Antilope Valley in Southern California has been supplanted as the Mecca of throwing for men and women of the discus by Ramona, Oklahoma. In case you are wondering about Antilope Valley see the following link to a July 9, 1973 Sports Illustrated story about that hallowed ground. Antilope Valley Wins in Their Sails link
A "Field of Dreams" has been built in Ramona, Oklahoma. (Location about half way between Tulsa and Bartlesville as the crow flies). However Kevin Costner will never get past central casting for this 'Field'. We'll need someone like Duane Johnson to play the role of Caleb Seal (throwing coach at U. of Tulsa) who seems to have put together a throwing ground where there's enough room you won't hit a Wendy's or a grade school if you have an errant toss of the discus, which is about the only reason you might want to migrate to Ramona. It's flat and the wind blows fairly steadily which is what discus throwers like, because 'they ain't no rule against the wind a blowin' in a discus slingin' contest'. I think Strother Martin said that in 'Cool Hand Luke'. But don't quote me on that one.
Seems Mr. Seal organized a gathering of behemoths who can spin like prima ballerinas in an eight feet two and a half inch diameter circle. Amongst this gang of giants was a young Lithuanian lad of no mean DNA heritage. His name Mykolas Alekna son of two-time Olympic discus champion Virgilijus Alekna, now a member of parliament in the Lithuanian government. Virgilijus' all time best throw was 73.88 meters or 242 feet 5 inches, just shy of Juergen Schult's 74.08 meters in 1986 or 37 years 9 months prior to this Ramona, Oklahoma weekend. Mykolas' report card showed that he had a silver at the 2022 WC's in Eugene and a bronze last year in Budapest.
On Sunday April 14, 2024, in Ramona Mykolas Alekna put together the following series. The screams of his fellow competitors out decibeled the wailing from the Baptist church down the road.
Round 1: 72.21 meters 236' 10"
Round 2: 70.32 " 230' 7"
Round 3 72.98 " 239' 1"
Round 4 70.51 " 231' 4"
Round 5 74.35 " 243' 10" WR Sorry Daddy, you are only #2 in the family now, and please pass the perogies.
Round 6 70.50 " 231' 3"
If you don't believe this, go to the youtube site: Mykalos Alekna's WR Series link
All six throws are shown in the video but it starts with the WR. Normal speed and slow motion of every throw. See you in Paris, Mykolas.
Additionally over the weekend on Saturday the Cuban thrower Yaime Perez threw into the all time tenth position for women with a 73.09 meter toss.
In case you are thinking of travelling to Ramona in the near future to try your hand at the discus or just to see this remarkable throwing ground, here are few bits and pieces of the town's history from Wikipedia.
Why Ramona? Maybe Because It's There?
History
The town began as Bon-Ton, (some Cajuns outta the Bayou come up dere?) but changed its name to Ramona in 1899 in honor of the Helen Hunt Jackson novel of the same name.
Ramona was an oil town and was also a stop for the Santa Fe railroad. When the oil dried up, there was no other industry to support Ramona, so the town began to die out. Very little business remains in the town, aside from a garage, a bank, a medical clinic, a small grocery, and sundry other small businesses. For 30 years the town was under the jurisdiction of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, after the police department disbanded and the Chief of Police was sentenced to prison. Under the leadership of the former mayor, the late Robert Fiddler, the police department was reinstated, the water lines were repaired/replaced, and a grant was accepted from the Cherokee Nation to repave the streets. The town also supplies natural gas service to the Wal-Mart distribution center five miles north of town.
Recently, under the mayoralty of Cyle Miller, the Cherokee Nation opened the Cherokee Casino Ramona off U.S. Route 75 and Road 3200, which is a significant boom to the local economy. This led to Ramona annexing a considerable portion of land and greatly increasing the size of Ramona proper.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all land.
Demographics
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As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 564 people, 245 households, and 161 families residing in the town. The population density was 735.6 inhabitants per square mile (284.0/km2). There were 265 housing units at an average density of 345.6 per square mile (133.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 72.70% White, 0.18% African American, 14.72% Native American, 0.18% from other races, and 12.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.24% of the population.
Another note from the editor; When you realize that Mickey Mantle grew up only about 60 miles from Ramona in the town of Commerce, you can understand why this part of Oklahoma is particularly sacred.
Thank you, Bill for your story of a chance encounter with Jay Sylvester. When these kind of unexpected meetings happen many are often too shy to have a conversation. Where to begin. Just have to remember they are human beings too with all the fears and strengths of interaction.
1 comment:
George, while running on the Lawton (Oklahoma) High School track one summer day many years ago, I saw a man throwing the discus to the opposite fence from the discus circle. His throws must have been 200 feet plus. When I walked down the track to see who could be throwing such impressive distances on this deserted track facility, I recognized him to be Jay Silvester. A reserve Army artillery officer from Utah, he was doing two weeks of active duty at nearby Fort Sill. We talked a bit and he explained that throwing the discus into the wind at the optimal angle of attack would make it go further. It gets lift from the headwind, and it flies further. Apparently what Jay Sylvester told me is that the discus flies further into the wind--as I recall, he could throw 230 feet into the wind--but he did not say anything about the rules for doing so. I just assumed, incorrectly that track and field, which has precise rules for every event, had a rule for wind in the discus.
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