JohnFMurray.com

Whenever she sprinted past the finish line at the end of the 200 meters, her specialty event, Elia Reid almost always felt unbridled joy. Then again, she almost always won.

But every day wasn’t race day, and on those days when she wasn’t showing up the competition, Elia and her twin sister, Jamia, really wanted to be playing softball.

They competed in track and field only at the insistence of their parents. Their freshman seasons, the daughters helped La Palma Kennedy’s 400 relay team finish fifth in the state.

This spring, with their parents’ blessing, the sophomores traded their batons for bats, and turned the Fighting Irish (29-3) into an outstanding softball team.

Kennedy, before being upset Thursday by Rancho Cucamonga, 1-0, in a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal, was ranked second in the Southland by The Times, second in the state by Cal-Hi Sports and ninth in the nation by Student Sports Magazine.

One of the major reasons was the Reids’ speed.

Left fielder Jamia batted leadoff, stole 35 bases in 36 attempts and was caught only because she slid past the third-base bag.

Right fielder Elia, who batted fifth, had 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts.

The sisters scored or drove in 82 of Kennedy’s 114 runs, but their batting averages were relatively modest. Jamia hit .333 with a .393 on-base average, and Elia hit .300 with a .370 OBA. They struck out 19 and 29 times.

But one or the other scored or had a run batted in in all but five games, which Coach Jami Shannon said was maximizing her outfielders’ production.

‘With a pitcher of Brooke Turner’s caliber, I could play for one run,’ Shannon said.

Turner was 24-2 with a 0.22 earned-run average. Opponents scored 19 runs all season, and on only four occasions did they score more than one in a game.

Given the Reids’ quickness, today’s prototypical player would have learned to bat left-handed and become an adept bunter and slap-hitter. But the Reids aren’t typical. Each bats right-handed and swings for the fences. They had 13 home runs between them, seven by Jamia.

Their journey with the softball team through the playoffs included being snubbed by their former track teammates, who stopped talking to them, at least briefly.

‘It was like, choosing between the sport we enjoy or our friends,’ Jamia said. ‘We were like, ‘What’s your problem? We’re doing something we actually enjoy. We thought you’d be happy for us.’ Obviously, they weren’t.’

Track Coach Brian Bivens said he couldn’t bring himself to watch the twins play softball, but there were two home run balls – the first ones of the season hit by each girl – sitting on his desk with sentiments of thanks inscribed within their seams.

‘It’s like having a Ferrari in your garage and you can’t drive it,’ Bivens said of the Reids’ absence. ‘I had a great time with them. I sure hope they get softball scholarships, because they’re phenomenal in track.’

Jamia and Elia ran the first two legs on Kennedy’s 2005 Southern Section Division II champion 400 and 1,600 relay teams, the former at 46.87 seconds, 0.23 off the Division II section record set by Hawthorne in 1982.

Jamia steered clear of individual events the second half of her freshman season because of knee problems, but Elia excelled in them. She ran the 200 in 24.68 to finish seventh in the Masters Meet, one spot shy of qualifying for the state meet. She ran the 100 in 11.98, making her one of the fastest freshmen in California. This season, that would be the state’s 11th-fastest time.

They each also leaped in the 16- to 17-foot range in the long jump, but Bivens, confined as all coaches are by the four-event rule, was limited in their use. But their potential, he said, was unlimited.

It was that potential that their parents, trying to help their five children get through college, were banking on for a possible scholarship.

‘They ran track last year and we wanted them to run track again this year,’ said their mother, Eleanor, who ran the 100, 200 and relays for a year in college. ‘They said they would run, but they weren’t going to be happy about it.’

Their father, Semmie, said he had to play the role of bad guy.

‘We can get them through junior college, we can take them to regular school if I have to take them there,’ said Reid, a plumber at Disneyland. ‘Track would have been an opportunity for them to live on campus.

‘I pushed a little harder than I probably should have. ‘Please, let’s just do it this time and if you don’t like it, let’s move on to something else.’ ‘

Jamia and Elia didn’t like it, especially the grueling workouts. Finally, last July, Semmie relented.

Good thing, too, according to John Murray, a Florida-based sports psychologist.

‘In a case like this, where the kids don’t enjoy it, there’s going to be a rebound effect later on,’ Murray said. ‘To sustain proper motivation, you have to have some level of passion for it. Even in successful stories, you see people who want to drop the sport because they’ve burned out.

‘That’s a huge issue in sports today. Parents have all the good intentions, but it begs for acknowledgment of kids doing what they love.’

Their father has become excited about his daughters’ contribution to a team that has been regarded as one of the best around.

‘I don’t think their hearts were put 100% into track,’ Semmie said. ‘You watch them play softball, they smile the whole time. They run the bases 110%. They love the game, they love their teammates, they love the sport.

‘You can see the glow in their faces.’

I’d also prefer my playoff opener to be against any other NFC contender, including Dallas and Green Bay, the top two seeds, even if they’re on the road.

And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? I’d take them, too, ahead of what actually confronts the Seahawks, the lowest-seeded but scariest team in the field.

The Washington Redskins appear to be the least-vulnerable of the NFC’s Suspect Six, masking their deficiencies by coming together in memory of their deceased teammate, Sean Taylor.

