Royal's Silver Beltran did make a difference in this sports writer's life
Rodney Harwood
It was a warm day on the infield at the Quincy Invite. The track seemed like an endless cycle of running talent, the infield was buzzing with the activity of the javelin event.
I’ll tell you up front, I can’t run across the infield in four minutes, let alone make four loops around in the track in record time. But coming from a distance running college where national championships are the end game, I tend to gravitate toward the distance people at these large invitational meets.
I was new to the Columbia Basin and had no idea who ran tough and who didn’t. So I struck up a conversation with this kid in a black singlet that read Royal, wherever that is? We got to talking about the difference between cross country and the track and training methodology.
I don’t know if it’s because he comes from a football town or that no one ever asked him about race strategy, but he seemed … not impressed … appreciative that someone cared about his sport.
As our conversation continued, he came to the conclusion that I know a little something about distance running and track and field. He kept sneaking a glance at my bulging gut. You could almost hear his thoughts,
“Back in the day, must’ve been a long time ago.”
A couple of other kids gathered round, but they seemed to sense this was a two-person conversation. It was a wonderful day, talking track with guys that know how to run tough. They came to appreciate my love of the game and interest in Knights distance running.
We renewed that conversation last fall. By this time I had a better understanding of the Royal Slope and I went there to talk cross country, not football.
“So are they going to be erasing Kaden Jenks name from the record books and putting up Knights cross country banners anytime soon?” I asked.
The look on coach Ben Orth’s face was priceless. Who is this clown? But by now the guys had figured out my warped sense of humor.
“We made our first state meet appearance in 2001 and we’ve gone to state every year since,” Orth told me that day. “These guys have really stepped up and carried the torch. Rudy (Flores) and Silver in particular have been at the forefront. We do our summer running program and they’re right there.
“Tradition means something here and these guys are working hard to make a difference.”
Beltran ran for the Knights dating back to when he was an eighth-grader. He has worked his way through the order all the way up to the No. 2 spot this year. He and Flores are fairly interchangeable as the front-runners. Flores (17 minutes, 54.6 seconds) was 10th at the Moses Lake Invitational, running against the 4A schools, and Beltran (17:54.8) was right there with him in 11th, running shoulder to shoulder with his friend and Royal running mate.
It saddens me that Silvestre Beltran didn’t know the difference he made in this world. I consider him my friend and I will always remember the smile on his face when I took the picture of Eddy Rodriguez, Rudy Flores, Martin Horta and Silver after the Royal City distance running tradition interview.
I laid on my back and had the guys stand over me, arm in arm, comrades in pain, and made the shot. Silver asked to see it on the camera. His face burst immediately into that crooked smile.
That was the last time I saw Silver. But we can rest assured that he has found peace in the hands of God.
If you would like to read about the Royal Knights distance running tradition, please visit, http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/article/20170920/ARTICLE/170929973
Rodney Harwood is a sports writer at the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com
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