Teen Athlete Shines, Winning Gold Medals

Eighth-grader Steve Moss brought home three gold medals last weekend from the AAU National Youth Indoor Track and Field championships in Indiana.

Steve, 14, won the top prize in the pentathlon--consisting of 55-meter hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and 1,000-meter run.

“I was really tired,” the Brentwood School student said Monday. “I wasn’t really expecting to win. But I was in kind of a groove and everything just came naturally.”

The teenager, who is just under 6 feet tall, also took gold in the long jump with a 17-foot, 10-inch leap, and in the high jump with a 5-foot, 8-inch spring, beating the record by a full 3 inches.

Steve began training at 7 and has amassed about 70 trophies and 50 medals in track-and-field competitions and baseball. He said he hopes to play center field in the major leagues someday and also to compete in the 2004 Olympics.