. Whether I like their decision or not, I'll be supportive of it."
Perhaps surprising to some, the parents of both athletes are remaining neutral on the decision.
Martinez's, mother, Olga, who doubles as a Spanish teacher and long jump coach at Clyde, said she couldn't enjoy her son qualifying for state because of the conflict it immediately created.
"Everyone says that going to state is once-in-a-lifetime thing," she said. "But I've seen how hard my son has worked on academics -- staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning studying after football games and basketball games.
"He has worked his rear end off to be valedictorian and for him to be put in this position, just hurts me ... I ache for him."
Added Yates: "My dad asked me, '
well, Emily, do you want to walk or do you want to run?'" she said with a laugh. "Either way, my parents will support my decision and won't be upset with me."
And apparently, neither will the majority of the other relay competitors.
Portlock, who along with Withrow and Boren are honor students as well, has told Yates she will respect any decision. In fact, the girls team has gone a step further; they agreed to compete with Yates in the lineup or not at all.
"I told Emily that if she goes to graduation, then I'm going, too," Portlock said. "Because without her on the relay, it won't be the same. Our time won't be the same, and the experience won't be the same."
As of now, Martinez estimates his chances of going to state at around 50-50. Yates says she is leaning toward going to Austin, but isn't close to a final verdict.
"I don't want to look back and think 'I should have done this or that," Yates said. "I want to be confident in my decision and not regret anything."
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/may/22/when-worlds-collide/
CLYDE -- Once in a great while, every planet in the solar system aligns with the sun to form a straight line. It is a highly infrequent occurrence -- so infrequent it is often seen as an ominous sign.
Clyde High School seniors P.J. Martinez and Emily Yates can relate to this analogy. Both qualified for the state track meet in the 800 relay during Wednesday's Region I-2A meet in Odessa -- Martinez with the boys; Yates with the girls. Now, each is facing dilemma which few people envisioned.
Following the University Interscholastic League's rescheduling of the state meet due to the swine flu scare, the event now directly conflicts with multiple commencement ceremonies across the state. Commencement at Clyde is slated for 7 p.m. June 5 at the Abilene Civic Center -- roughly 30 minutes before two relay teams are scheduled to compete in Austin.
To make matters worse, Martinez recently was named valedictorian -- a title he pursued relentlessly. Yates was named the salutatorian, and five of Clyde's eight relay runners are set to graduate with honors.
It is precisely the type of conflict that the UIL works to avoid, and forces Martinez and Yates into a decision no administrator ever wants a student athlete to make. Two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities have collided on the same day, with both teenagers, their teammates, coaches and families all caught in the middle.
Martinez and Yates remain undecided and will take the weekend to think it over before coming to a decision when track practice resumes Monday.
"I've never seen a family so happy on one end, and so heartbroken on the other," Clyde principal Terry Phillips said. "In a way, it's a good problem to have because we're talking about achievement.
"But they've spent 12 years working on one of these goals."
In the case of Martinez, earning valedictorian was less a goal than it was a mission.
Heading to Baylor University, where he will major in child and family studies as a pre-med student, Martinez has wanted to deliver a speech at Clyde's graduation for as long as he can remember.
"Academics has always been what I was really aiming at," he said. "I'm going to be better-known for academics than athletics, because athletics will only get me to a certain point.
"But I know whatever decision I make, I'm going to regret it, no matter what. Twenty years from now, I'll have to tell my kids 'I didn't go to graduation or I didn't go to state,' and that scares me."
This would be the first trip to the state meet for Martinez, who along with Devin Boren, Will Graham and Karrson Strohl finished second at the Region I-2A meet. The Bulldogs' qualifying time of 1:29.89 ranks third among state qualifiers, meaning they have an excellent chance to win a medal in Austin.
"If we didn't have a chance, it would make my decision very easy," said Martinez, who says he doesn't feel pressured by his teammates to go to state. "But we have chance to get a medal, which is something I can never do again."
Yates, on the other hand, has competed twice at the state meet as a sophomore and as a junior, but never medaled.
However, the time of 1:44.99 which she, Jennifer Portlock, Amy Withrow and Torie Lewis produced in Odessa is the fastest 800 relay time of all state qualifiers. In other words, the Lady Bulldogs are gold-medal favorites -- making this the chance of a lifetime for Yates as well.
The UIL will conduct a graduation ceremony in Austin for those who are missing their commencements at home. But in Yates' view, this is no substitute for graduating with lifelong friends.
"This is the toughest decision, by far, that I've ever had to make," said Yates, who will attend TCU as a business major. "These are two really big things happening in my life at the same time.
"It's not every day that you graduate from high school and I've been looking forward to this forever. But then again, I've worked hard in track and we've worked hard as a team. We've got the best time going in, and (athletics) is a big deal in Clyde."
Both Yates and Martinez have been standouts in other sports. Martinez was a first-team guard in basketball, advanced to the regional tennis meet in mixed doubles with Santanna Astleford and played on Clyde's district championship football team. Yates was an all-Big Country guard in basketball.
Several ways to accommodate the teens have been discussed by faculty members, including videotaping their commencement speeches and playing them for their classmates during graduation. A live video feed from Austin to Clyde also is being discussed, depending on availability and the decisions made by each athlete.
One concession which cannot be made, however, is the rescheduling of the graduation ceremony. With more than 100 other students scheduled to graduate, many of whom have family and friends traveling to the event, a late scheduling change wasn't possible.
"Both of these kids have done things the right way, through hard work and studying," athletic director David Ritchey said. "You can ask any administrator at this school and they'd tell you if they had a daughter, they'd want them to be like Emily, or if they had a son they'd wish they were like P.J.
"I sat both of them down and gave them every fact I could possible give them. I told them whatever they choose, they'd have my support. To me this a 100-percent kid-mom-dad decision."
track coach Jarrett Vickers said, agreeing with Ritchey but admitting he is biased.
He is openly ecstatic that his relay teams have qualified for Austin, and is hoping to see both of them there, intact.
"Part of my job as head track coach is to try to persuade them to (go to state)," he said. "Of course, that's with the understanding that this is high school graduation and one of the biggest things in their lives.
"I can only persuade them so much, because it's their decision and their life. Whether I like their decision or not, I'll be supportive of it."
Perhaps surprising to some, the parents of both athletes are remaining neutral on the decision.
Martinez's, mother, Olga, who doubles as a Spanish teacher and long jump coach at Clyde, said she couldn't enjoy her son qualifying for state because of the conflict it immediately created.
"Everyone says that going to state is once-in-a-lifetime thing," she said. "But I've seen how hard my son has worked on academics -- staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning studying after football games and basketball games.
"He has worked his rear end off to be valedictorian and for him to be put in this position, just hurts me ... I ache for him."
Added Yates: "My dad asked me, '
well, Emily, do you want to walk or do you want to run?'" she said with a laugh. "Either way, my parents will support my decision and won't be upset with me."
And apparently, neither will the majority of the other relay competitors.
Portlock, who along with Withrow and Boren are honor students as well, has told Yates she will respect any decision. In fact, the girls team has gone a step further; they agreed to compete with Yates in the lineup or not at all.
"I told Emily that if she goes to graduation, then I'm going, too," Portlock said. "Because without her on the relay, it won't be the same. Our time won't be the same, and the experience won't be the same."
As of now, Martinez estimates his chances of going to state at around 50-50. Yates says she is leaning toward going to Austin, but isn't close to a final verdict.
"I don't want to look back and think 'I should have done this or that," Yates said. "I want to be confident in my decision and not regret anything."