Semifinals: Shields vs. Sullivan
May 12th, 2008, 11:00 am · · posted by TODD HARMONSON, SPORTS 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.
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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.
vote much?
Did you mention sportsfan that he (Shields) beat the World Record holder in Australia representing the USA?
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.
riley sullivan holds the world record in the mile. he is the favorite for olympic gold
Riley has baller dragonball-z hair
the choice is clear
Tom Shields Hacks
iceman,
get it straight, it’s RILEY SULLIVAN
I’d leave Tom Sheilds for Riley Sullivan
that’s great for Ryan Sullivan, but I am voting for Riley instead…
Irish guys are miling!
Vote Riley Sullivan! he’s too fast and he’s a super saiyan.
Riley Sullivan can even outrun Chuck Norris! ohh shoot!
Tom “Might be the Charles Barkley of Orange County swimming.”
didnt riley’s older brother win this last year?
keep it in the family!!!
dont under estimate the power of the sullys
riley sullivan can probably outswim tom
LOLOL HAI SARA HALL
What is up with RYAN???
Riley is so good that Olympians vote for him too!
riley is cute and ripped
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.
swimfreak stay in the pool and off the track . We know off what we speak. Riley’s quick smells like french toast!
don’t confuse a good thing with facts…
you are mistaken swimfreak, riley sullivan holds the world record in the mile at 3:36.69
El-G is old news
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!
Vote Riley Sullivan For President! ’08
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
good luck tom you got my vote.
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
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
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.
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!
Hey Miles!
Riley was part of the best cross country team in state history. riley wins. the tribe has spoken
if you go off looks Riley will win for sure. those Sullivan’s are all pretty good looking.
hey den, shields IS the best in the nation, any questions?
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!
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.
I think we just might have a case of some “sore LOSERS”….oh no wait….we do. Riley owned.
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.
Party panties!!!
Great job Riley.
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.
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
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!!!
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.
that was touching
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
well…..that was lame. :p
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
and if tom looses, its because you guys like to vote a little more than once good job
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?