The information captured will be shared by the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS), with all known ISP's conducting business in the State. Our family has watched it three nights in a row. After high school I went to Eastern Kentucky University where I sampled a variety of majors including English teaching, police administration, and journalism before finally discovering broadcast news. I love it so muchthese are people we need the HARD WORKING MEXICANS in this country! "My parents divorced. "We couldn't go out there and run those things," White said. PE teacher in McFarland, an economically "The nerves were still there because we were going to be part of something, not thinking it was history, but a part of something that we've never done," Valles said. They still live in McFarland and still want to make a difference in the community.". "He was our second dad. Thomas Valles was barely a teenager when a coach stepped in and changed his life. It's all Hollywood. However, he did rebuild the boys and girls cross country programs from the ground up. Shortly after, the Diaz brothers are taken off the team by their father, who wants them to work for his team of field pickers instead. He was there to attend the world premiere of Disney's "McFarland, USA, " which chronicled the 1987 McFarland High School cross-country team, on which Diaz and two of his brothers competed. By Ellysa Harris. And he considers Coach Whites wife, Cheryl, to be an unsung heroine of the story. "Danny, he passed up Jose out there somewhere," White recalled. Yeah, that happened. It made me rethink the choices that Ive made in the past, because I had a bad past. He gets interested in building up a cross-country team, but has to adjust his ways to suit the system. David Diaz is behind Victor wearing a white t-shirt and McFarland hat. They came back. The Tunnel Is a 200-Mile Race Through Darkness, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner said his office as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the IRS participated in the investigation. After a few regional competitions, the team wins its first race. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. "I was standing there. 1987: First CIF-State Cross Country Championships, Remembering 1987: CA's First State XC Meet - Series Hub, Remembering 1987: Arroyo Boys Are Nearly Perfect, Remembering 1987: Drossin, Agoura Overcome Uncertainty, Remembering 1987: First CIF-State XC Championships. Its just something to be proud of. All seven Diaz Victor Puentes, member of the 1987 McFarland cross country team, has battled drug addiction. Listen Closely (Victor Puentes/McFarland USA Fanfic). You can run around the edge! However, similar to the film, Jim White had never been a runner himself and used the bike to follow the team during their workouts. was like to have a movie made about his The movies about Mr. White. She was the real (team) mother hugging their sweaty bodies when they came in.". The McFarland, USA true story supports that McFarland High School won nine CIF California State Championships in cross country (including five in a row) and held a streak of attending the state championship meet 24 years in a row. Find the perfect victor puentes stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Now that I live in Lexington, I get to do my dream job of covering the people of central and eastern Kentucky. Its about McFarland. The real Coach Jim White took both the boys and girls cross country teams to the California central coast beach at Cayucos during the 1985 season (not the 1987 season). He recently retired as a California State Correctional officer supervising adult males. [18], Last edited on 1 September 2022, at 05:39, "Kevin Costner in Talks to Star in Disney's Sports Drama 'McFarland', "William Broyles Jr. I give my thanks to her because shes the foundation of [that] home and she opened her doors to every single runner that went through [the program].. McFarland, USA was released on February 20, 2015, received positive reviews from critics, and grossed over $45 million. 'Danny made a big difference in my life.' A detective with the Bakersfield Police Department whose exploits as a high school cross-country athlete were highlighted in the Disney film "McFarland, USA, has been indicted for allegedly accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in return for assisting a drug dealer in his methamphetamine operation. When I say Mr. White became my father figure and Mrs. White became my mother figure. Im a better person because of this movie and because of my wife, family, and everybody else. Public speaker. He and his wife Cheryl met at Magic Valley Christian College in Idaho. Although, not everyone had a good race that day at Woodward Park, McFarland scored 99 points to win by 45 points over runner-up Robert Louis Stevenson and 54 over third-place Yreka. McFarland had four in (31 points) before Stevenson's No. Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report. Send me an email at johnharte@att.net. When a police officer misuses his badge to commitcrimes for personal profit, it is the ultimate betrayal of public trust, Wagner said. Without them, there wouldnt be a legacy.. Though the film portrays Puentes as a ladies man, he says he was actually the shyest person on the team. When you run long distance, you just lose yourself. Johnny is an educator and is still coaching. (LogOut/ He says that The film was previously slated for a November 21, 2014 release, under the title McFarland,[9] but was pushed back to February 20, 2015 and given a new title. This finally gave me the strength to say, You know what? John Ortiz as Jose Cardenas, Ramiro Rodriguez as Danny Diaz, Carlos Pratts as Thomas Valles, Sergio Avelar as Victor Puentes, Michael Aguero as Damacio Diaz, Kevin Costner as Jim White, Hector Duran as Johnny Sameniego and Rafael Martinez as David Diaz in "McFarland, USA." Kevin Costner plays a high-school football coach who ends up leading a cross-country track team made up unlikely students to a state championship. Diaz, a 17-year veteran of the department, was arrested at BPD headquarters Friday morning. A U.S. district judge ordered Diaz to begin serving his sentence on Dec. 5. "I can't speak for everybody, I can speak for myself," Valles said. