Pahrump’s Caperton wins 3 golds at Arizona Senior Olympics
Considering what Marvin Caperton usually accomplished at track meets, for him to say he had “epic results” means something special must have happened.
Three gold medals in three races fits the bill.
Caperton won the 50-, 100- and 200-meter races at the Arizona Senior Olympics in Tempe, Arizona.
“I trained hard enough to run well,” Caperton said, listing his times as 13.63 seconds in the 100 meters, 7.30 in the 50 and 28.3 in the 200 during his first time running in that meet. “It’s not the best I’m capable of, but it’s good for the first meet of the year.”
Caperton skipped the Bullhead City/Laughlin Senior Games last month, figuring the competition in Tempe would be stronger. And he was right, citing the presence of Greg Pizza, of Vista, California, whom Caperton said had beaten him three times in pasts meets.
“I thought I would do well there when I saw the times, but there’s usually some ringer that’s going to be there that you never expect,” Caperton said. “As soon as we pull into the stadium, there’s Greg Pizza.”
Caperton conquered both Pizza and some incompetence to win one of his gold medals.
“After I ran the 50, and Pizza was in it, I win, run pretty decent, didn’t have a great start, but I win,” Caperton recalled. “We finished the race and turned around to go back, and they said, ‘Oh guys, we need you to run this again. We didn’t get our clock running properly.’ So we ran it again, and I got a good start that time, so I really got him.
“They did that in a lot of different races because the officials didn’t know how to operate the equipment.”
The prospect of that happening again was unacceptable to Caperton.
“The 200 right before us they stopped them at about 120 meters in,” he said. “I told them, if you guys stop me, I’m not going to run it again. And then everybody said, ‘Yeah, me too! Me too!’ So we didn’t have to run it again.”
Caperton said that was the only complaint he had, saying the facility at Arizona State University was “awesome,” the weather was good and the competition was “very decent.”
Next up for Caperton most likely will be a meet in March, perhaps in Mesquite, but he is enthusiastic about the possibility of running in the World Master Athletics Championships in Toronto. The event, which will run from July 20-Aug. 1, is expected to attract between 7,000 and 9,000 athletes competing in 550 individual events.
“Once you go to that level, the United States Track & Field Association will give you a uniform, sweats, all kinds of little things,” Caperton said “They don’t pay for your trip, but they give you that. It’s pretty cool.”
Helping pay for the trip to Arizona were a group of sponsors, several of whom have supported Caperton in the past.
He has been able to get sponsorship for other events over the years, and the Arizona Senior Olympics was no exception. Caperton thanked Mike Floyd of Green Life Productions, Tim Hafen, Ray Guin from Nevada Realty, Chad Goins with Farmers Insurance and George from Romero’s Bar and Mexican Restaurant for their support.
“I really would like to run internationally, if I can get sponsorship,” he said.
Horseshoes/cornhole results
Pahrump residents combined to win 12 medals in horseshoes and cornhole last month at the Bullhead City/Laughlin Senior Games.
Lathan Dilger and Mike Nicosia each won singles and doubles gold, with Dilger winning the 50-59 male singles cornhole, Nicosia taking the 60-69 singles cornhole and the pair teaming to win gold in the 50-79 doubles cornhole. They also won bronze in the 50-69 doubles horseshoes, with Dilger taking bronze in the 50-59 singles horseshoes and Nicosia capturing silver in the 60-69 male singles horseshoes.
Also in horseshoes, Randy Salzwimmer won silver in the 50-59 male singles, while Mark Kaczmarek took bronze in the 60-69 male singles. Salzwimmer then teamed with Dan Dunn of Las Vegas to win the 50-69 doubles.
In cornhole, Dave Barefield brought home a bronze medal in the 50-59 male singles, while Kaczmarek earned bronze in the 60-69 male singles.
That same week, Dilger and Nicosia finished first in cornhole at the Bullhead City Slab-O-Rama Barbecue Tournament.
The Southern Nevada Horseshoe Pitchers Association will host a tournament in conjunction with the Pahrump Balloon Festival on Feb. 22 at Petrack Park. The cost is $15 per person for the doubles tournament, which will feature a round-robin format, a 50/50 and a raffle. Pitchers must sign up by 10 a.m. at the pits.
For more information, contact Dilger at 435-691-3845 or Mike Norton at 805-570-2368.
The Mesquite Senior Games will include a horseshoes tournament, with singles being contested April 1 and doubles April 2. Joining the Senior Games costs $30, with a $10 entry fee for each event.
