Yorktown's Prata Wins National Preps Wrestling Title

Capping a season that saw him join the group of elite lightweight high school wrestlers in the United States, St. Christopher’s Joey Prata captured the 106-lb. title at the National Preps championship, held last month at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
Prata on the podium at the National Preps wrestling
tournament, held recently at Lehigh University.

With the win, Prata, a resident of Yorktown, earned the Richmond school’s first ever individual National Prep title, and helped the Saints to a 10th place finish (out of 134 teams), best among Virginia schools.

Entering the tournament as a #2 seed, Prata, who placed fifth in the Prep tournament last year, had to overcome four opponents to earn a berth in the championship bout. He got off to an auspicious start, pinning both Hans Forland (Green Farms Academy) and Mike McCabe (John Carroll) to advance to the quarterfinals.

But to make the top four in the semis, he had to beat an old opponent – one who had gotten the better of him twice, Michael Doetsch of the Severn (MD) School.

“I wrestled him a couple of times in middle school,” said the sophomore. “But he had beaten me both times.”

However, one of Prata’s greatest strengths is his penchant to size up an opponent who has beaten him in the past, make the necessary adjustments, and come back to defeat the same wrestler later. It is an asset that served him well as a middle school champion with the Virginia Predators, and one which helped again as he dominated Doetsch in the quarters, scoring from all positions while earning a decisive 7-0 victory.

Assured of at least a top-four finish, Prata refused to let up, throttling St. Benedict (NJ) senior Chris Cuccolo 9-3, to set up the championship match against Zach Sherman of the renowned Blair Academy (NJ) program, one which had made a habit of winning the National Prep team title. In fact, the Blair squad had won at Lehigh for 33 years in a row before Wyoming Seminary ended the longest team title streak in American high school sports history, earning 299.5 points and the championship this year.

Were there extra nerves about competing against a wrestler from such a prestigious program?

“Not really,” admitted Prata, who went on to add, “I felt pretty confident going in, and after that first takedown, I knew I could take him.”

Leaving no room for doubt, the Saint grappler added a second takedown against Sherman en route to an easy 7-2 win in the finals. The five wins for the tournament gave Prata a 42-5 record for the season and earned him a second National Prep All-American honor, and third overall (he also won the USA National Greco Roman title in July 2013).

Although Prata bypassed the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) tournament, held at the end of March in Virginia Beach, this year, his season is not over yet. He is currently practicing freestyle wrestling in preparation for regional and national championships, the latter of which will be held in Akron, OH at the end of May. He will also defend his Greco Roman national title later this summer in Fargo, ND.

Through two seasons at St. Christopher’s, Prata sports a career record of 92-16.

The Doctor Is Still In - Retired Sprinter Patton Not Done With Track

Cover story from the Spring 2014 issue of TrackNation magazine. For more information on TrackNation, visit http://www.tracknation.com

Even though Doc Patton retired from competitive racing in November 2013, he is certainly not done with track.

The sprinter, who earned two World Championship gold medals in the 400-meter relay, as well as a pair of Olympic silvers in the same event, was still making noise on the straightaway in 2013 at the
Darvis "Doc" Patton gets ready to hit the tape first. Since
recently retiring, he will now run track clinics and head up
the new TrackNation Dallas venture, the first city of the
TN movement.
advanced (by track standards) age of  35. His 6.50 winning time for the 60-meter dash at the Millrose Games earned Patton a world record in the event for athletes over 35. Months later, his 9.75 (wind-aided) time in the Texas Relays 100-meters would serve as the sixth fastest clocking for the event under any conditions.

But, after an unsatisfying 2012 campaign, Patton had decided that 2013 would be his final year of competition. He also made the decision to rededicate himself to the sport which had served as his livelihood for the past ten years.

Reflecting on his final season, Patton admits, “it was very, very bittersweet. And more bitter than sweet.”

As far as sprinting again, he says, “as far as I know, I’m done.”

But he’s not done with track yet.

(continued)

To view the rest of this article,  turn to page 22 of this TrackNation magazine cover story at  http://tracknation.com/trackside5

              (above) At 35 years old, Patton blazes a 9.75 in the 100 meters at the Texas Relays in 2013

Kingdom of the Cardinals: Former Hurdling Legend Lands NFL Coaching Gig

It is always fun to interview someone who was a superstar and budding legend at the same time I was competing. During my college days, or at least soon after, I knew full well who Roger Kingdom was. He held the world record in the high hurdles for four years, which meant his time was better than Renaldo Nehemiah and Greg Foster, two other guys that I knew of very well. It's very cool to see that his new path has led to the NFL. Congrats to the newest Arizona Cardinals coach..thank goodness they are not in the same division as the Redskins anymore!




In his high hurdling heyday, Roger Kingdom was the baddest man on the planet. The Georgia native was drawn to the University of Pittsburgh on a football scholarship, but found more success on the Panther track team, earning two NCAA hurdle titles. According to the bio on his website,
Kingdom during his college days at Pitt
www.rogerkingdom.com, it was “after winning his first title (110-meter highs in 1983 outdoor championship) that he knew his future would be with the high hurdles.” Kingdom redshirted from football after his sophomore year in 1983 to concentrate on making the Olympic team. After winning the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, it was obvious that his choice to commit fully to track was the correct one.

Kingdom followed his gold medal performance of 1984 with another Olympic championship four years later in Seoul, South Korea. In the process, Kingdom became the first Olympian to eclipse the 13 second mark, with a 12.98. Three years later, he set the world record in his event, running a 12.92 at a meet in Zurich, Switzerland, a record that would stand for four years. Kingdom also won five U.S. National Championships, as well as gold medals in the World Cup (1989), World University Games (1989), Pan-American Games (1983 and 1995), and World Indoor Championships (1989). 


Kingdom (c) with Buddy Morris (r), coaching mentor
and head strength and conditioning coach for the
NFL's Arizona Cardinals
Kingdom graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and also holds a Masters degree in Sport Management from California University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school where he also served as the head cross-country and track coach during his ten years with the school. Since finishing his hurdling career, the 51-year old has also founded “Kingdom’s Elite,” a company dedicated to the development of speed training for all ages and athletic levels.

In March 2014, Kingdom’s love of football and speed training came full circle as he was hired as the assistant strength and conditioning coach of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

To read the full interview, please visit page 28 at Tracknation magazine, which can be found at this link: http://tracknation.com/trackside5/


(Above) Roger Kingdom winning the 1988 Olympic high hurdles in a then Games record time of 12.98.