Gomez adds to her already-impressive resume

Tony Altobelli

You remember Zoila Gomez, don’t you? The pint-size smile machine

from Columbia who scorched the track and field world, both at Costa Mesa

High and at Orange Coast.

Well, the three-time state champ for the Pirates and two-time OCC

Athlete of the Year has recently become an NCAA Division II champion for

Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo.

The Grizzlies junior captured the 10,000-meter title at the NCAA

Division II National Track & Field Championships, held at the University

of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Gomez’s time of 34:58.20 bettered South Dakota’s Molly Wedel and four

Western State College runners in the process.

On Saturday, Gomez placed fifth in the 5,000 in 17:10.24.

With the win, Gomez captured her second All-American award in just

five months with the Grizzlies. She was an All-American for the cross

country team as well.

So much for that thin air and snow being a problem, huh?

Upon completion of one of the biggest turnarounds of an individual’s

baseball season, Iowa State University’s Joe Urban (Newport Harbor)

finished up his Cyclones’ career with a .354 batting average, 57 hits, 24

runs scored, 29 RBIs, two triples, four home runs and a team-high 15

doubles.

With his white-hot hitting in the second half of the season, Urban was

a second-team, All-Big 12 Conference selection.

Halfway through the season, if you were to tell me Urban was going to

pull off numbers like that, I would thought he’d have a better chance

seeing his name on top of the soon-to-be new Corona del Mar baseball

field with a big statue of him in the parking lot.

“I started slow, but I kept my confidence,” Urban said during a recent

phone conversation. “I didn’t expect it to be as tough as it was. At

Santa Ana College, you get one No. 1 pitcher a week, but at this level,

every pitcher is a No. 1. That makes a big difference.”

Urban ended his Iowa State career by going 1 for 4 with a two-run home

run.

“I knew I had the capability to put up the numbers,” Urban said. “I

really wanted to show the team and the coaches that I could hit and be a

productive part of this offense. This second half of the season was by

far the best streak I’ve ever had. The baseball looked like a beach ball

instead of a golf ball.”