Sisters Katherine and Sara Fulp-Allen
— current and former Menlo College wrestlers, respectively
— earns spots on the U.S. team by placing in the top three at
the World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the final weekend in May.
Oaks senior-to-be Katherine exhibited the technical skill that
has made her one of the top female wrestlers in the country. She got a
first-round bye before beating University of the Cumberlands' Gabrielle
Henry 2-1, 5-4. In the first-place match of the challenge portion of
the event, Fulp-Allen fell 2-1, 1-0, to the New York Athletic Club's
Jessica Medina. Medina went on to knock off former Olympian Patricia
Miranda for the 112-pound title.
Sara got off to a quick start at 105 pounds, topping
Cumberlands' Ashley Shannon via technical fall 6-0, 6-0. A former
national champion at Menlo, Fulp-Allen then suffered her only loss of
the tournament, an 8-4, 4-0 decision to Sunkist Kids' Alyssa Lampe, who
went on to win the challenge and fall in the best-of-three championship
to teammate Clarissa Chun.
Sara bounced back with another technical fall victory, this
time by an 8-2, 8-1 count over Joey Miller of the OCU Stars. The New
York Athletic Club's Victoria Anthony proved no match for the elder
Fulp-Allen when she was pinned at 1:23 on the second round after
dropping round one 5-2. In her sixth and final match of the day, Sara
defeated NYAC's Mary Kelly in comeback fashion 0-2, 5-0, 7-3 for third
place.
Each sister is ranked No. 2 nationally. They last
represented the U.S. in international competition at the University
World Games in Greece a year ago with Katherine bringing home gold and
Sara silver.
Ohenewa Akuffo will make her first Olympic appearance this
summer as a bright spot on the Olympic wrestling team. Here she
provides insight in a sport that, for women, has long taken a back seat
to others. In essence, Akuffo grew up as women’s wrestling
was growing up.
You got into wrestling in high school -- what
prompted this?
There was work to rule at my high school and I told myself
whatever sport came up first, I was going to try it. And it was
wrestling and I said ‘oh no, I can’t do
this.’ But I don’t like to ever give up on
anything. I tried it again in Grade 9 and it was mentally and
physically tough. I told myself, I want to last and be good at it.
Fifteen years later, I realize that you don’t master it, you
just get better. The mental and physical toughness doesn’t go
away. When you get good at one thing, another thing seems to flip.
Describe your initial experiences in high school on
the wrestling team.
When I started, I didn’t even know what it was. Ooh,
what is this? It’s a contact sport, with different skill
sets, but you have to be really tough. You have to handle
disappointment in wrestling. It was an individual team sport, and that
was very cool. You had a team but at the end of the day it was just you
on the mat. I thought that was cool and it was different than other
sports.
On the school teams and at the wrestling club, what
was involved in your evolution? How many hours did you spend a week
training?
Wrestling was gruelling and time-consuming. In high school, it
was the longest sport. You started in September and finished in March.
You had your school team, and then you had a club team. I also got into
judo to better my wrestling. So I wasn’t only doing
wrestling, but judo too! So wrestling is a sport that is very time
consuming from the beginning. You have to be dedicated.
You were the youngest woman on the senior national
team -- what does that mean to you? How significant is it personally?
That was the point I realized I had something I could offer
the sport. I had no clue about senior nationals and world championships
in high school. I went to a university camp and the coach saw me and
(was impressed) and said I should go to the senior nationals. He said
nobody needs to know about me until I get there (to keep it a secret).
For me, that was one achievement that made me realize my skill sets
were a bit special.
It seems that you grew up with wrestling right around
the time that women's wrestling was growing up in Ontario, slowly
gaining more respect. Does that make you a bit of a trailblazer?
I take honour in knowing I am a pioneer in the sport. There
are many things wrestlers have now that we never had. I think about,
what can I do for upcoming women’s wrestlers so they have
something to look at and say, “I can do that too.”
It’s an honour for me to try out for my first Olympic Games.
You were quoted as saying that women's wrestlers had
to 'fight for every inch' along the way.
We were trailblazers, so when we started out, for everything
we had to prove we deserved it. Not even in the sense of mats, but
international tournaments. We were at the time when we trying to make
it an Olympic sport. So at world championships you had to work hard and
present the sport to show it is worthy of the Olympic Games. At the
first Pan American Games (for women’s wrestling), I was
fortunate enough to go. For every “first” (for the
sport) you had to show that it was a long time coming. Like we deserved
to be there before, and that they were lucky to put us in now. You had
to be on your game at all times, because you never know how long you
would stay there.