Statistical analysis says the Seahawks should win. They’re at home, where the 12th Man will be so loud that he might be mistaken for the 13th Man. Record-wise, the Seahawks are a better team and they’re playoff tested and offer a lot to like, but none of it is good enough to stop a mystical power at work with the Redskins.

How do you lose your best player — which Taylor was — and other key starters to injuries and use a rusty quarterback and manage to win four in a row to qualify for the playoffs without something woo-woo going on?

Explain how a guy like Todd Collins, who sounds more like a cocktail than a quarterback and hasn’t been good enough to start for 10 years, comes in and fails to throw an interception in four games.

Explain how a second-year player and sixth-round draft choice like Reed Doughty replaces an All-Pro in the secondary, and the defense is still one of the best in the conference.

I spoke to Doughty the other day and had never heard of him, but now know that hands down he will be the smartest player on the field on Saturday. I also know if he were 50 and had gone to Washington State instead of 25 and gone to Northern Colorado, we would never have crossed paths — bar hounds and bookworms rarely mix.

Get this — since middle school, Doughty has gotten an A in every class, including all four years at Northern Colorado, where he majored in sports and exercise science. He was married in college and his wife got all A’s for four years, too.

“I didn’t miss assignments, didn’t skip quizzes, didn’t do stupid stuff,” Doughty said.

And I’d say there’s something else he didn’t do — have fun.

Before Doughty’s arrival as a Redskins starter, the biggest thing to happen in Northern Colorado football was Tonya Harding II — it’s the school where the backup punter stabbed the starting punter.

“I knew the punter who got stabbed but not the other guy,” Doughty said. “Obviously it was pretty ridiculous.”

Brilliance only goes so far; Doughty knows he’s not as good as Taylor, and yet the Redskins have thrived with him in the lineup anyway.

Las Vegas can’t figure out the Redskins either. Robert Walker sets the football odds at the Mirage, and he posted the Seahawks as 4 1/2-point favorites in his opening line, mostly because of their success at home.

Bets have poured in on the Redskins, lowering the line to 3. As of Thursday afternoon, Walker said 10 times as much money was being bet on the Redskins as the Seahawks.

“Washington’s the hot team, the popular pick right now. We’re just getting crushed on the Redskins,” Walker said. “A lot of people think the Redskins are a given. Seattle’s been under the radar, not a real popular team, and I’m not sure why.”

Walker said professional gamblers loaded up on the Redskins when the line was at 3 1/2 in another ominous sign for the Seahawks — professional gamblers usually win or they’re not called professional gamblers anymore; they’re called degenerate gamblers or losers or me.

Maybe the bettors see this supernatural phenomenon with the Redskins, too, or maybe it’s just poppycock. The Seahawks hope so.

“You can’t say they’re a team of destiny,” Deon Grant said. “People keep saying Sean Taylor pulled them together, but they’ve got talent over there.”

Said Deion Branch: “I don’t think as professionals we look at it like it’s automatic we’re going to lose because they’re fighting for Sean. The best team that day is going to win.”

And this from Julian Peterson: “That mystical stuff carries weight, but not to the point that it gets you victories. You’ve still got to go out there and perform.”

I also consulted an expert in these matters, John Murray, a licensed clinical and sport performance psychologist in Palm Beach, Fla., who said none of this should be dismissed.

“When somebody passes, it can have the effect of focusing the players,” Murray said. “Now they’re playing for Sean, they’re playing for a reason. You have to have a mission, and it has to be complete dedication to achieve something.

“Personal issues are put aside. When something like that happens, it has the potential to catalyze the team.”

And anything in that team’s way, such as the Seahawks, could be in season-ending trouble.

ExpressIndia.com – National squash champion reckons the less-hectic schedule working in his favour

Kolkata, May 5: “From now on, every time there’s an international tournament, hopefully, I don’t have to start with the qualifiers anymore.”

Now that he’s finally broken into the world’s top 50 bracket, the tongue-in-cheek remark from national squash champion Ritwik Bhattacharya comes as no surprise.

Ritwik may have crashed out of the Liverpool 08 Open with a first round defeat against world No 4 James Wilstrop. But there’s certainly no cause for worry, as the wily Indian notched up his career-best ranking this week, climbing two places to 49.

The in-form player, who will leave for the US this Tuesday for the Atlanta Open starting next week, gave Newsline a lowdown of his slow but steady rise to the top 50.

“I can confidently say that I am a much more complete player than I’ve ever been. The hard work apart, I’ve got a few things going right this year, like working on the mental aspects, spending more time with my coach (Neil Harvey), playing to a less hectic schedule, and improving my movement on the court.

“All these factors have worked out perfectly well this year, hence the result,” Ritwik said over phone from his London residence.

With the spotlight now on him, how does the ace player approach his next target, which he categorically spells out as breaking into the top 30 circuit.

Definitely by this year-end, I want to get into the top 30. And the good thing about being in the top 50 is the fact that Ill get to play the top 20 players regularly. Playing the best in the business in turn will help me in a huge way, reckoned the five-time national champion.

The Delhi-based player, who turned pro back in 2001 before bagging three PSA titles, has a string of tournaments round the corner, with the Chennai Open slated for June and the Malaysian Open in July.

œIm very upbeat about the forthcoming tournaments, particularly because Ill get the chance to improve my ranking fast. What I have to watch out for is how I can keep up the improved on-court movement, he said.