Four local athletes ran with the kangaroos earlier this month,
representing California in the International Down Under Games held
in Australia.
Four local athletes ran with the kangaroos earlier this month, representing California in the International Down Under Games held in Australia.
The four athletes who were invited to attend stayed about two weeks depending on the competition they were in. During that time, they trained and competed and had the chance to do some sightseeing as well.
The athletes checked out some of the sites like the Sydney Opera House, Paradise Country and the zoo.
Some even got to do some scuba diving.
Johnny DiSalvo and Jesse Rice competed on the track team, Phil Leonard competed on the football team and Alex Diaz wrestled.
Although DiSalvo and Jesse Rice were on the same 15-member track team from California, they didn’t get to compete together. Rice was on the ‘A’ team in the sprint medley and 4 by 400 teams, and DiSalvo was on ‘B’ team in those events.
Jesse Rice
Rice, who finished second in the section and was the Balers’ lone representative in state, placed first in the 400-meter race and helped his 4 by 400-meter team to a first-place finish and his sprint medley team to a second-place finish.
Rice ran the 400 in 52 seconds. The sprint medley team had a time of 3:47, and the 4 by 400 team tied the meet record with a mark of 3:30.28.
Rice’s time in the 400-meter race was about three seconds slower than what he recorded this year during the high school season. He attributes the difference in time to the rainy day on Saturday.
“I always run a little slower in the rain,” Rice said. “It just kind of gives me a bad moral.”
The second day of competition was sunny though. Rice set a new personal record in the 100-meter, finishing .2 faster than his previous time with a 11.7. His coach told him it was the first time he ever saw anyone get a PR there.
Johnny DiSalvo
DiSalvo finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.3 and finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles. He competed in the 100-meter race – an event he normally doesn’t run – and finished 13th. Both of his relay teams finished last.
“We had a lot of fast runners on our team,” DiSalvo said. “I have never seen so many good athletes all in one place.”
He said the rain also affected him.
“When it is cold, it seems like your muscles tend to tighten up,” DiSalvo said.
DiSalvo brought an extra jersey along to try to trade it with one of the Australian or New Zealand members, but he couldn’t find anyone willing to switch.
“It was really weird because there were people there from all over the country,” DiSalvo said. “There were probably more people from here competing than there was from Australia.”
DiSalvo and Rice flew back into Los Angeles on July 16.
Phil Leonard
“Everyone was super cool and really friendly,” Leonard said. “You didn’t have to worry about getting directions from anyone. And everyone had their own accents. But it was really not that much different from here. We were in the tourist spots – but they had McDonalds, Pizza Huts and everything.”
Leonard’s team from California took first place and dominated its two opponents, combing to win shut them out 70-0.
The first game was against a team from Australia, and the second game was against a team from Georgia and Florida.
“It was kind of like playing against an All-Star team,” said Leonard, who is one of the six Balers competing in the All-star game in Soledad Friday. “It was fun seeing what other teams have to bring to the table, but I think we were superior all the way around.”
Leonard, who plans on playing for Butte College next year, started both ways on the offensive and defensive line for his team.
“I’d like to think the line’s play was a big part of the scoring,” Leonard said.
A good number of people came to the Gold Coast Stadium, which hosts professional football and rugby, to watch the games, but it was not as high as it could have been, Leonard said.
“They are intrigued by American football, but a lot of them don’t understand our rules,” Leonard said. “They know rugby and footie.”
Alex Diaz
Diaz was asked last year if he wanted to attend the competition, but his parents thought it would be best to wait a year to gain some more experience and raise the funds. He was the only competitor on the Western United States team from California.
Diaz, who has wrestled on the San Benito varsity team since he was a freshman, went 3-2 on the mat and finished in third place even though he was competing in open style wrestling that he was not used to.
Diaz had to drop about eight points to get into the 152-pound weight class for the tournament. Now he has gone back up to his football weight where he was before.
In addition to the early morning football practices, Diaz also lifts and runs a couple miles in the morning. In the evening, he rides his bike several miles as well.
“I felt at least in as good of or better shape then anyone there,” Diaz said. “I think the intensive practices helped me because I was able to keep on pushing myself into the action while everyone else was getting tired.”
In the opening round, Diaz pinned his opponent from Montana in the second period. In the third round, he won by technical fall against his opponent from Washington and in the third match, he cradled his opponent from Colorado in the first period.
In the fourth match, he lost to his opponent from Iowa. Diaz was up 6-1 but lost 7-6. In his final match, Diaz lost 8-0 after not being able to generate any points.
“I am pretty happy with how I did because I faced some tough guys,” Diaz said.