How has Ghana influenced your wrestling career?
(Akuffo, whose parents are from Ghana, brought her there to live from
age three to eight.)
I think wrestling chooses you, you don’t choose the
sport. You have to have a certain set of qualities to remain in the
sport. I was fortunate that wrestling chose me. You also have to have a
certain personality. My success in wrestling comes from the fact that I
never give up. Even if you have an upset, you don’t give up
on yourself. That is a quality I took from my Ghana when I saw a
different culture where people don’t take things for granted.
They don’t have the amenities others do. They enjoy
everything they have. For myself, I won a few national championships
– I don’t take them for granted. Every time I go in
there, it is my first time. You never know. That’s what I
took out of Ghana and seeing a different world.
What is it about wrestling that has drawn you to the
sport, and kept you going for so long?
Wrestling is like a chess game where you use mind and body. It
fascinates me, because it is action-reaction and you have to be on your
toes all the time. It keeps you very alert, I like the chess game that
you always have to know your moves. Make bad ones, and always correct
yourself and keep going. The game is not done.
Describe your training, particularly as you approach
a major tournament such as the Olympic Games?
Getting ready for the Olympics is a 15-year journey. On a
focused end, it goes four years by four years. From the last Olympic
trials, I look at what I did wrong and what was successful. Leading up
to Beijing, the plan is in discipline, nutrition, strengthen and
conditioning. There are a lot of mental components –
that’s what makes the difference for me. It’s work!
Even when you are off the mat, it’s half the job. You have to
prepare yourself, scout opponents. But you also have to stay centered.
The Olympics is a phenomenal experience but after it, you head back
home to real life. You have to balance your life out too.
Describe your personality on the mat... and off the
mat.
I am very focused. I’m a force to be reckoned with.
I see it as an opportunity to display my abilities. I take it very
seriously. It’s a display of my abilities and all the time my
coaches and training partners have put into helping you realize your
dream. I see the hard work come to fruition. Off the mat, I enjoy
everything I do and live life to the moment.
What are you thinking about as you get set to make
your Olympic debut?
Oh, I’m like bring it! Bring everything to that mat
and enjoy every moment. It’s 15 years in the making.
It’s a journey and I’ve got to learn a lot about
myself.
Frankie Jo Cochran stands
out for all the right reasons
By T.J. Vassar, Special to Today
Story Published: Jun 9, 2009
SEATTLE – Frankie Jo
Cochran was one of a few students who participated in a program
designed to improve the confidence and aspirations of low and moderate
income inner city eighth graders from Seattle.
The program is the Lakeside Educational Enrichment Program. LEEP
provides a six-week summer experience for about 90 Seattle area
students each summer involving English, math and geography classes.
They also go on a three-day-long overnight camping trip and participate
in a crew program where the students row in eight-person shells.
Frankie did so well in LEEP that she and just one other LEEP student
were invited to attend Lakeside School her freshman year.
Lakeside is a non-sectarian school (not affiliated with any religion)
with two campuses, one for students in fifth through eighth grades, and
the bigger campus with students ninth through 12th grades; there are
777 students total.
In the last five years, more than half the senior class has been
recognized in some fashion by the National Merit
Society. In fact, for the past few years, the Lakeside senior class has
had SAT scores which averaged better than the average SAT scores of the
freshmen class at Yale University; 99 percent of Lakeside graduates
attend college.
While Frankie was a scholarship student, it cost $23,500 annually to
attend the school in tuition costs alone; the total cost including all
fees, food, books and transportation are estimated to be about $30,000
annually.
Lakeside is well-known because of some of its famous alumni. Some may
not remember the original Batman, Adam West, from the
television series; more people know the names of more recent alums,
Paul Allen and Bill Gates, co-founders of the Microsoft Company.
Frankie’s first year at Lakeside was difficult. She was smart
enough, but she came from circumstances very different from most
Lakeside students. Her earlier schools did not prepare her for the
rigorous education of Lakeside. Frankie is part Assiniboine and a
member of the White Clay People (A’AH’NI NIN) aka
Gros-Ventres Tribe of Montana. Her mother and father moved their family
from Montana several years ago because of the discrimination against
American Indians in the area.
During Frankie Jo
Cochran’s four years at Lakeside School she proposed a
student-sponsored day to teach the rest of the Lakeside community about
American Indians. She is seen here at the event (right). Dancing with
her in red is Toresia Woods and in black is Myleaka Webster.
