Valley Roundup : Valley Athletes Win 3 Gold Medals on Final Day

OKLAHOMA CITY —  For Chris O’Loughlin, the best offense was a good defense.

Like a stylish boxer, O’Loughlin used a counterattack Sunday to win a gold medal in men’s epee at the U.S. Olympic Festival. His was one of three gold medals won by Valley-area athletes on the Festival’s final day.

O’Loughlin, 21, a four-time NCAA All-American, defeated Miles Phillips of St. Paul, Minn., 12-11, in the gold medal bout. The deciding touch came after an aggressive move by Phillips that O’Loughlin correctly anticipated.

“He did a straight attack, which I knew he was going to do,” said O’Loughlin, who fenced at Oakwood School and the University of Pennsylvania. “I was waiting for that touch the whole bout, I just hadn’t picked the right time to do it.”

O’Loughlin advanced to the final by defeating Joseph Socolof of Franklin Lakes, N.J., 10-7, in the quarterfinals, and Jon Normile of New York, 10-6, in the semifinals.

The other two gold medals won by Valley-area entries came in in track and field--one from an expected source and the other from somewhat of a surprise.

Donna Mayhew, a 1988 Olympian from La Crescenta, didn’t set a personal record and didn’t surpass the 200-foot barrier, but she did set a John Jacobs Stadium record with a throw of 183-1 to win the women’s javelin.

Mayhew easily bettered the previous stadium record of 169-9 set by Anne-Grethe Baeraas in 1984.

In the men’s 100-meter dash, Mike Marsh, a UCLA senior from Encino, timed 10.21 to edge silver-medalist Andre Cason of Virginia Beach, Va., who finished in 10.29.

Marsh, who will turn 22 on Friday, was ninth in this year’s NCAA championships. He was ranked seventh in the U. S. in 1988.

In volleyball, the South defeated the West, 15-5, 15-8, 5-15, 15-6, to win the gold medal in a match at the Lloyd Noble Arena in Norman. Dijon Douphner of Newbury Park led the South with 25 kills and finished with a Festival-high 116.

In the bronze medal match, Coley Kyman of Cal State Northridge had 20 kills to help the North to its first win of the Festival, 8-15, 16-14, 15-13, 15-13, over the East.

In team handball, Jeff Fruin and Denny Fercho, both of Camarillo, scored five goals each, but the West dropped a 20-17 decision to the South in the gold medal game at the State Fairgrounds.

Mike Hurdle of Reseda had two goals for the West and Kevin Withrow of Thousand Oaks added one.

The South’s Robert Stone, from nearby Norman, Okla., scored a game-high six goals.

Fruin, Fercho, Hurdle and Withrow, who all belong to the Ventura Condors club team, combined for 82 of the West’s 124 goals in seven Festival games. Fruin led the team with 28.