On Friday, Lady Eagles head softball coach Amanda Stevens stood outside the dugout during the fourth inning and watched the first game of the year with a handful of fans near home plate. Red tape—Steven’s background check hasn’t been reviewed by the school district—kept the first-year coach from getting closer to the diamond. Tim Logan, Kennedy’s head baseball coach, pinch-hit for Stevens and filled out the starting line-up and acted as the third-base coach throughout the game. “You in the…
The legend of Takkarist “Takk” McKinley began his sophomore year. That’s when Kennedy High’s track coach, Carl Sumler, saw the young Eagles defensive end rush a Piedmont High quarterback, turn around, race 15 yards up field and catch a wide receiver trying to break loose with the ball. But that’s not what impressed Sumler the most about McKinley’s great hustle play. What impressed Sumler the most was McKinley outran Kenneth Walker, Kennedy High’s former number one state track hurdler and…
Lady Eagles head coach Rae Jackson has had enough. And even though his squad battled to a 74-64 victory over Analy High Tuesday night to advance to the second round of the North Coast Section Division 3 Bracket, he wasn’t happy. Soft third quarter play has been a deep thorn the coaching staff’s side all season, and for whatever reason the Lady Eagles can’t put teams away in the second half. Again the Tri-County Stone League champions let an 18-point…
As the clock struck 2:20 p.m. on Friday, 800 Kennedy High students filled the gym to celebrate Black History Month and begin their weeklong President’s Day vacation. The pep rally was full of balloon races, tug-of-war contests, dance moves, catwalks and cheer. Phillip Johnson, the school’s principal, even wore a blue Hawaiian shirt to accent the mood of the day. Toward the end of the celebration, Johnson took a microphone and addressed the student body. As a not-so-perfect hush fell…
While the San Francisco Giants are in balmy Scottsdale, Ariz., reminiscing and shaking the dust off their recent World Series trophy, the Kennedy Eagles baseball team has been under Bay Area clouds working hard on shagging fly balls and fielding grounders. First-year head coach Tim Logan said for the past two weeks his team has been practicing nothing but defensive fundamentals. But the ABCs of a 6-4-3 double play have turned into rocket science for Kennedy the past few years….
Tears came early for the Kennedy Lady Eagles Thursday night. As teammates practiced free throw shooting during halftime, senior shooting guard Susan Valiphone sat on the bench and kept to herself. Down only three points with two quarters to go, tears trickled down her cheeks. On paper Kennedy and Salesian looked like a good boxing match. Both teams were nearly 20 games over .500. But in person the Lady Eagles looked like a high school team, and Salesian, with their…
Eleven-and-zero. That’s the Kennedy Lady Eagles home record this year. And if they win three more home games this week they’ll call themselves Tri-County League champs. After the final buzzer sounded on Tuesday night, and the song “Another One Bites The Dust” boomed over the loud speaker, the number two-seeded Lady Eagles huddled together at midcourt with fans to celebrate their 73-68 tournament victory over six-seeded St. Patrick/St. Vincent Lady Bruins of Vallejo. According to Lady Eagles head coach Rae…
On Saturday, 39 competitors from around the world competed at Richmond’s Ice Chamber to see who could lift cannonball-like weights over their heads the most times in the Bay Area’s first-ever Kettlebell Sport Classic. For 12-year-old Rylee Reeves, lifting a 22-pound weight over her head 94 times with her right arm, and 85 times with her left arm wasn’t a problem. The trick was doing it nonstop for 10 minutes. “It really didn’t get hard until the third minute,” said…
More than 300 people attended the 6th Annual Black History Celebration held Friday at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium. The three-hour gala led off with a plate of soul food and a documentary about North Richmond, and ended with raffle drawings for money, a TV, and a one-night stay in Tahoe. The evening itself felt like an Oscar night party as everyone was dressed to the nines, some in colorful West African fashion, and sat at circular tables watching young entertainers…
Nine Richmond firefighters trained for a mass casualty drill involving hazardous materials Saturday morning. The two-hour instruction took place at Station 64, parallel to the railroad tracks off Carson Avenue where freight cars often park while transporting high-risk materials. Training began in a classroom where HAZMAT specialists studied a slideshow and discussed how to transport a decontamination trailer to the scene of an accident. The long red trailer with the words “Decontamination Unit” written on its side housed an inflatable…
If anyone that wears their heart on their sleeve it’s Richmond Oilers head basketball coach Rob Collins. And on Wednesday night there was no doubt the unease he felt as his team lost in overtime on Senior Night to the Hercules Titans 51-49. As the final buzzer sounded, and after both team shook hands at mid-court, Collins took his team to the locker room and quickly shut the door. The loss was the Oilers second in a row, and with…
Boxing had the “Thrilla in Manila.” Football had the “Immaculate Reception.” Baseball had the “Shot Heard Around the World.” And now basketball has Kennedy High Lady Eagles’ “Three Against Five.” In what might be the most famous basketball game ever played at Coach Dolly Felix Gym, the Lady Eagles defeated the Hercules Lady Titans Friday night on a last-second shot while playing the last 55 seconds of the game with only three players. With the score knotted at 70, and…
For 15 seconds after a Richmond Oilers basketball win, there’s no happier place in the world than in the boys’ locker room. That’s when head coach Rob Collins shows his players the Saturday Night Fever dance moves. And on Wednesday night it happened again. After thumping the De Anza Dons by 28 points, Coach Collins did his best John Travolta impersonation. Players went nuts and jockeyed for position to see their head coach lose himself in disco bliss. Before the…