When Frankie first came to
Lakeside, she exhibited a typical urban street tough attitude. She was
ready to get physical with anybody who messed with her with the
slightest provocation. She held on to her street tough credentials her
first year. She was the only person in the school who looked like an
American Indian. Her adjustment to school was difficult. She became
depressed; her physical health deteriorated. Her mother, the rock of
her nuclear and extended family, almost pulled her out because she
thought Lakeside might actually kill her daughter.
Remarkably, Frankie returned her sophomore year and with some
assistance from Lakeside, started to turn things around. She dropped
math during her difficult freshman year. She wanted to catch up with
her classmates in math so badly that she took two math classes her
junior year to get back on track. That same year, she took her first
plane ride to Boston on a school-sponsored trip; this was the first
time she had been away from her family. As a senior, she became a
leader in the Black Student Union.
This year, Frankie proposed a student-sponsored day to teach the rest
of the Lakeside community about American Indians. All regular classes
stopped at the high school for a day to focus on the educational
program the students organized. Frankie and another student led the
organization of the day to share American Indian culture with the rest
of the school. While the students had help from faculty advisors, they
did the bulk of the work to make the day possible.
Rose Main, Frankie’s aunt, gave the keynote address. Students
learned how to do bead work, dance and sing American Indian style. They
also learned about coastal tribal culture, Indian law and much more.
The day culminated in a pow wow, the first for Lakeside. During the pow
wow, the American Indian visitors reflected a spirit of oneness that
took over the school and clearly reflected the feeling that we are one
people. Some consider that day the best student-sponsored day in the
history of Lakeside.
Frankie distinguished
herself even before that as one of the few female wrestlers at the
school (one young man at the public high school around the corner from
Lakeside may never forget getting pinned by Frankie in one of her
wrestling matches.) She also boxes out of a local gym.
Frankie will graduate this month and join the Lakeside alumni. She will
attend Ithaca College in New York in the fall. She has reconciled the
two very different worlds in which she lives. Her mother is still the
rock. She cannot decide whether she wants to become a
physician or an attorney, but she knows she wants to improve life for
other American Indians.
Frankie has been a part of a world she never knew existed before she
came to Lakeside School. She now knows that she can operate
successfully without giving up the world and culture that centers her.
She will always be A’AH’NI NIN. This young woman
who barely survived her first year at Lakeside School will graduate a
stronger young woman who has contributed more to this school than
anyone ever thought possible.
If any child ever needs to hear an uplifting story about hard work,
courage and determination, reflect on Frankie’s story. If she
can do it, many others can too. We all celebrate this child of Montana
and of the Great Spirit. Congratulations to Frankie, her family and the
White Clay People.
==============================================================================
California
One coach dared to contest the final team scoring of a
section championship meet.
And won.
After losing five of its last six regular-season games, one
team used an unexpected wild-card playoff entry to win a CIF title.
First-ever section titles were a common theme.
For Ventura County high school athletic programs, the 2008-09
school year was filled with outstanding individual and team
performances, programs resurrecting past successes and one newcomer on
the block hitting the jackpot.
Nothing grabbed the attention of the Ventura County sports
landscape than the ongoing saga of the Northern Area releaguing.
With a four-year roster of schools in the Marmonte, Tri-Valley
and Channel leagues hanging in the balance, a much-awaited vote will be
on the agenda at an October CIF meeting.
The drama gathered steam last fall when Marmonte League
schools attempted a squeeze play in the fall by petitioning to pull up
stakes and find a home in the Foothill Area, where it could be safe and
secure.
One hearing and two appeals later, the Marmonte League was
left searching for another path.
As the Marmonte League awaited its fate, St. Bonaventure and
Oaks Christian made a pitch to the Serra League to accept the schools'
state-ranked football programs. That, too, failed.
In a vote that stirred controversy, Northern Area schools
approved a proposal that would create a four-team private-school
football league consisting of Oaks Christian, St. Bonaventure, Grace
Brethren and Santa Clara.
As those four schools prepared appeals to the CIF, Calabasas
stunned fellow Marmonte schools by asking for a four-year leave from
the league for football only.
In a swift response, the Marmonte League proposed sending
Calabasas to the Tri-Counties Athletic Association in an all-sports
trade for Oaks Christian. Amendments offered a football-only Oaks
Christian for Calabasas swap and movement of all St. Bonaventure sports
into the Channel League.
That wasn't the only news
making headlines outside the lines.
After being awarded the
runner-up trophy at the Southern California Regional Women's Wrestling
Tournament, Pacifica coach Darren Hatch went to work recalculating the
team scores and appealed to the CIF.
After reviewing
the draw sheets, meet officials agreed and awarded the championship to
Pacifica. It was the first team section title in any sport in school
history.
