Bockel’s Travel Plans Preclude Running in State Championships

Many athletes were given an opportunity to contend for a state title after the California Interscholastic Federation rescheduled the state track and field championships for this Saturday at Cerritos College. But Karen Bockel of Nordhoff High was not among them.

Bockel, an exchange student from Germany, flew out of Los Angeles on Tuesday and will be in her hometown of Schwaikheim when the state meet is held.

The 1992 state Division IV cross-country champion was expected to be one of the top contenders in the girls’ 3,200 meters, but her parents were unwilling to change flight plans they made several months ago.

“She really didn’t have a say in the matter,” Nordhoff Coach Ken Reeves said. “Her mother felt that changing the schedule at this late a date was not feasible. I think she has also been looking forward to seeing her daughter for a long time and she does not want to postpone it any further. I can’t say I blame her.”

Bockel, who arrived in Ojai last August, said she was extremely disappointed in the turn of events.

“I wanted to stay,” Bockel said. “But my parents had to make a lot of changes in their work schedules so that they could meet me at the airport. It would have been asking a lot to do that again.”

Although Bockel’s visa expires today, Reeves said it could have been extended a another week.

Bockel is flying from Los Angeles to New York, and then on to Stuttgart, which is about a two-hour drive from her home.

Milena Glusac of Fallbrook was favored to win her second consecutive state title in the 3,200, but Bockel was expected to battle Kim Nelson of Anaheim Canyon for second place.

Nelson (10:48.13) edged Bockel (10:48.53) while winning the Southern Section Masters meet May 28. The top five finishers in each event in the Masters Meet advanced to the state championships.

The finals of the state meet were originally scheduled at Cerritos on June 5, but CIF commissioner Thomas Byrnes--acting on a recommendation made by a five-person advisory committee--canceled the meet after a unseasonal rainstorm left the track with what was regarded as “unsafe conditions.”

Byrnes’ decision, which was made at 1:45 p.m., did not go over well with athletes or coaches, who felt that the meet could have been held on Cerritos’ all-weather facility even if the rain continued. They were further angered because it stopped raining by 2 p.m. and the field events were not scheduled to start until 3, with the running events beginning an hour later.

Shortly after the rain stopped, the sun came out, and by 4 o’clock weather conditions were ideal and the track was nearly dry, according to several coaches who were at Cerritos.

On June 7, Byrnes said he had no second thoughts about his decision, but when he received a two-page proposal to reschedule the state meet from the Central Coast Section last week, he began to waver.

Officials from the state’s 10 sections communicated with member schools whose athletes qualified for the state finals, and on Thursday the executive committees from the 10 sections voted 9-1 to reschedule the meet for June 19.

“The rescheduling is great for a lot of kids because it will give them a chance to contend for a state title,” Reeves said. “But it hasn’t helped Karen.”