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Starring Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Carlos Pratts, Hector Duran, Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, No. Privacy Policy Earlier this year, Diaz one of the three Diaz brothers depicted in the 2015 Disney film about the Central Valley team that won the state championship admitted to lying on his tax returns and accepting bribes from a criminal informant in return for information about police during a three-year period starting in 2012, according to the U.S. attorneys office. White would take his teams to train in Yosemite at elevation. He looked after us, he made sure that if we got out of line, he corrected us.. Im done. On one occasion, Mrs. Diaz made 200 dozen tamales to send the team to Asia. The. Dozens of Coach Jim White's runners ended up going to college or into the armed forces. Diaz was arrested in November following a 17-year career with the Bakersfield Police Department. I thought that was normal. According to the indictment, Magallanes paid Diaz to tip him off to law enforcement investigations and in general to protect him from arrest and prosecution. Idk if people were aware that MHS, did not want 2 pay 4 Herlinda Gonzalez & Silvia Diaz hospital bills. This finally gave me the strength to say, You know what? Feel free to email jeffrey.parenti@flosports.tv. He took us to church once in a while. Education, law enforcement, business owners. This movie is based on the remarkable McFarland High School Cross-Country Team which, until it was recently forced to compete against much larger schools, dominated its division in the sport state-wide for more than 20 years. "I started hanging around the wrong kids," Valles said. "(It is) things like that that have touched our lives," White said. He said he told his mother that he wanted to go somewhere small, somewhere where he could have an impact. But Diaz believes Puentes has the tools to turn his life around. Athena and Victor go through life at McFarland High together. ', "Thomas was at our house almost every day.". it's not all true but he's okay with that. Buy images; Sell images; I told him that he had 2 fight the school so they could pay for the hospital bills. His Exact Age is Still Under Investigation we will Update when Information Is Available. Inspired by the irony of his last name, "Blanco" was one of the nicknames that the kids and their families gave Jim White. He showed Valles how . Cookie Preferences, Generated by 10.1.2.53 from cache (2435 ttl) in 25 milliseconds. 1. Enterprise. 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Wagner said during a press conference Friday that they began looking into Diazs activities as a result of information received from unrelated drug investigations earlier this year. These photos, by the way, are from the California Southern Area meet held at Hart Park in Bakersfield, probably November 1987, and if I remember correctly, it is the meet before the California Interscholastic Federation section championship and the California state championship, which the team went on to win, and is a focus of the film. White finds the potential for cross-country in few students at the school. Today, Valles coaches girls cross country coach at McFarland and travels around to speak and share his story. She's the one girl that changes his mind and he wants to date her. A detective with the Bakersfield Police Department whose exploits as a high school cross-country athlete were highlighted in the Disney film "McFarland, USA," has been indicted for allegedly. What about this one? In 1987, football coach Jim White loses his job after he loses his temper and accidentally injures a team player in the locker room. His team's won nine CIF-State cross country titles, five in a row between 1992-96 and three in a row between 1999-01. McFarland High School is actually just down the road from the Central Valley Correctional Facility, not across the street. He also attended the films premiere in Los Angeles with his daughters and wife earlier this month. There was alcohol or drug abuse in their homes. However, he had been a teacher in the McFarland School District since 1964, following his graduation from Pepperdine University. White retired in 2002 but returned to coach the 2003 team. It was indeed the first time that many of the kids ever saw the ocean. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Those kids were good students. We're still here hopefully trying to make a positive difference in our communities.". The alleged offenses took place from April 2012 to February of this year, he said. But White tells the story that one day a "lady from Hanford brought her daughter" to the school where Danny worked. "We had no idea, with him not performing that day, if we'd actually won it. Because of White's rigorous training and the efforts of the entire team, McFarland upsets the other more favored schools and comes in first. "We did have hills," White said. White has lived in McFarland ever since. "Thomas didn't have anger management and Danny wasn't fat," White said when asked about inaccuracies in the film. He started off as a junior varsity runner but made the varsity squad as a freshman, working his way up from being the teams number four runner to being the number two runner by the time he graduated. school and decides to put together a cross He also allegedly stole drugs that were supposed to be booked into evidence. I received a nice surprise today when my pal, longtime Bakersfield Californian photographer Felix Adamo, found these photos I shot of the 1987 McFarland boys cross country team. Also, take a closer look at the Diaz family, who had seven children run for McFarland. GREAT GREAT GREAT MOVIE! Julie and Jami are depicted in the McFarland, USA movie. Im not cocky. "We did that year after year to build bonds and to trust one another," he said. A former Bakersfield Police Department