Weekend’s H-A Sports Festival offers 14 events

By ERIN SHULTZ
Life & Style editor

July 02, 2008 09:42 pm

— Wrestling, swimming, soccer, half marathons, triathlons have all come and gone over the 25 years of the Haynes-Apperson Sports Festival, chairman Dave Granson said Monday, almost wistfully.
“There have been tons of things come and go. We’ve had just about every sport possible,” he said, adding that this year’s fest features 14 events, while previous years have seen more than 20.
“But personally, I think it is a very good part of the festival,” said Granson, breaking into a broad smile.
And if participation is any indication, so do the hundreds of people who take part in or watch the festival each year. And this year looks to be no different as athletes from around the area gear up for the Sports Festival’s final weekend.
Last year, the 4-mile run and 3-mile walk attracted more than 300 athletes, who took off from Memorial Gymnasium, pounding the pavement through the streets of Kokomo before winding back to Kautz Field.
The 3-Man Jam basketball tourney is always a favorite, Granson said, and the men’s and women’s slow-pitch softball tournaments are memorable year after year.
“To me, that’s what it produces — just a togetherness,” he said, adding that every participant in any part of the Sports Festival walks away with a T-shirt.
For those who have never taken in the festival, Granson said, he suggests starting at the Kids Track Meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at Kautz Field. Granson said something unexpected — and heartwarming — always happens as the kids, run, jump and leap in the field events.
“It’ll be indelible,” he said “You will never forget it.”
Granson said he remembers going to the event when his grandson Max was 4. He and the other onlookers watched him step up for the long jump.
They waited for him to jump.
And waited.
“He was standing like that, and he went, ‘Huh-uh,’ and turned around walked away, just like that.”
Chuckling, Granson said he knows there will be more stories like that at this year’s meet.
As many as 100 cyclists will speed from Kokomo Cycling and Fitness Friday for the 15th annual Sunstroke 74, a 74-mile bicycle ride that takes riders on a tour of central Indiana. Riders take off from the store and head through Galveston, wind to Mississinewa Reservoir, through Peru and a section of the Nickel Plate Trail before heading back in Kokomo.
Larry Barnhart, Kokomo Cycling owner store and secretary of the Break-Away Bicycle Club said the ride attracts cyclists from surrounding states since it is one of the longer rides in the area.
And while the ride is a challenging opportunity for cyclists, he said, the Sports Festival as a whole gives athletes a new arena in which to compete.
“It gives people who are interested in their own particular sport a chance to participate in a competition,” he said. “If they’re just used to pickup basketball games or playing in a softball league this opens it up to a different group.”
Riders can still sign up for the Sunstroke 74 on the day of the event at Kokomo Cycling at Fitness, 1500 E. Boulevard.
Granson said it’s not too late for many of the other competitions, as well. The 1-mile and 4-mile runs, 3-mile walk, free-throw contest, kids’ track meet and the karate tournament all accept registrations on the day of the event.
For Granson, the close of this festival — his 25th and his last — will be bittersweet.
“I think we all have a fear someone is going to come in and do it better than you,” he said, casting his eyes downward.
Still, he said, there are some benefits to his retirement.
“In the 25 years, I got to play in one golf tournament,” he said, a slow grin spreading on his face. “But that’s going to change.”


The lineup:
Friday
7 a.m. — Sunstroke 74 Bicycle Race, Kokomo Cycle
6:30 p.m. — Men’s slow-pitch softball tournament, Northwest Park
Saturday
All day — Golf tournament, Chippendale Golf Course
7:30 a.m. — 1-mile run, Memorial Gym
7:30 a.m. — 4-mile run/3-mile walk, Memorial Gym
8 a.m. — Men’s slow-pitch softball tournament, Northwest Park
8 a.m. — 3-man Jam basketball tournament, Foster Park
9 a.m. — Kids track meet, Kautz Field
11 a.m. — Karate tournament, Memorial Gym
1 p.m.— Free-throw contest, Foster Park
If you go:
• WHAT: 2008 Haynes Apperson Sports Festival
• WHEN: Continues Friday and Saturday
• WHERE: Various locations
• INFORMATION: www.haynes appersonfestival.org

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