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Track and field elite to meet, greet
Olympians appearing in Stockton for fundraiser
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By Bob Highfill
Record Sports Editor
October 13, 2007 6:00 AM
Amy Acuff is drawn to the purity of track and field.
For decades, her singular pursuit has been to hurl herself over a horizontal bar precariously balanced more than six feet off the ground.
Acuff, 32, is one of America's premier high jumpers, garnering five No. 1 national rankings and nothing lower than a No. 3 national ranking for the past 14 years. On Sunday, fans can meet America's reigning national champion and several more Olympic-caliber athletes at Tiger Bar Sports Eat and Greet from 1-5 p.m. at Valley Brewing Co. at 157 W. Adams Street in Stockton. Food will be provided by Valley Brew and Arroyo's restaurant. Admission is $30 at the door.
Upcoming event
Tiger Bar Sports Eat and Greet
When: 1-5 p.m., Sunday
Where: Valley Brewing Co., Stockton
Admission: $30 at the door
The event is a fundraiser for Tiger Bar Sports, a USA track and field club, whose athletes train at Tiger Bar Ranch on Twitchell Island in the San Joaquin Delta.
"We're going to mingle and meet and greet fans and sign autographs," said Acuff, who lives in Isleton with her husband of three years, 2001 world indoor pole vault champion Tye Harvey. "It's coming up quick on the Olympics. They're less than a year away."
Acuff, Harvey and about a dozen other elite athletes are training at the ranch in earnest for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in late June and early July at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Their ultimate goal is to earn a spot in the 2008 Olympics, which take place in August in Beijing, China.
It will take a lot of hard to get there and some financial help, which is what Sunday's event is all about.
"We're trying to finish our training center and get everything we need for Fall training," Acuff said. "We're in desperate need assisting with operating expenses."
Tiger Bar Ranch is a world-class training center in the making. Created in the summer of 2006, it gives athletes a place to train once their college careers end. Tiger Bar's coach is the renowned Dan Pfaff.
"We're finishing up the surface that we run and train on and a few odds and ends," Acuff said. "And we need weight training equipment."
Other athletes who train at Tiger Bar Ranch that are scheduled to appear Sunday include Modesto's Suzy Powell-Roos, a two-time Olympian and the current U.S. record-holder in the discus; reigning world champion pole vaulter Brad Walker, and pole vaulter Nikki McEwen, the runner-up at the U.S. Nationals.
Acuff, who grew up in Texas and has competed in track and field since age 5, said she's not discouraged about the cloud of suspicion hanging over track and field in the wake of Marion Jones' recent admission of using performance-enhancing drugs prior to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Jones has relinquished the five medals she won there.
"You can't let one bad seed ruin the whole sport," said Acuff, who finished 17th in qualifying at the 2000 Games. "It's a fantastic sport."
Oh well, we will just have to produce more 