Anthony Rodriguez

Arm in arm, prep runners nearing the finish line

By ANDY KEHE, Californian staff columnist, email:akehe@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, May 1 2007 11:05 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, May 1 2007 11:25 PM

 

You might remember the story from a couple of years ago of a blind track and field athlete and his Ridgeview High teammate who together, as one, ran the frosh-soph 100-yard dash during a dual meet at South High. At the end of the emotionally-charged race, Anthony Rodriguez asked his sighted teammate, off of whom he had bounced like a pin ball for the better part of the race, if he had finished last. To that, Chase Lanyon replied, “No, I did.”

 

Photos:

Photo by Andy Kehe / The Californian

Ridgeview High’s Anthony Rodriguez, right, is blind, but runs track with the help of friend Chase Lanyon, left.

I know. It got me, too.

 

It was the start of something phenomenally special, in that it was Anthony’s first track meet, courageously knocking down yet another barrier guarding a domain for sighted persons. And it was certainly the first time Chase had ever been somebody’s eyes as that person attempted to sprint 100 yards from point A to B.

 

Thing is, Anthony was not just interested in knocking down that barrier. He wanted to grind it into fine dust and blow it away. So he kept running, competing, for the rest of his sophomore season, all of his junior season and on into this, his senior year. Along the line, Anthony had switched to distance events, but all the while there was Chase, stride for stride with his friend, his arm extended for Anthony to latch on to whenever the confidence of running on his own wavered.

 

But more than just his volunteer racing partner, Chase had become Anthony’s trusty facilitator on and off the track, offering a rock solid shoulder or arm for Anthony to latch on to between classes, or after school, or whenever. Anthony will dart across campus on his own once in a while, and the two gnaw at each other at times like an old married couple. But in the end they are inseparable, even when they are apart.

 

As inspirational as Anthony and his bulldog spirit has been to teammates, Chase’s huge heart has become equally inspiring. Tall, slender, built like a sprinter, there’s no telling how good of a track athlete Chase would have become had he not willingly sacrificed his own development so that Anthony could get to the starting line prepared and get to the finish line with dignity.

 

“What can you say about Chase?,” wonders Bobby Gridiron, an assistant track coach at Ridgeview. “I don’t know. All I can say is thank God for him.”

 

Shadowing Anthony is never a problem, Chase has said all along. A privilege, really. Certainly no big deal. “Anthony has always been an inspiration to me,” he says. “I could never do what he’s done.”

 

Their time together is winding down. Anthony is headed for Bakersfield College as he pursues his dream of teaching music and conducting, and Chase to Cal State Bakersfield with an interest in criminal behavior. Chase wants Anthony to transfer to Cal State, so that the two can run together again. But two track meets remained on this year’s schedule heading into last weekend, including Friday’s Foothill Invitational — the only “big” one left in Anthony’s mind.

 

So on Friday, the signature Anthony crow hop was again operating in full, springy hop. A crow hop says I’m confident, glad to be alive, exhilarated. Anthony was all those things as the time to run the 1,600 meters was quickly approaching following an interminable wait.

 

“This is the last big meet for me,” he said. “There’s still league, but this is big. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

 

Jazzed by the initial sprint down the track two years ago, Anthony forcasted lofty accomplishments for himself. League, Valley, State — they were all within reach, with Chase’s help, he would say. I think he really believed it. A realization set in pretty quick that his benefit to the the team was not measured in wins and near wins, but by how many he and Chase together could motivate.

 

“A couple of years ago, I didn’t know what I was doing,” Anthony said. “To go to state? There’s no way I’m going to make it. But that’s OK, as long as I can compete.”

 

Anthony has competed in varsity events all season, but in this meet he and Chase toe the starting line amid a field of about 30 frosh-soph competitors, as there was no 1,600 meter varsity event offered. It doesn’t matter. The adrenalin is pumping just the same.

 

“I’m going to have to push him today,” Anthony said of Chase. Joking, probably. “I don’t want to start out too fast, but I don’t want to go slow either.”

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

“Start, run, finish. That’s the plan. That’s always the plan,” Chase says.

 

A few laps into the race and it’s hard to tell if the plan is working. With Chase on the inside lane and Anthony in Lane 2, they are running comfortably, it seems. Too, comfortably maybe. It seems they could be going faster, challenging, even, those punks in the lead pack — an observation that when presented to them later one was greeted with dead silence.

 

The push to the finish comes on the backstretch of the final lap. Having already passed a few runners, Chase and Anthony overtake a heavy-set kid from another school and maintain a pretty good kick to the finish. Anthony runs the final 100 yards or so without hanging on to Chase’s arm and nips him at the wire, just like the first time they ran 100 yards side by side two years ago.

 

“Pretty intense,” Anthony said when asked how he felt. “Pretty good actually. I’m OK.”

 

With that, he placed his hand on Chase’s shoulder and walked away. The crow hop in his gait told me, as it did two years ago, that he was feeling better than just OK about the whole thing.

 

Done