Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 15

INSIDE: Freshman City track titles decidedpage B3 i May 10, 2005 NBA Pistons win Came 1 Page B2 Bl www.siouxcityiouniaI.coni Snorts Olorundami excels in two spring sports By Jerry Ciese journal sports imter Metro Athlete 1 of the Week lj TUESDAY, UAY 10 iVI NataSeOorundari I West i i meter hurdles last Thursday at the Missouri River Activities Conference track meet. Meanwhile, she has contributed three goals and two assists for a soccer squad which took a 5-1 record into Monday night's league game at North. The Sioux City Journal's Metro Athlete of the Week is well into her fourth season competing in both sports. The 18- year-old daughter of Bola and Jane Olorundami gets quality workouts in both sports and hasn't disappointed track coach Charlie Lara or soccer coach Jen Gengler. "Sometimes, there gets to be a lot of conflicts, like the night I ran the shuttle hurdle, then left to go to the soccer game," said Olorundami, recalling a busy night three weeks ago.

Olorundami anchored the shuttle hurdle relay to a first-place 1:09.25 on April 19 during the East Invitational at Roberts Stadium. Her parents then shuttled her across town to Riverside, where she scored two goals in the Wolverines' 6-0 win over Western Christian. "My coaches are very supportive," said Olorundami, a two-time state track meet quali fier in the 100 hurdles who feels this season's soccer team has a chance to qualify for the state tournament as well. "They can't tell me one or another because I want to do them both. It's my decision.

"Yes, it gets tiring. But I've done it four years and I can't complain. It's my choice." SEE ATHLETE continued on page B3 Natalie Olorundami has been heavily influenced in the hurdle events by two older brothers. Plus, her father was a captain for the Morningside Coilege soccer team. The West High School senior is a natural in both sports and, therefore, is dividing her spring between two different teams.

She set a meet record with a 15.03 clocking in the 100- 3 'K- i -ifr' 4 Sr-' i i i II IkK iLtviJu I Track jumped gun in metric system switch Ever since Bob Dylan's last visit to the hometown barber in Minnesota before then, actually the times have been (a) changing. The biggest change in my lifetime, possibly, is the prevailing sentiment of today, which tends to put change of all kinds in the good column. Those who resist change, meanwhile, are simply dinosaurs, stuck in the mud, stubborn old goats, roadblocks to progress and so on. To a large extent, this is all fine and dandy. However, it occurs to me now that at least one particular change I've witnessed has been a bit of an abomination.

Remember when people who ran track might be "quar-ter-milers" or "half-milers?" You don't hear those terms too much anymore because, of Terry Hersom Sioux City Musketeers' Joe Charlebois skates across the ice as the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders celebrate their victory in Game 5 of the Clark Cup Championship Monday night in Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids beat the Musketeers 4-1 (Staff photo by Jim Lee) nop Cedar Rapids gets 4-1 triumph in finale By Steven Allspach Journal sports writer CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa When the United States Hockey League released its post-season All-Star team a few weeks ago, the name Alex Stalock wasn't to be found. But, after making 36 saves Monday 1 victory over the Musketeers here in the fifth and deciding game of the league's Clark Cup championship series. Stalock came within an eyelash of registering his second championship series shutout. The Musketeers finally got on the scoreboard on a Joe Charlebois goal with just 4:45 left in the game.

The RoughRiders were leading 4-0 at the time. "In my estimation, Alex Stalock should be named the most valuable player in the playoffs," said Sioux City Coach Dave Siciliano. "He was without a doubt the difference in this game and throughout the series, really. "He stopped everything we threw at him. "But, I've got to say I'm awfully proud of my team.

They've never quit and they didn't quit on themselves in this game, either. "Down 4-0 is an awfully tall mountain to climb, but they kept trying to reach the top." Cedar Rapids manufactured the franchise's first Clark Cup championship in its sixth season in the league. "For what it is worth, Sioux City has a great hockey team and I thought this game, this series, was played like playoff hockey is supposed to be," said Cedar Rapids Coach Mark Carlson. "It was up and down, back and forth, and with great intensity." Stalock's only losses in the playoffs were to Sioux City. "Sioux City wanted me to finish out last season with them after my high school season ended, but I ended up here in Cedar Rapids and it looks like the best decision I've ever said the C.R.

goalie. "I just tried to concentrate. Losing the shutout is no big thing. Winning the Cup is." The RoughRiders, who won the USHL's East Division by winning 42 regular season games, mounted a tremendous charge in the second period, turning Sioux City's bid for a second Clark Cup title in four years into a staggering uphill climb. Rob Ricci expanded a 1-0 Rider lead with a goal at 2:40 and Gary Steffes SEE MUSKETEERS continued on page B3 i ail and turning in an absolutely brilliant goal-tending performance, the Cedar Rapids goalie is the toast of the USHL.

