HomeTeam Hot Shots
A spotlight on the Times’ bay area players of the week.
Female Hot Shot: Melissa Dones, So., Lakewood
Sport: Track and field
Skinny: Dones encountered the most daunting hurdle of the Class 2A, District 10 meet before even checking in. A hearing-impaired sophomore, she lost battery power in her right hearing aid while warming up, fearing it could affect her ability to hear the starting gun for the 100-meter hurdles. The pistol was plenty loud enough, enabling Dones to make a crisp start and take a sizable lead before stumbling over the last hurdle. “I was really like, ‘I hope I don’t step out of my lane because I really want to make it to regionals,’ ” she said. She recovered in time to cross the finish line first (17.89 seconds), just ahead of teammate Daijha Wimberly. For good measure, Dones also won the pole vault (8 feet) and placed third in the 300 hurdles (54.04).
Male Hot Shot: Eric Moate, Sr., Spoto
Sport: Track and field
Skinny: Nearly a year to the day (364 days, precisely) after suffering a season-ending left hamstring pull at the Class 2A, District 10 meet at his home stadium, Moate found atonement at the same meet on the same track. Nursing a sore right hamstring this time around, he still won the 100-meter dash (10.9 seconds) and high jump (5-foot-10), finished second in the 200 (22.44) and third in the long jump (21-5). Moate moves on to Thursday’s Region 3 meet in Titusville, which he had to miss in 2012.