Sports

Former basketball player Jack Stadlman bursts onto the track scene

Published

12 months ago

March 5, 2025

Former basketball player Jack Stadlman bursts onto the track scene

“The Jack Stadlman Story” could be coming to a theater near you. The screenplay is being written each time he breaks out of the blocks in the 400 meters. To see the time he’s running with so little experience or knowledge of what he’s doing is simply stunning.

“I believe what we’re doing will conclude with him being on the top of the podium at the state meet,” says his coach, Desmond Lee.

It’s a story about a teenage athlete who discovered his freakish talent almost by accident.

Stadlman was a junior varsity basketball player at Temecula Valley High who used to beat everyone in line drills and suicides, indicating speed and endurance.

Temecula Valley High School senior Jack Stadlman, a former basketball player, has transferred his skills to the track.

(Mark Boster/For The Times)

“I would always be the quickest,” he said. “Basketball wasn’t going as I wanted. I wanted to try something else because I was so fast.”

In October 2023, he quit basketball and joined the track team in his junior season. He ran the 100 and 200 last spring. His best 100 time was 10.73 seconds and his 200 time was 21.61. He ran one 400 race, finishing in 49.06.

“I didn’t want to do the 400,” he told himself. “This race is too tiring and too much.”

Said Lee: “ I didn’t get to do much work with him but saw he had this unbelievable engine.”

Lee ran a 4×400 relay leg and recorded a split in 48.2. It was a hint what he might become.

“It was noticeable I was really good,” he said.

Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele said he saw Stadlman run that 400 last season. He was the high school coach for Olympian Michael Norman and was convinced something was there.

“I knew he was the real deal,” Candaele said.

Lee still had to convince Stadlman the 400 would be his race this season.

“When we started fall training, he wants to run 100 so bad,” Lee said. “No, no no.”

Lee knew that the defending state champion in the 100, Brandon Arrington from Mount Miguel, ran 10.33 seconds.

“I’m telling him, ‘Would you rather win and be on the podium at state or be eliminated? I’m not trying to burst your bubble, but you’re not going to beat him.’”

Stadlman listened and went to work. He trained relentlessly all fall in the weight room and running hills. He won the winter championship for 300 meters. He started to embrace the 400.

“The 400 is more like a sprint for me. I started liking it,” he said.

Then came last Saturday, when he ran in only his second 400 ever in a meet at Vista Murrieta. The expectation was to run a time in the 47s. Instead, Stadlman made eyes go wide in surprise when he finished in 45.69 seconds, the second-best performance by an Inland Empire high school athlete all-time next to Norman’s 45.19.

“I was super excited,” Stadlman said.

It raises questions. Was it a fluke? Did Stadlman peak in his first race of the year? And how fast can he run this season?

The answers are no, no and no one knows.

“I can’t tell you how fast he’s going to run,” Lee said. “It’s not his peak. There’s more in the system.”

Stadlman is a 6-foot, 160-pound 18-year-old who loses weight so easily that he tries to eat as much as he can. He can do windmill dunks. His mother is a native of Cambodia and is a first-grade teacher. His father is a truck driver. His mother urged him to try track. He’s an A student who played trumpet in the middle school band. Expect college recruiters to be inundating him with offers this spring.

“Everybody has been telling me to do track,” he said. “I always thought it would be long-distance training.”

Now that he has discovered his talent for running, he’s all in. It’s his future and the fact that the Olympic Games are coming to Los Angeles in 2028 makes his discovery perfect timing.

The reaction to his sudden success was swift.

“I was getting a lot of congratulations,” he said. “My friends were really proud seeing my progress from nothing to something. My parents were hyped. They were screaming.”

Stadlman might need to hire an agent. His story is headed to big-time status.

Sports

Charles Barkley scolds sports fans for getting wrapped up in Olympic hockey frenzy

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Charles Barkley scolds sports fans for getting wrapped up in Olympic hockey frenzy

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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley sounded off on the frenzied reactions to the U.S. men’s hockey team getting invited to the White House by President Donald Trump.

Trump talked to the Olympic gold medal-winning team immediately after they defeated Canada in overtime last weekend. He said they would be invited to his State of the Union address and added that he needed to invite the women’s team as well or he would be “impeached.”

Charles Barkley sits courtside against the Minnesota Timberwolves during an NBA Cup game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Nov. 21, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

Trump critics took the joke as a shot at the women’s team, which sparked questions from NHL and Professional Women’s Hockey League reporters as the players returned to their respective club teams.

“I’m proud of the United States men. I’m proud of the United States women. You should have invited both of them to the White House, but it shouldn’t have been disrespect, misogyny,” Barkley said on the “Steam Room” podcast. “Like, yo, man, why do y’all have to mess everything up? Everything isn’t Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal. That’s why we got this divided, screwed up country. Stop it man. Because, you know, the public, they’re idiots. They’re fools. They can’t think for themselves. I know y’all say stuff to trigger them. Y’all say stuff and y’all know they’re going to be fools.”

Barkley lamented that the average person would get riled up over the supposed controversy.

The U.S. team poses for a group photo after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

“We don’t have to fall for stupidity. But we do – that’s my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them. Just because they want us to be stupid. We don’t have to be stupid. He should have invited both teams to the White House. Simple as that. Guys who didn’t want to go shouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t go.”

The former Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns star made clear he would go to the White House regardless of whether Trump was in office.

“I’ve said this before, I’m not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go. I’m not a Trump guy – I want to make that clear. But I respect the office,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. But if guys don’t want to go, I understand that too. It doesn’t have to be a talking point. It doesn’t have to be un-American.

Megan Keller (5) celebrates with a flag alongside Cayla Barnes (3) of Team United States after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime during the women’s gold medal match against Canada on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

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“I just wish y’all would stop falling for the stupidity.”

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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

Sports

Prep talk: Birmingham’s Slava Shahbazyan celebrates winning state wrestling title

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Prep talk: Birmingham’s Slava Shahbazyan celebrates winning state wrestling title

Three years ago, as a 14-year-old freshman, Slava Shahbazyan made it to Bakersfield for the state wrestling championships.

“It was good to get experience that young,” he said.

Then came Saturday night when he had a breakthrough moment, winning the state 165-pound championship as a 17-year-old senior for Birmingham High.

“It means everything to me,” he said. “It took four years.”

Shahbazyan, who transferred from Chaminade after his sophomore year, is set to attend Stanford and still in the hunt to be valedictorian at Birmingham. Coach Jimmy Medeiros said he was close to winning last season before finishing fourth.

“He got a lot better,” Medeiros said.

Shahbazyan has been wrestling since he was 8. “My father loves wrestling,” he said.

Two St. John Bosco wrestlers, Jesse Grajeda at 144 pounds and Michael Romero at 150 pounds, also won state titles.

Here’s the link to complete results.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Sports

Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

Published

14 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.

“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”

Ponder was 23 years old.

Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.

Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.

The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.

Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)

“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”

Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.

Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)

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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.

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