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Moorpark's Hicks takes second in javelin at state meet
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More from Local CollegesWhen she first picked up the javelin for the first time three months ago, Randi Hicks isn't sure how she would have reacted had she been told she would finish runner-up in the event at the California Community College track and field championships on Friday at Cerritos College.
"I would have tried to get first, I guess," shrugged the Ventura College freshman.
But that's how the boxer-turned-basketball player-turned-track athlete completed her first track season, throwing the javelin 134 feet, 1 inch on her final throw to vault herself from fourth place to second.
Ventura throws coach Tom Lawrence, would have had a slightly different reaction if he had been let in on the news three months ago, when Hicks ambled over after the completion of the basketball season.
"I just wouldn't have believed it, just because it's such a technical event," said Lawrence. "But in every meet, she's the most consistent thrower out there.
"She's very coachable and can take a couple cues and translate that into performance."
Hicks will join the school's volleyball team in the fall and hopes to compete in next year's state meet in all four throwing events.
"Practice makes perfect," said Hicks. "I just practiced and practiced and practiced. Without coach Lawrence's help I would have never gotten anywhere."
Moorpark's Jimmie Pacifico finished second in the discus toss with a mark of 52.12 meters in the first day of the two-day competition. Teammates Karl Gerhke and Donald Romero followed in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Moorpark's Alex Hoffman-Ellis finished fifth in the men's javelin (184-6). Kyle Elsea is seventh in the decathlon after the first day.
Oxnard's Miguel Cisneros completed his stellar two-year career by finishing fourth in the 10,000 meters (33:17) in boiling conditions.
"It felt like 100 out there," said Cisneros. "It was a good race, a nice way to cap off the season."
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