Track and Field : Adams Lifts Weights Off Her Shoulders

One of the biggest problems that weighs on high school transfer students is the adjustment to new environments and new situations.

Mission Viejo High School’s Heidi Adams faced just that going into her senior year.

For her freshman through junior years, Adams attended Fullerton High School, but she transferred to Mission Viejo for the 1984-85 school year to work with Coach Hugo DeGroot, who is to Orange County prep field event athletes what Des Flood is to high school jump shooters.

Adams made the necessary adjustments and, in the process, placed second in the state meet at Sacramento in the shot put and fifth in the discus for a total of 10 team points for Mission Viejo.

For her impressive showing, Adams has earned honors as The Times’ athlete of the year in girls’ track and field.

At the state meet, Adams threw the shot 45-9 1/2, just short of her personal best of 46-9. Her meet toss of 142-4 in the discus was a marked improvement over last season when she threw 110 feet.

“I was surprised at my improvement in the discus,” Adams said, “but I had worked on my technique a lot. At the state meet, I really felt relaxed and I think that’s why I did so well. I was just happy to make it that far.”

Adams participated in a variety of sports while growing up in Fullerton, including gymnastics, ballet, swimming and tennis.

“I didn’t start track until my sophomore year, and I never thought I’d end up getting a scholarship out of it,” she said. “It’s really paid off for me.”

Fred Almond, Mission Viejo track coach, credits her steady improvement to a willingness to work and weight training.

“When she showed up here, we were delighted,” Almond said, “but we weren’t really sure what she could do. I had no idea of what her potential was. I didn’t expect her to develop as quickly as she has.

“She’s an outstanding young lady and is very hungry to be successful.”

Almond cites her accomplishments in the weight room and classroom as examples of that.

In the weight room, she can bench press 225 pounds, a respectable weight. In the classroom, she earned a B in Almond’s Modern American Novel class, a respectable grade.

“She demonstrated in my class that she was going to get the job done,” Almond said. “And it’s been the same way in track. She can probably name what she wants to do as far as her career is concerned.”

Adams, who will attend USC in the fall on a track scholarship, said she is looking to major in pre-medicine and hopes to pursue a career in pathology.