There are a lot of other things that Irene Obera could have been doing on Saturday morning.

But the 76-year-old Fremont resident opted to push herself to the max during the 50-sprint to start the track portion of the Manteca Senior Games. It is the second year for the event designed as a qualifier for the California State Senior Games. More than 80 athletes over the age 50 participated.

Valerie St. James traveled from Sacramento to compete in both the long jump the 400 meters – trying the Manteca event for the first time in what organizers expect to be a long run. She said that she enjoyed the laid back nature that the competition offered.

“I’m an avid track and field fan, and events like this let me come out and compete and not have to feel any pressure or anything like that,” St. James said. “There’s a good atmosphere among the competitors, and that’s nice.”

According to Manteca Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Linda Abeldt, the week-long event – going into its second year – is moving in the right direction for something that can become an annual staple that draws people from as far away as Colorado.

“Things have been running smoothly so far,” Abeldt said. “This is something that’s great for the local economy because we have people from outside of the city that stay here and eat here, and that does a lot for Manteca while at the same time affording seniors quality athletic opportunities.”

Events included sprints, both the long and triple jumps, the discus throw, the high jump, and the pole vault – offering a break from what has been an unusually unpredictable May weather pattern to grace Sierra’s all-weather track with warm weather and sunny skies.

“I think that everybody that competes in these has a good time,” St. James said. “That’s what this is all about.”

2nd Annual Manteca Senior Games - 15 May, 2010
complete results

Under ideal conditions, 80 athletes participated in the Second Annual Manteca Senior Games sponsored by the Manteca Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sierra High School.

1.  Wilson, Randy, 148’9.5”.  2.  Perry, Randy, 134’3.5”.  3.  Herbert, Dave, 119’8”.  4.  Kohls, David, 103’4”.  5.  Whitaker, Paul, 100’9.5”.  6.  Pirrone, Doug, 100’3”.

1.  Victorino, Bill, 163’1”.  2.  Fahey, Thomas, 157’11.5”.  3.  Prnjak, Gerald, 145’3.5”.  4.  Fahey, Patrick, 129’7.5”.  5.  Menicucci, David, 103’8.5”.  6.  West, Gary, 98’8.5”. 7.  Boren, Jim, 87’11”.  8. Sheets, Bob, 83’5”

Cartwright, Monty, 57’0”

1.  Buckman, Robert, 95’8”.  2.  Ginsburg, Marvin, 77’.  3.  Sanchez, Roberto, 74’6”.  4.  Rigg, Richard, 58’10”

1.  Wilson, Randy, 47’4”.  2.  Duhon, BJ, 39’11”.  3.  Herbert, David, 38’9”

1.  Victorino, Bill, 41’11”.  2.  Fahey, Thomas, 38’2”.  3.  Fahey, Patrick, 37’10”.  4.  Menicucci, David, 37’2”.  5.  Sheets, Robert, 30’10”.  6.  Boren, Jim, 26’10”.

Lewis, Roy, 21’7”

1.  Hochderffer, Michael, 10’0”

1.  Wuest, Gary, 8’0”

1.  Whitaker, Paul, 4’8”.  2.  Putnam, Randal, 4’0”

Baskauskas, Edward 5’2”.

1.  Wuest, Gary, 4’4”.  2.  Sheets, Bob, 3’2”.

 1.  Squires, Jack, 4’8”.  2.  Cartwright, Monty, 3’10”.  3.  Nelson, Dale, 3’10”.  4.  Dillemuth, Fred, 3’6”.

1.  Crowl, Chip, 14’4.5”.  2.  Kohls, David, 13’10”.  3.  Putnam, Randal, 13’8.5”.

1.  Michon, Peter, 13’2”.  2.  Turner, Paul, 10’9”.

1.  West, Gary, 11’9”.  2.  Sheets, Robert, 7’6”

1.  Heinze, Mike, 32’0”.  2.  Whitaker, Paul, 27’9.5”.  3.  Putnam, Randal, 26’6”

1.  Turner, Paul, 24’1”.  2.  Michon, Peter, 23’9”

1. Duhon, BJ, 6.61. 2. Crowl, Chip, 6.79. 3.Sparacio, David, 7.20. 4.Beck, Steven, 7.236.

 1. Evans, Hubert, 7.24. 2. Michon, Peter, 7.54.

1. Sheets, Robert, 10.81

 1.Strouse, Frank, 8.22. 2. Clinton, John, 8.53.

1. Sims, Gary, 7.53. 2. Martin, Richard, 7.81. 3. Thorpe, Karl, 7.81. 4. Clark, Jerry, 10.37.

1. Rivera, Ben, 9.11

1.  Duhon, BJ, 12.25.  2.  Crowl, Chip, 12.59.  3.  Beck, Steven, 13.41.  4.  Baxter, Terry, 15.36.

 1.  Washington, Hulan, 13.31.  2.  McGhee, Ridge, 14.37.  3.  Vadan, Mitch, 14.78.

 1.  Imrie, Donn, 13.06.  2.  Michon, Roy, 15.04.

Dillemuth, Fred, 15.81

 1. Martin, Richard, 14.70.  2.  Thorpe, Karl, 14.76.  3.  Henderson, Gary, 16.32.  4.  Clark, Jerry, 19.72.

Rivera, Ben 17.44

1.  Crowl, Chip, 26.83.  2.  Beck, Steve, 27.98.  3.  Kohls, David, 29.27.  4.  Baxter, Terry, 32.47

 1.  Washington, Hulan, 26.99.  2.  McGhee, Ridge, 28.75.  3.  Michon, Peter, 29.18.  4.  Bergson, Carl, 34.60.

 1.  Hollister, James, 28.70.  2.  Strauss, Frank, 29.32.  3.  Dillemuth, Fred, 33.63.

 1.  Sims, Gary, 29.79.  2.  Thorpe, Karl, 32.19.  3.  Roth, Dan, 34.77.  4.  Clark, Jerry, 43.87

1.  Rivera, Ben, 37.22.  2.  Tuck, Carl, 39.35

1.  Washington, Hulan, 1:01.  2.  McGhee, Ridge, 1:02.  3.  Michon, Peter, 1:05.  4.  Turner, Paul, 1:16

Croeni, Robert, 1:13.

1.  Duffy, Dennis, 1:06.9.  2.  Strouse, Frank, 1:07.3.  3.  Dillemuth, Fred, 1:17.3.  4.  Picker, Robert, 1:21.5

Sims, Gary, 1:07.5

Tuck, Carl, 1:32.3.

1.  Borden, Jim, 2:37.   2.  Turner, Paul, 3:10

1.  Croeni, Robert, 3:03.

1.  Duffy, Dennis, 2:52.  2.  Lewitz, Joel, 3:30.  3.  Picker, Robert, 3:45

1.  Greene, Abner, 2:57.  2.  Rigg, Richard, 4:15.

 1. Borden, Jim, 5:16. 2. Heinze, Frederick, 6:33.

 1. Kiyono, Ron, 5:38

1. Lewitz, Joel, 7:20

1.  Heinze, Frederick, 13:46

Scotti, Amanda, 7.46

1.Naylor, Avril, 8.32. 2. Nelson, Nancy, 10.16.

1. Palmer, Liz, 13.17.  2.  Scotti, Amanda, 14.03

Naylor, Avril, 16.19

1.  Palmer, Liz, 27.59.  2.  Scotty, Amanda, 29.84

Nelson, Nancy, 16’0”