Maccabiah Athletes From the Valley

Jordana Toback of Studio City competed in sprints and on the 440 relay. The 17-year-old Westlake School senior was one of the youngest athletes at the Games.

“Track has taught me how to effectively deal with competition, performance, situations under pressure,” she said. “It’s different than I thought it would be. I didn’t think it would be this inspiring, this strong.”

Finish: Did not place.

Ilene Hauser of Sherman Oaks, an All-Southern Section guard at Alemany High last season, was the youngest member of the U.S. basketball team. The 17-year-old will attend San Diego State on a scholarship in the fall.

She has been a basketball fan since age 9, when her father, who coached a boys’ park league, couldn’t keep her away. “It’s like a job,” she said. “You work at it. And it’s paid for a college education and for this trip.”

Finish: U.S. and Israeli women’s basketball teams advanced to championship round. Before the start of play on Wednesday, however, the game was protested, reportedly by both teams, because of last-minute changes in site and time.

Wayne Lorch of Canoga Park thought that his small role in last summer’s Olympics would be the thrill of his life. He worked on the lane crew, setting up starting blocks and lane markers. Now the 19-year-old has had a chance to compete in international competition himself, as a sprinter.

A former record holder in the 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 relays at El Camino Real, Lorch just completed his freshman track season at UC Santa Barbara. “I feel real honored,” he said. “When I saw the uniforms issued to me with USA on them, I got the chills.”

Finish: Gold medal with 4 x 100 relay team.

Steve Stovitz of Sherman Oaks, is a 21-year-old, 6-4 outside hitter on the volleyball team. He has traveled through volleyball to Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Norway. “And now Israel,” he said. “It adds to my frequent-flyers club.”

Stovitz was an All-City selection at Grant in 1982 and Mid-Valley League MVP in 1981 and 1982. But Stovitz really learned about competitive volleyball on the beach, where he was eventually recruited by then-UCLA assistant coach Denny Klein.

Now Stovitz jokes about his volleyball upbringing. “Any Valley school is tragically unhip. They don’t play right in the Valley. They’re hacks.”

Finish: Bronze medal.

Francine Epstein of Van Nuys isn’t quite sure that she wants to become a professional golfer. The 22-year-old, who graduated from UCLA in June with a degree in math and a ninth-place finish in nationals, hopes that playing on the U.S. Maccabiah golf team will help her decide.

But golf isn’t the only reason Epstein wanted to compete in the Games. “It’s the total experience of being in Israel with thousands of Jewish athletes from all over the world, all united,” she said. “Beyond the competition, it’s a great experience.”

Finish: Bronze medal.

Louise Gronich of Burbank, 27, went to Israel as an outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team.

Gronich played volleyball at Burbank and Pomona College. After spending two years at Oxford University getting her master’s degree, Gronich returned home to Burbank to help run the family business, Lewis Paper Co.

“And we’re getting the red-carpet treatment,” she said about the trip to Israel.

Finish: Silver medal, losing to Brazil in the championship round.

Nolan Day of Van Nuys made his Maccabiah debut in the Games’ first rugby competition. Day, 28, played football and baseball and ran track at Burroughs before serving as captain of the 1977-78 Cal State Northridge football team.

Day, a technical marketing adviser for a European company, converted to Judaism after marrying a Jewish woman. “I’m going to be one of the few converts at the Games,” he said.

Like Day, many American rugby players are young professionals, introduced to the game in college. Nine of the members of the U.S. Maccabiah rugby team are attorneys.

Finish: Bronze medal.

Dennis Metz of Tarzana, is a marketing account executive at the Forum and a member of the first U.S. badminton team.

At Poly, Metz played basketball and baseball. At CSUN, JV baseball. Now his game is badminton, which he calls “the fastest racket sport in the world.”

Finish: Gold medal in doubles, bronze in individual competition and a team silver.

Richard Simon of Van Nuys, a 47-year-old radiologist, played on the five-member lawn bowling contingent. A member of the 1977 and 1981 Maccabiah teams, Simon decided to compete one last time when his son, Kevin, made the team.

Kevin, a 20-year-old junior at UCLA, took up lawn bowling at his father’s urging when injury forced him to quit soccer. Now he’s a young man in an old man’s sport--the youngest player on the team by about 25 years.

“My friends drive by and look at the old people,” he said. “But I think they respect me, because I go out and do it. And I get special treatment from the older people. When I started three years ago, I was more of an annoyance to them. Now they say, ‘Wish I’d started at your age.’ ”

Finish: Neither placed.

Source for results: Bruce Bobbins, U.S. Committee Sports for Israel.