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Feature - Aloha trip to NYC - DyestatPublished by
Aloha turns NYC visit into a season-opener to remember By Doug Binder It's not typical for a high school cross country team to travel 3,000 miles away from home for a meet, but that's what Aloha of Beaverton, Ore. did last weekend when it showed up at the Randolph Invitational in New Jersey. Aloha (pronouced "Ah-LO-wah") makes an effort to travel somewhere for a destination race every two years. In 2011, the team flew to Disneyland and competed in the Palos Verdes Invitational. Head coach Ken Martinez revealed the 2013 destination -- the Big Apple -- at the conclusion of last year's season. "We've been super-excited ever since and it motivated us for track (season) to get better and for summer training it motivated us to make the varsity trip," senior Devin Sellers said. Aloha took seven boys and eight girls back east last Thursday -- one day after the first day of school -- for four days in New York City. They stayed a the hostel on 101st and Broadway on the upper west side and made a whirlwind tour of the city in addition to competing in the race. Aloha may be best-known nationally for being the meet host for Nike Pre-Nationals, which is coming up Sept. 28. The team members raised money for the trip and income from Nike Pre-Nationals offset some of the costs also. The Warriors aren't alone in finding meets that combine competition with a travel adventure and cultural exchange. In 2011, Monsignor Farrell from Staten Island came to Boise, Idaho for the Bob Firman Invitational. Last year, teams from Maryland and Texas made it to Portland for the Pre-Nationals (and there are many other examples). But a first trip to New York City is a big deal for anyone, and for nearly everyone in the Aloha group, it was four days of fascination. "Four days felt like a week we did so much," Sellers said. "Other than my close friends I wouldn't know of another group I could go experience something like that with. Going around every corner you had the feeling that you've never seen anything like it. From the people to the buildings, the atmosphere, the whole deal, it's something you've never seen before." Aloha made use of Central Park for a couple of runs. The group visited Columbia University (assistant coach Tamara Ottum is an alum, and served as a tour guide), Grand Central Station, Union Square, Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Chinatown, the 9-11 Memorial, and more. In fact, there was some concern that all of the walking the group did on Friday may come back to haunt the runners in Saturday's meet. But it didn't. Aloha arrived at the Randolph Invitational and were warmly welcomed. "The race was one of the highlights of the trip," Allison Martinez said. "Even though we walked several miles the day before we still competed really well. (We) also enjoyed the race because when we ran by the crowd would yell 'Go Oregon!' However, my favorite part of the meet was being able to meet the Randolph High School girls and run a cool-down with them." Aloha respresented its home state well. The boys finsished second to US#19 St. Anthony's NY and Sellers was fourth overall in the Varsity A Group race. The event is billed as New Jersey's only night meet, and the course connects lighted baseball diamonds and a footballl field with some lighted forest trails. Twins Bae and Jay Garmondeh finished seventh and eighth, Joel Kramer was 14th and Daniel Rodriguez was 27th. When it was over, Aloha followed the bright lights across the Hudson River back to Manhattan, had a final night in the hotel, and squeezed a little more sight-seeing into Sunday before heading to the airport. "I'm going to remember the meet the most," Sellers said. "Any race could have started our season, but to start it up there and do that well, it was awesome." HashtagsNone
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