WOMEN'S TRACK
Goodewas the 'lone sister'
in the javelin throw
For four years, Kimmy Goode
may have been considered somewhat
of an oddity in college track and field.
Goode, a recent graduate of
Hampton Universi
ty, had to Be one of
?the very few black
females competing
in the javelin throw.
Further, she was
the only female
black college per
former in that
event.
In her final col- j
legiate campaign,
Goode ended things
on a positive note
by finishing second
(155-11) in her spe
cialty at the NCAA
Division II nation
als to achieve All
America honors.
The Asbury
Park, N.J., native
had waited three
years to get back to
the nationals. She
earned a trip to the
prime time meet as
a freshman, but a
nagging knee injury
prevented her from
performing at max
imum level. In
between her fresh
man and senior sea
sons, she was never
able to produce the
kinds of perfor
mances she had
during her first col
lege season.
The memory of
the '86 nationals
haunted her until
this year.
"At the start of
the season, my goal
was to make the
nationals," Goode
said. "I figured that
I could do it if I just
worked hard
enough at it. The
way things turned
out, it all paid off."
Goode is the
first to admit that
"In most meets we competed in, I
was always the only black thrower,"
she said.
"So that helped me to concentrate
events like the hurdles, sprints, and
jumps.
Goode gravitated to the javelin as
a teenage performer at Monmouth
The more she competed, the more
she liked the idea of tossing a spear
for distance. However, she almost
didn't meet the qualifying standards
necessary to go to
the '89 nationals.
Actually, she wasn't
sure that she'd
make the cut at all.
On her final throw
in the CIAA Out
door Track & Field
Championships,
Goode came up
with a throw of
157-2, which
exceeded the quali
fying standard.
"My last year
was very satisfy
ing," said Goode,
"because I really
had to do most of
the work all on my
own. Since we did
n't have a coach
who knew much
about the event, I
had to work out all
the details concern
ing technique."
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she was a rare
breed among javelin throwers. But
she never viewed it in a negative way.
In fact, she made it work to her favor.
more because I didn't have a lot of Regional High School. She despised
people to talk to like most of my the running events, so she took to the
teammates who competed in other javelin so she wouldn't have to run.
technique
results."
Technique,
Goode explained, is
the essence of what
doing well in the
javelin is all about.
Strength is vital,
but strength by
itself doesn't guar
antee success.
"There's much
more to it than
brute strength," she
continued. "There's
a lot more tech
nique involved than
most people
believe. You don't
have to be big and
powerful. When
you look at this
year's national
champ (Durell
Schinrek of Cal
Poly Pamona won
the title with an
effort of 166-9 1/2),
that's all the proof
you need. She's
muscular, but not
excessively large.
She just gets the
most out of her
and she gets maximum
? Roderick Hardison