Semifinals: Shields vs. Sullivan
May 12th, 2008, 11:00 am · 52 Comments · posted by OCVarsity Editor
What athlete should advance to the finals of the voting to become the fans’ choice as the boys athlete of the year, Edison swimmer Tom Shields or Trabuco Hills runner Riley Sullivan?
Check out what the ocvarsity.com staff had to say about the candidates:
Tom Shields
Edison swimming
Comment: “Might be the Matt Barkley of Orange County swimming.” — Dan Albano
Click here to find Shields’ ocvarsity.com bio page.
Riley Sullivan
Trabuco Hills cross country and track and field
Comment: “Sullivan won the CIF-SS Division I cross country championship and placed second at the CIF state meet. In track, he won the 1,600 and the 3,200 meters at the Orange County Championships and the 3,200 at the Sea View League finals.” — Jason Eichelberger
Click here to find a story on Sullivan being selected the cross country runner of the year.
Click here to see the next matchup.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Tom is a 4 time CIF Champion, 16 time All American. His 200 free and 100 fly at CIF were the fastest in the nation this year. He represented the USA in Australia in January winning gold, and he will compete in 3 events in Olympic trials this July.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
vote much?
May 13th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Did you mention sportsfan that he (Shields) beat the World Record holder in Australia representing the USA?
May 13th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Who cares about swimming?
Riley sullivan is super saiyan!
Don’t be stupid, vote for the sport that requires HEART and GUTS, not the one that involves kicking around water in the kiddie pool.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
riley sullivan holds the world record in the mile. he is the favorite for olympic gold
May 13th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Riley has baller dragonball-z hair
the choice is clear
May 13th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Tom Shields Hacks
May 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
iceman,
get it straight, it’s RILEY SULLIVAN
May 13th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I’d leave Tom Sheilds for Riley Sullivan
May 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
that’s great for Ryan Sullivan, but I am voting for Riley instead…
May 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Irish guys are miling!
May 13th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Vote Riley Sullivan! he’s too fast and he’s a super saiyan.
Riley Sullivan can even outrun Chuck Norris! ohh shoot!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Tom “Might be the Charles Barkley of Orange County swimming.”
May 13th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
didnt riley’s older brother win this last year?
keep it in the family!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
dont under estimate the power of the sullys
May 13th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
riley sullivan can probably outswim tom
May 13th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
LOLOL HAI SARA HALL
What is up with RYAN???
Riley is so good that Olympians vote for him too!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
riley is cute and ripped
May 13th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Actually the mile record outdoors is held by Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) of a speedy time of 3:43:13. The Junior record is been standing since 1966. Shields has a chance to beat the record in the 200 fly in July during the Olympic Trials.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
swimfreak stay in the pool and off the track . We know off what we speak. Riley’s quick smells like french toast!
May 13th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
don’t confuse a good thing with facts…
May 13th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
you are mistaken swimfreak, riley sullivan holds the world record in the mile at 3:36.69
El-G is old news
May 14th, 2008 at 7:46 am
All I have to say is, those Sullivan brothers are very talented and not to mention very handsome. Riley deserves this more than anyone. All his hard work has really paid off this season! Congrats Riley on CIF and I can’t wait to see what you do at Stanford!
May 14th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Vote Riley Sullivan For President! ‘08
May 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Why isn’t Ethan Weisrock being matched up with some of these guys. He was first Team all league, all county football for Irvine High. With many other awards, and also made it to State in wrestling. The Kid is an insane athlete
May 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
good luck tom you got my vote.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
you guys are all idiots voting for that riley kid… tom shields will be winning olympic gold medals soon when this guy is still some no name guy in college
May 14th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Although Tom Shields sounds like an extraordinary talent, The running community supports it’s own. And….It looks like the numbers have spoken.
Why doesn’t somebody send a link of a picture of Tom…..and someone else send one of Riley. We’ll go off of looks. Cuz afterall….just like the presidency…..nobody likes an ugly candidate. :p
May 14th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
asdf, you know nothing of which you speak.
Swimming is a relatively new sport, considering running has been one since at least the 1st century AD when the marathon was invented.
Anybody around the world can run, and get better at it.
not everybody has a pool and professional coaches like these swimmers get. (ex: kenyans)
Overall, Rileys achievements are quite proportional to ‘Tom’s, and actually quite larger.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Proportional or not Riley is quite larger.
Compare the numbers, track and cross country have more overall participants than ANY other high school sport!
Which makes rising to the top that much more difficult.
His performances rival the best ever in the county, state and nation.
There are no fancy club teams like swimming has, to bring these kids along from toddlers. ( although i do like the giant robe-like jackets)
These boys did it on their own, pushing themselves everyday.
JT deserved it… Now its Riley”s turn.
When Irish guys are miling the whole world miles with you!
May 14th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Hey Miles!
