Touch down at Sacramento Airport at 12:00 noon on Thursday, July 20 to find all our USADTF delegation had arrived except Ricardo Joseph.  Each of the seven athletes was scheduled to fly on his own to arrive in Sacramento within an hour of one another.  That was the plan.  And if everything went as planned, we would have all been there.  However, Ricardo did not make his connection so he was on another plane to arrive at 3:49p.  Once we knew he was in route, our president of USADTF, Thomas Withrow,  seven athletes: Charles Blackmon, Franklin Jones,  Matt Kevan, Stuart Soboloski, Carlos Stennent, David Webster and I joined up with our on site hosts and transportation carriers Myron Greenstone and Emery Marsh.  Both of these coaches were excited to have us arrive to show us around the fair city of Sacramento.  We all piled into a car and a motorhome to head for our destination of Olympic Headquarters to obtain our credentials as athletes, coaches and delegates.  We were pleased with our reception and the privilege of receiving a pass for the remaining sessions of the Trials. We quickly had our mugs shot to put on the official passes and arranged for other dignitaries to get theirs upon arrival.  Onward to our host Myron Greenstone’s home to drop our gear and prepare for our one and only practice prior to running our exhibition race on Friday.  Coach Greenstone directed us to the high school where he teaches and coaches and then went to pick up Ricardo and get his credentials before meeting us back at his home.  A short practice of warm up laps, lots of stretching (get the plane ride kinks out) and some plyometrics in the hot sun was sufficient for our practice.  After some cool down laps we were ready to go home to showers and preparing for the evening session of the Trials.  Ricardo was now with us and we drove over to the Trials.  Goosebumps emerged on all arms when we walked into the stadium to see a crowd of about 23,000 people watching the events.  The anxiety level went up and the awe of what was the beginning of our wonderful experience began to sink in.  This was bigger than anything any of us has previously experienced.  We found that the area we were allowed to sit in was with all the athletes and coaches, right at the head of the 100m starting line.  WOW!  This was powerful.  We watched all of the activities until the last event Thursday night at 10:00, then headed for home.  I’m sure there was some restlessness in the sleep that night thinking about our big exhibition the next night.  Slept in until 9:00 and then went out for a nice brunch at Dennys.  When we returned to our “home away from home”, we were honored to meet Jack Lamberton and his son Jon who had come to be a part of the activity and give us moral support.  Thomas took them to get their credentials and went on to watch the afternoon sessions.  The athletes and I stayed behind to rest and not let the hot sun zap our energy before our race.  At about 4:00pm we loaded up into the motorhome and headed for the stadium.  We finally found our organizer, Jim Hunt at the practice field behind the stadium and began the preparation for our “event”.  While the athletes stretched and began their pre-race rituals, I went and made acquaintances of the meet directors and was informed of everything that would happen so I could pass this on to the athletes and not have any surprises.  Although there was considerable anxiety building, each of the athletes was prepared for his opportunity.  Here we go.  We were escorted into the stadium to the staging tent where all outer garments and belongs were placed into laundry baskets.  Here we really go!  We were placed into our final order of lanes to travel in the 9th lane in front of the fans to the starting blocks for the 400m race.  Eight “gofers” carried our belongings immediately behind us to the starting line.  The crowd clapped as we moved in front of the stands (and I heard Assistant Coach Don Boyer yell down to us as we passed).  We had verbally prepared the seven athletes but it was obvious the adrenalin was flowing briskly.  When we got to the starting block, I was asked to interpret that there was a slight delay due to the finals competition in the triple jump pit.  The guys tried to stay loose but it was hard.  Finally the announcer prepared the crowd and the start of the race began.  I had warned each runner to not be a “rabbit” and kill yourself on the beginning 200.  It was so hard to hold back because the crowd was so supportive.  Some were more controlled than others and the race finished with the following results:  
 
 

Immediately following the race, the medal winners were taken to the winners podium and presented with an official Olympic Trials medal.  The fans were tremendously supportive and the three young men accepted the medals graciously.  Then off to the finish line tent where each found his belongings in a laundry basket.  Several were not feeling well but recovered reasonably well.  After they got dressed, we moved along behind the stadium to return to the athletes section to watch the remaining events that evening.  As we walked up the bleachers, the medal winners were visually congratulated by several of the coaches and athletes.  Now it was time to begin relaxing a little since our “minute” of glory was now over.  Now it was memory time.  Stan Smith, former teacher at Fremont, his wife and son Jason found us in the stands to congratulate the runners and catch up on news.  Just before leaving the stadium after the last race, Thomas ordered pizza by cellphone so that they would be delivered at the house when we got home.  All were tired so it was not hard to get them to turn in for the night.  Up at 7:00am on Saturday morning to be ready to leave for the morning session of the Trials at 9:00.  Seats would be at a premium on Saturday since now we were down to semifinals and finals in some events.  We got wonderful seats and enjoyed the last session for us. Upon leaving the stadium, we went to the Australian exhibit to view the “hype” of the upcoming Olympics in Sydney.  We watched an 8 1/2 minute movie on Australia and looked into some other exhibits.  Time to head down to Old Sacramento, a section of the “frontier” looking buildings.  We arrived about 1:30 and planned to meet up again at 6:45.  This was a relaxing experience.  Gil Lentz and Lyle Hinks joined some of the delegation for a Mexican dinner.  Back to Myron’s house to change into swimsuits to head for the American River for a swim.  We came out of a woods to see the beautiful clear water meandering along the cliffs cut by years of running water.  Myron warned us it was cold water.  How cold is melted snow water?  Each of the athletes (and coaches/delegates) can now tell anyone who is interested.  There were a lot of challenges until each had “plunged” off the 8 foot cliff to be refreshed in the river.  Some were brave enough to go more than once.  The team and coaches got together for a team camaraderie roar before returning to Myron’s house.  It was late by the time we got home and prepared for the night.  We all said our goodbyes before turning in because the first bunch left the house at 5:00am to catch the early flights home.  During the day others were shuttled to the airport.  Each has now struggled to recover from the trip and I’m sure we all are bragging about the experience.  We want to thank the Olympic Committee for the invitation and all the support of USADTF and president Thomas Withrow.  We will use this to launch our efforts for the coming D.W.G. and the opportunity to represent the USA in Rome next  summer.  We were extremely pleased with how well our tracksters represented themselves and our organization.  You would have been proud.  

Yours in Track,  
Hugh Lewis