Aiming Higher - Despite challenges, AAE's Hutzley is driven to excel
By Kris Reilly/Staff Writer/Daily Press
Most pole vaulters who compete at the state championships have a pole-vaulting pit at their school. Tim Hutzley's was in his coach's back yard.
Hutzley, who just completed his senior year at the Academy for Academic Excellence, spent his four years training whenever and wherever he could.
Last offseason, AAE athletic director/track coach Dave Cook had the school buy Hutzley a pit. Cook's back yard wasn't big enough to accommodate the equipment, so assistant coach Aric Juarez sacrificed some of his property so Hutzley could train.
"I'd say he was probably there twice a week," Juarez said. "If it was up to him, he would have been there every day. That's just how he is; he wants to train all the time."
Hutzley's situation was typical for an athlete at AAE, a charter school in Apple Valley with an enrollment of about 350 students. The only on-site athletic facility is a cross country course. Hutzley has overcome these obstacles thanks to the dedication of his coaches and parents as well as his own discipline and determination.
Hutzley achieved a personal best of 15 feet and was the only High Desert male athlete to advance to the CIF State Track and Field Championships. These accomplishments have made him the 2005 Daily Press Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
He's the first athlete in the school's seven-year history to advance to state, and he's the first AAE student to be named Daily Press AOY.
The Knights' league, the Big Sky League, doesn't have pole vaulting as a dual-meet event, so all of his competition came at invitationals, where he faced some of the best athletes in Southern California.
He recorded his 15-foot vault at the Surf City Invitational in Huntington Beach. His mark tied for first in the meet with three others, including Greg Woepse of Mater Dei/Santa Ana, one of the top vaulters in the CIF Southern Section. Hutzley won the event because he had the fewest misses.
To put that in perspective: Mater Dei has an enrollment of 2,200 and was recently ranked by Sports Illustrated as the No. 6 sports high school in the country.
But thanks to the support around him, Hutzley doesn't feel like he's been at a disadvantage - at least not recently. The track and field program started from scratch in his freshman year.
"The last few of years it's been a lot easier," Hutzley said. "The first year we didn't have anything. I only practiced with a pit and a pole when we went to meets."
But Cook has found places for Hutzley to train. It started with Saturday drives to Trona - 107 miles away - and more recently Victor Valley College and Granite Hills High have offered up their facilities. Cook and Hutzley's father, Tim Hutzley Sr., have provided transportation over the years.
"My dad would drive me all over the place to do whatever I needed," Hutzley said "He took me to a pole vault camp at Mt. SAC - I didn't tell him about it until the day that we were going."
Hutzley, then a junior, had planned to go to the camp but forgot to tell his father. Tim Sr. got $100 out of the bank to pay for the camp and drove to Mt. San Antonio College.
In his senior season, Hutzley was second at both the CIF-SS Division IV prelims and the Div. IV finals. He tied for fifth at CIF Masters with a mark of 14 feet, 11 inches and advanced to state. At the state prelims, his vault of 14-10 put him in the 16th spot, which precluded him from competing in the finals.
To be 16th in the state at any sport is an accomplishment, but Hutzley and his coaches felt he could have done better - a lot better. Hutzley said his goal was 5 meters, which equals 16 feet, 43/4 inches.
Cook said Hutzley cleared 16 feet several times in practice, and the coach said he wouldn't be surprised if Hutzley reaches that height and competes for a state title in his first season at Victor Valley College.
But Hutzley's prep career was itself a remarkable achievement - not just for him, but for AAE athletics as well.
"It means a lot; we're tremendously proud of Tim and his accomplishments," Cook said. "We have a great group of kids, and Tim is just one of them. Hopefully we can get them some facilities, and they'll get an opportunity to shine like Tim did."
2005 DAILY PRESS ALL-AREA BOYS TRACK AND FIELD TEAM
SPRINTS (400m and below)
- BRANDON HENDERSON, SR., VICTOR VALLEY: Henderson finished third at the CIF-Southern Section Division II finals in the 200-meter dash and took fifth in Div. II in the 400 meters with a time of 50.18 seconds. He won a Desert Sky League championship in the 200, setting a new DSL record with a mark of 21.72. He was third in the league in the 400.
- GREG JOHNSON, SR., APPLE VALLEY: Johnson ran the 100 in 10.99 seconds to finish fourth in the CIF-SS Div. III finals and was also a part of the 4x100 relay team that took fourth in Div. III with a time of 42.61. He won a Mojave River League championship in the 100 and won a league title with the 4x100 team.
DISTANCE (800m and up)
- SAM MELTON, JR., BARSTOW: Melton advanced to the CIF-SS Div. III finals in the 3,200 and finished sixth with a time of 9:34.84. He also won the DSL championship in the 3,200.
HURDLES
- OWEN MORSE, SR., SILVERADO: Morse finished fourth in the 110 hurdles at the CIF-SS Div. I finals with a mark of 14.71. He won the DSL title in that event with a time of 14.60, and he captured three other DSL championships: The 300 hurdles, the long jump and the high jump.
JUMPS
- TIM HUTZLEY, SR., AAE (ATHLETE OF THE YEAR): Hutzley tied for fifth with a mark of 14 feet, 11 inches in the pole vault at the CIF Masters meet and was the only local boys athlete to advance to the CIF state meet. He recorded his season-best height of 15 feet at the Huntington Beach Surf City Invitational. He was second at the CIF-SS Div. IV finals and second at the prelims.
THROWS
- KEVIN VEGA, SR., APPLE VALLEY: Vega won a CIF-SS Div. III championship in the discus. After a throw of 173 feet, 5 inches in the prelims, he recorded a mark 172-6 in the finals - more than 20 feet better than the next closest competitor in the division. He advanced to Masters and finished eighth. He was also seventh at the Div. III finals in the shot put. He won an MRL title in the shot put (51-6) and was second in the discus.
COACH OF THE YEAR
- MIKE SLUDER, APPLE VALLEY: Sluder's Sun Devils boys tallied 22 points at the CIF-SS finals, tying for sixth in Division III. Apple Valley also was second in the Mojave River League with a 3-1 record and had an overall record of 4-1 in dual meets.
HONORABLE MENTION
(Listed Alphabetically by School)
Sam Farley, Apple Valley; Zach Niusulu, Barstow; Tom Richter, Thomas Turner, Serrano; Leve Ross, Silverado; Jon Kramer, Sultana.
Kris Reilly can be reached via e-mail at kreilly@vvdailypress.com or at 951-6274.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2005