May 14th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Riley was part of the best cross country team in state history. riley wins. the tribe has spoken
May 14th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
if you go off looks Riley will win for sure. those Sullivan’s are all pretty good looking.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
hey den, shields IS the best in the nation, any questions?
May 14th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
look, shields covers 200m in about 1:36. Riley can cover that distance in about 31.5 seconds, 8 times in a row. thats over 3 times faster!
May 14th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Uhh what are you talking about “swimfreak”?
There are a TON of events in swimming, for example the 100 meters.. well there are 4 different events just for that because there are 4 different strokes.
Whereas in running, there are not “4 different events” for one distance.. Riley has proved himself to be one of the best in the 3200 meters (about 2 miles) and is only one of very few high schoolers this year who has gone sub 9.
And the votes speak for themselves. The people have chosen Riley.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I think we just might have a case of some “sore LOSERS”….oh no wait….we do. Riley owned.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
hey swim fans.. heres why you’re losing:
http://www.talk.dyestat.com/showthread.php?t=85306
the internetz is serious business
May 15th, 2008 at 12:37 am
these results look kind of hacked. I was at this site 2 days ago and there was only like 4,000 votes with Tom ahead. Now there is 43,000 with Riley dominating. That’s just really weird. Whatever, I’ll vote one but no doubt Tom’s credentials are much more solid than Riley’s but I am told Riley is a Super Saiyan so that is also very tough to beat.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Party panties!!!
Great job Riley.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Vote Riley Sullivan for OC Athlete of the Year 2008! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!
Tough luck, swimfreak. Remember to wait at least 30 minutes after you eat before doing your next backstroke.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
hacked? that’s just running community for ya. track and field and cross country are the largest sports in the country in terms of participants
May 15th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Just like a swimmer, Tom’s votes started off strong, but couldn’t last.
Riley’s support was steady and strong, able to go the distance. Even I can admit runners are better athletes especially Stanford Cardinal!!!
May 15th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
First off, congratulations to all athletes, I’m sure everyone here can agree that each person who is up for this award has given extraordinary time and effort into their respective athletic field. After all, that’s why they’re here.
I do believe, however, that it would be pathetically ignorant to assume that two sports can be compared. It is disappointing to see such rude and thoughtless comments against a fellow athlete’s hard work.
It is evident that both Shields and Sullivan have bright futures ahead of them because of their extraordinary athleticism, regardless of an Orange County Athlete plaque or trophy or whatever the winner will receive.
If these two boys can walk away from this contest with the confidence in not only their after-school hours swimming or running, but also in their dignity, pride, and most importantly character, then their future is secure.
Athleticism is of the body. The body ages. Congratulations for the discipline you’ve put on your body now. It has made you a super-athlete.
But if what you take from this is a booster seat for your pedestal, then Athlete of the Year isn’t as rewarding as I thought.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:41 am
that was touching
May 17th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I do believe riley sullivan is the hottness, have you seen him run? I swoon everytime, and I’ve only seen him run once.
super-saiyan hotness. wooottt
May 17th, 2008 at 12:36 am
well…..that was lame. :p
May 18th, 2008 at 10:13 am
well if were going off looks i think riley is going to take a dump in the standings
http://www.ocvarsity.com/ocvarsity/todaysregister/article_1944444.php
man he sure looks good doesnt he
HAHAHAHA
not
May 18th, 2008 at 10:15 am
wait, wat does this say?
“At the O.C. Championships, Sullivan battled the lead pack the entire race, finishing fourth overall in the course-shortened sweepstakes race.”
fourth?
tom only knows first place
May 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
oh just one more to blow this ryan guy out of the water
” Need I remind you that Grant Hackett is a 3-time Olympic Champion and 10-time World Champion. Oh, and Tom Shields from the US Junior Team? He’s 16 years old and just swam his first international race 3 days ago. Even with being spotted a 1.9 second lead, Shields had to swim the 200 free of his life in order to hold off arguably the greatest distance swimmer in history.
And that he did. Hackett chipped away at the lead the entire way (and I was yelling as loud as I could while holding onto my laptop for just as long). But Shields was absolutely resilient and split a quick 1:50.98 to hold off the surging Hackett and win the relay for Team USA by 0.13 seconds!!! AWESOME!! Seriously sick stuff. Shields’ best 200 free time coming into this meet was a 1:53.94! Talk about rising to the occasion and growing up fast. That was freaking great.”
http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&ItemId=1865&mid=2943
yea im sorry but this guy just doesnt match up to tom
tom is swimming against olympic swimmers and winning when this sullivan guy is still loosing to his highschool competitors
ouch
May 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
and if tom looses, its because you guys like to vote a little more than once good job
May 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
lol I like how mad/bitter you are, and how you kept thinking of new things to write then proceeded to add them on one after another.
and I have a question: are you Tom Shields?