Oceanside Twins Take Their Shots : Gymnasts Kecha, Khymn Fowlkes Try Other Fields, Too

Some sports complement each other, but gymnastics and throwing the shotput and discus are not usually among them.

You never saw Mary Lou Retton flash all those teeth to the crowd after a 10 on the floor exercise, then sprint to the Coliseum and start heaving the shot. And not many East German discus throwers can be seen switching to tights and swinging on the uneven bars.

But there are two girls at Oceanside High School--both with the last name Fowlkes--who make the rare combination work . . . barely.

Surprisingly, juniors Kecha and Khymn Fowlkes don’t have any problems combining the two athletically. Kecha is the top shotputter and discus thrower in the Avocado League and an optional gymnast. Khymn is captain of the gymnastics team and has done well in her first year on the track team.

“But we get teased about it sometimes,” said Kecha Fowlkes, who threw the discus 125 feet last year and has put the shot 36-feet 10-inches this season. “Some people wonder how we can do the shot and discus, kind of a man’s thing, and then go prancing around in gymnastics.”

What is most difficult for the identical twins is trying to find time for everything. Consider that:

* After trying the high jump for the first time at a dual meet this season, Kecha and Khymn Fowlkes now usually finish first and second in it for Oceanside.

* They also practice Wednesday nights with the concert band. Kecha plays the saxophone, clarinet, flute and oboe. Khymn plays saxophone.

* The two are cheerleaders.

* Kecha averaged about 16.5 points for the basketball team. Khymn was a tough defender and averaged around 8.

“It gets kind of confusing sometimes,” Kecha Fowlkes said.

Take Thursdays, when both teams have meets. Usually, the two compete in the shot and discus, take a couple of jumps in the high jump, then are rushed to gymnastics by their mother, Phoenita Moore.

Most of the time it works, but not always.

“Sometimes a (track) meet runs late, and they miss their events or show up right before it starts,” said Erica Glennon, the first-year gymnastics coach. “But if they can manage to do all that, I can work around it.”

Thursday, everyone got a break. The track meet was rained out, so all they had to do was compete in a gymnastics meet at Oceanside, won by San Pasqual with 172.45 points. Torrey Pines was second (153.85) and Oceanside third (99.75).

Both Fowlkes twins performed well in the floor exercise. Glennon said that is amazing, considering that the two are competing against girls who have taken ballet and gymnastics for years.

What Khymn and Kecha lack in grace, they make up in strength on difficult tumbling runs.

They look a little out of place on the mat at first. Khymn is 5-feet 8-inches tall and weighs 135 pounds; Kecha is 5-9, 152, larger than most gymnasts.

They really look strange in the shot or discus, but they kind of like that.

“We really surprise those big, hefty girls in invitational meets,” said Khymn, who likes gymnastics best but has a 99-11 throw in the discus and 33 feet in the shot. “Everybody who is not in our league thinks we can’t do anything because we are so small. And then we go in there and beat them.”

Kecha, who also starred on the volleyball team, admitted that it gets tiring sometimes, participating in athletics and trying to maintain grade-point averages of approximately 3.0. So what does she do when she wants to relax?

“I turn on TV and watch ESPN,” she said. “I love Air Jordan and Charles Barkley. Sports is our life.”