detective and member of the famed McFarland High School cross-country team depicted in the Disney film McFarland, USA was sentenced this week to five years in prison. But he did say there was a "low-rider" bike with his nickname "Blanco" on it. Was enlisted in the armed services. -23ABC News. "You saw the hills at the end of the movie.". country team. They were requested by People Magazine. Though it is very close, Jim White likely wouldn't have had a clear view of it from his classroom window, as a street of homes separates the school's athletic fields from the prison grounds. [12], Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review, writing that "While the beats of the story are often stock, the picture benefits from sensitive direction by New Zealander Niki Caro and from a most appealing performance by Kevin Costner. An ex-detective who was on the championship 1987 track team depicted in the movie "McFarland USA" has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and drug charges. Though Puentes doesnt see much of himself in the films portrayal, he says thats not whats important. Brittny Mejia is a Metro reporter who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2014. The 16-count indictment against Damacio Diaz, 43, was unsealed Thursday. Ayon is the current McFarland boys coach. Its about McFarland. Yes, the nickname the boys gave him, as depicted in the film, was real. potential at the predominantly Latino high Diaz had a life that afforded him many opportunities, including the opportunity to serve and protect his community as an officer of the law, said Phillip A. Talbert, the acting U.S. attorney for Californias eastern district. He was like a second dad," Puentes says. Create an account. Not all runners from the 1987 team are featured in the film. Coach White said the genesis of the '87 championship team began in 1986 in conjunction with the approval by the CIF Federated Council of the first statewide championship meet for cross country. "I was getting interviewed by the Bakersfield Californian (newspaper). Three suspects in custody following fatal shooting in South L.A. Man who set five wildfires in San Diegos back-country gets 9 years in prison, Man serving life sentence for raping and killing San Bernardino 9-year-old charged with murder in second cold case. White has lived in McFarland ever since. Winds light and variable.. The whole team. But Diaz believes Puentes has the tools to turn his life around. 1. Jim White is to Thomas' right and Gary Adams is to White's right. Following in father's footsteps working in the agricultural business. "I looked over at the reporter and I said 'We won. Below we tell the story of White, Valles and the 1987 championship team and point out areas of Hollywood fiction. I know bcuz Mr. Gonzalez had come 2 my office 2 bring in his work insurance, which his insurance didnt pay much. Plainview Herald. [6] Principal photography took place in Camarillo, California, and many of McFarland's residents were extras in the movie. Did that happen? Likely not. Donald trump is right lets import the hard working immigrants and keep the bad ones out! Unlike many of his former teammates, Puentes no longer runs, but he misses it. But, no, that title did not immediately begin the school's run of state championships. The site's critical consensus reads, "Disney's inspirational sports drama formula might be old hat, but McFarland, USA proves it still works especially with a talented director and eminently likable star in the mix. McFarland, USA was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 2, 2015 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. "When the movie came out, I was kind of in denial. Similarly, White took both teams to the California coast beach at. Your email address will not be published. White said he left Stockton to visit his parents for Thanksgiving. Did the boys have to get up with the sun to work in the fields only to return later in the day to train there? went on to college. Ramiro Rodriguez had no intention of auditioning when he agreed to . Im not like, Hey, Im Victor from the movie. I just feel a little bit better about myself because something good finally happened in my life, besides my children being born. "I grew up in a broken home," Valles said. Subscribe to Popcorn Talk Network's YouTube Channel @ http://youtube.com/popcorntalknetwork Check out all the. This included members of the Bakersfield High Drillers. All the members of the first team become the first in their families to go to college or into military careers. There were times while doing that job that he said he thought about what might have been had it not been for Jim White and cross country. That's the legacy I see with that time. those boys were heroes to many. SAC where it dominated. Sun and clouds mixed. "[13] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". PE teacher at McFarland MS. McFarland HS varsity girls basketball coach. Im from McFarland and Im proud to be from McFarland.. Director Niki Caro chose to omit Luis Partida, who in the movie is replaced with David Diaz. Lightboxes. This survey is intended to capture information from citizens on their desire to secure a high-speed Broadband (Internet) plan from an Internet Service Provider (ISP), to their respective home. "I abruptly stopped the interview and took off," he said about joining his teammates. " The legendary former McFarland Im from McFarland and Im proud to be from McFarland.". You just do what you can do. They were cross country state champs in 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Julie White has moved to small town McFarland with her family. "He took care of us, he fed us, he clothed us. From left: McFarland's Victor Puentes, Thomas Valles and Damacio Diaz at the 1987 California Southern Area championship in Bakersfield. Mara pleaded guilty to related charges in June and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 17. He takes full responsibility for that now. "You try to offer them the same thing we offered our girls," White said. 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