Saltzman Says...Bay Area Faces in the Crowd: Golde Ibia

Golde Ibia

Golde has shined at UC Irvine in the hurdles and the sprints

Looking Back in the Bay Area Archives:

June 15, 2007

Evergreen Sports

EVHS hurdler Golde Ibia places sixth at state track and field meet
CCS boys’ triple jump champ Nathan Goodrich misses cut in prelims
of state meet after battling untimely illness

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

Evergreen’s Golde Ibia placed sixth in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles during the 2007 CIF State Track and Field Championships in Sacramento on June 2, signaling the end of another successful season for the junior runner.

Evergreen's Golde Ibia sails over a hurdle during the girls’ 100-meter hurdles event at the 2007 CIF State Track And Field Championships at Sacramento City College on June 2. Ibia finished sixth with a time of 13.99 seconds. Photo by Dan Miranda

Ibia, who finished eighth in the same event at the state meet last season, went one step further in 2007, placing sixth with a personal best time of 13.99 seconds in what was described by some as the fastest girls’ high school 100-meter hurdles race in recent history, featuring Vashti Thomas of Mt. Pleasant setting a new National Federation record with a time of 13.03 seconds in the event.

All told, the junior hurdler’s performance was a pleasing development for Evergreen head coach Jonathan Hubbs. Ibia bounced back in the event with a sixth place finish after taking the final qualifying spot (ninth) during preliminaries the day before with a time of 14.16 seconds.

“Golde, as always, put out an outstanding effort,” Hubbs said of Ibia. “…She snuck in and got the ninth seed in the finals, but she ended up being in what they called ‘the fastest race’ in 100-meter high school hurdle race. It was a perfect race to PR (get a personal record) in, and Golde PR’d with a 13.99 (second race). She was extremely excited to finally break that 14-second barrier. It’s the perfect way to end the season.”

Evergreen’s other representative at the state meet, CCS triple jump champion Nathan Goodrich, saw his luck turn for the worse before he even reached the grounds of Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium, as the senior came down with a bad case of food poisoning the week leading up to the meet.

Goodrich, in turn, didn’t make it out of the preliminary round of the event on June 1, finishing 16th with a high mark of 44 feet and 5.75 inches, which he achieved in the first of three jump attempts.

“It might have affected his performance,” Hubbs said of Goodrich’s illness. “He was jumping into a headwind and stuff like that, so a lot of the marks weren’t too impressive for anybody in that field.”

Goodrich, who clinched an individual CCS championship in the triple jump with a mark of 46 feet and four inches, a week after posting a personal best jump of 46 feet and 11.5 inches in the CCS Semifinals, was naturally upset at how things unfolded in Sacramento in his first and only appearance at the state meet, according to Hubbs.

“He’s a little disappointed,” Hubbs said. “I think overall he’s happy to have been there and to experience that in his senior year. It’s a really great experience just to go to the state meet and be there with the best in the state of California. When you go to the state meet in California, that’s one of the best state meets in all of the United States, so that says something, just to make it there.”

Still, Hubbs said Goodrich’s season was largely successful, noting that the senior was the first in school history to be a boys’ CCS champion in any event. Hubbs added that Goodrich will only get better with time, beginning next season, when the triple jumper will compete for West Valley College in track and field.

“He’s worked so hard and has competed in really great meets all year long,” Hubbs said of Goodrich. “…He improved his best jump by over a foot in the triple jump. Overall, he’s had a really successful senior year and that just sets him up for next year in college.”

As for Ibia, her sixth place finish set a foundation for what Hubbs hopes is a successful senior season in 2008.

“Going into senior year and already running under 14 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, we’re looking to improve even more,” Hubbs said. “I know she really wants to improve even more and she’s going to have to work hard. She knows she has to work hard to take it to a whole new level.”