Stalock, who actually considered playing for Sioux City coming out course, people no longer run 440 yards or 880 yards or any yards at all. For more than two decades, rather, track and field in Iowa and all of these United States has acquiesced to that scheme of measurement that was sure to become universal almost any time. The metric system? You bet. All these years later, do we buy gasoline in liters? Do we drive so many kilometers per hour? Are those jumbo plasma TV's measured in centimeters? Do we stop eating desserts until we've dropped a few kilograms? Is anything at all in our daily lives dictated by the metric system? Well, yes. Track and field.

And, since almost every new track constructed in our country over the last quarter-century has been a 400-meter oval, that's how it's going to stay. Maybe this doesn't matter, but you'd almost think being a good "800-meter person" isn't as inspiring as being a strong "half-miler" once used to be. Those half-milers, mind you, were the backbone of nearly all the great high school track teams cinders ever saw. And, I can't help but think running those two laps meant a little more when they were labeled as such. Track and field has lost popularity for reasons other than the metric system, of course.

Young people aren't as gullible or intimidated as they were back when a football coach told them they'd sit on the bench in the fall if they didn't run track this spring. Imagine trying to sell that to a teenaged quarterback with an arm like Dan Marino's. In Iowa, at least, conflicts with a spring soccer season have led to some attrition, although the two sports have managed to co-exist pretty well in several schools. Whatever the factors, it's interesting to peruse the all-time bests list compiled by the Iowa High School Athletic Association in the 4x800 relay, an event we once called the two-mile relay. Out of the top 20 times ever posted in the 4x800, nine of the top 1 1 were recorded before 1980 and exactly none of the top 20 has taken place since 1987.

Ames owns the state record with 7:44.06 in 1987, but that barely nosed out the converted two-mile times of Davenport West in 1977 or old Sioux City Central way back in 1966 -nearly 40 years ago. of South St. Paul was virtually impregnable in sparking his team to a 4- Explorers play first exhibition contest You'd be surprised what trading card is currently creating the biggest buzz By Terry Hersom Journal sports editor Pope's card is all the rage By Associated Press Five days into his first preseason camp with the Sioux City Explorers, Steve Shirley likes what he sees. The X's new field manager, though, any lineup or pitching rotation in stone. The sports trading card generating the most buzz among collectors right now doesn't feature a baseball, basketball or football player.

This captivating athlete was a soccer goalie who also liked skiing, swimming, hiking and kayaking. His name: Pope John Paul II. A one-of-a-kind card featuring offered it up again for $6,999 but got no takers. His third try began Sunday and expires next Sunday. Hoekstra said his first posting drew so much interest within the first hour that "if someone had offered $15,000, I would not have taken it.

I thought I could get about $25,000 or $30,000." Now, however, "my thinking is, day by day, this card is getting less and less valuable," he said. While the card's value may be dropping, interest in it remains high. It's on the cover of the upcoming issue of Beckett Baseball, a leading trade publication, and many media outlets reported the $8,100 "sale" last week. Hoek-stra's initial eBay posting has drawn 13,400 hits; by comparison, the most hits he'd ever received previously was around 500 for a rare Michael Jordan card. versity while new sod at Lewis and Clark Park takes root The Explorers are hoping to try out their newly refurbished playing surface for the first time in evening workouts a week, from Wednesday and They open the regular season on Friday, May 20 against the Calgary Vipers, one of two new Northern League teams.

Shirley not only likes how his team is performing, he also likes the way they've cheerfully accepted the inconvenience of 10 a.m. practices at a venue several miles from their clubhouse. "It's worth it to get a new field," said returning center-fielder Ryan Ruiz, who become more familiar than anyone with outfield terrain that had grown hazardous due to various factors the last few seasons. "I haven't heard one complaint," said Shirley. "In fact, we got crossed up a little bit one day when we went out there at SEE EXPLORERS continued on page B3 I the pontiff's autograph was re leased earlier this year by Topps, the best known maker of baseball cards.

When the pope died last month, collectors wondered And, he's not EXPLORERS even going to place too much stock in a six-game exhibition schedule that begins tonight in Yankton, S.D., where the Explorers take on the Sioux Falls Canaries. "You have to kick the tires and knock off some rust and see how everybody reacts to things," said Shirley, who began pre-season drills with his new team last Thursday at Bishop Mueller Field. Most of the team's pre-season work will unfold at the park on the campus of Briar Cliff Uni- Jeff Hoekstra holds his Pope John Paul II Topps Card. The one-of-a-kind card featuring the pontiff's autograph was released earlier this month. (AP photo) the pontiff died.

The day before the pope's funeral, he sold the card to Jeff Hoekstra, the manager of a collectibles store in nearby Modesto. How much is it worth? That's what Hoekstra is trying to find out. He paid into four figures for the card, then immediately took it to eBay seeking a hefty profit. His first auction closed at $8,100 but the sale fell through, so he whether anyone had found the card and what it might fetch in a marketplace suddenly sizzling for all things John Paul. A collector in Stockton, beat 1 odds and plucked the pope rarity out of a $1.50 pack of ordinary baseball cards about two weeks before SEE POPE continued on page B3 SEE HERSOM continued on page B3.