Stephanie Brown Trafton made her golden dream come true on Aug. 18 when she earned the gold medal in the women’s discus at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Brown Trafton uncorked her gold-medal winning throw of 64.74 meters (212 feet, 4 3/4 inches) on her first toss in the finals at Beijing.

“It felt good to get it on the first one, get it out of the way,” she said. “I knew it was going to be a medal — gold, silver or bronze. I just didn’t know which one.”

Her confidence that it would be gold grew as the meet wore on and, “None of the other top throwers were looking like they would beat the throw.”

They didn’t, and Brown Trafton earned gold. Her accomplishment makes for the top story among the Lee Central Coast Newspapers’ Top 10 sports stories of 2008.

Her throw was the shortest gold medal toss since the 1968 Olympics. It didn’t approach the career best of 66.17 meters (217-1) she threw at the Hartnell Throwers Meet in Salinas in May.

“Really, I was a little disappointed in the level of the competition,” at the 2008 Olympic Games, Brown Trafton said. Still, “I have a gold medal, so I’m not complaining.”

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Besides, her win was a convincing one. Silver medalist Yarelys Barrios of Cuba threw 63.64 meters (208-9 1/2).

Brown Trafton had been in Beijing for weeks before the discus competition began. Obviously, her game plan was vindicated.

“I went early to get a feel for the environment, the conditions,” she said. Brown Trafton chuckled, “I’d say it worked out.”

The Arroyo Grande High School and Cal Poly graduate returned home to Galt, where she lives with her husband, Jerry, about two weeks after the Olympics. Did she take a lot of time to bask in her glory?

Hardly.

“I’m competing in Paris ... in Zagreb ... and then in Stuttgart in the World Athletics Final,” the United State’s first women’s discus Olympic gold medalist since 1932 said in a phone interview soon after she returned home.

Oh, by the way, “I’ll be on the Oprah Show,” Brown Trafton, 29, said then. Soon after she appeared on Oprah, Brown Trafton said she would go on a White House visit with Team U.S.A.

Brown Trafton closed her fall season with a third-place finish, at 62.23 meters, at Stuttgart. The 66.17 meters (217 feet, 1 inch) she threw at the Hartnell Throwers Meet in Salinas in June is the fourth-best women’s discus mark in the world this year. It is also Brown Trafton’s career best.

There was a flurry of activity for Brown Trafton shortly after she returned home, and it wasn’t confined to her trips to the Oprah Show and the White House.

There was a ceremony in Galt honoring Brown Trafton. Then there was the reception she received at her work place, Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc. in Sacramento. She works there part-time, in environmental technical services. Brown Trafton said she hopes to turn that job into a full-time career.

“I work with project management software,” she said. “My professional career (outside of track and field) has always been very important to me, even in college.”

“It has been crazy,” since she arrived back in the States from the Games, Brown Trafton said in a phone interview last summer.

She was still a little busy after she came home from Stuttgart. Brown Trafton was in the area for Arroyo Grande’s homecoming football game Nov. 7 and Cal Poly’s homecoming game the next day.

After the buzz of activity following her return home from Beijing died down, Brown Trafton said she planned to get busy training toward her goal of competing in the 2012 Olympics in London, England.

Brown Trafton not only had to deal with all the hoopla after she got back. She also needed time to recuperate from her trans-continental journey.

“I was told by a friend at work that it takes longer to recover after returning from the East than it does after flying to it,” Brown Trafton said.

“I still hit the wall pretty quickly,” she said soon after she returned from Beijing. “There’s not much time in between the time I’m feeling really good and the time I’m feeling really tired.”

Brown Trafton said her performance at Salinas was a big boost for her.

“Salinas is a very high-quality meet. A lot of the best throwers compete there, including gold medalist Gerd Kaster of Estonia.”

Brown Trafton was an Olympian at the 2004 Games in Athens, but she hadn’t improved on her mark from 2004 to 2008. Then she suddenly started popping big throws.

She improved her 2004 mark in March, April and May of this year. Now, “I want to hit 64 meters every time,” read one of her quotes on Wikipedia.com.

“I’ve been in this mix with Aretha (Thurmond) and Suzy (Roos-Powell),” who joined her on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, Brown Trafton said. “This time I was the one who had the monster marks at the start of the year. We peaked it just right.”

Brown Trafton has no coach listed, but, “God has blessed me with a wonderful support group — my husband, (Olympic gold medalist) Mac Wilkens, trainers, physical therapists, a large entourage of friends.”

Besides the quality competition, Brown Trafton said the meet in Salinas had another thing going for it.

“You get tri-tip there,” Brown Trafton said with relish. “You don’t get tri-tip in Beijing.

“Tri-tip. For a thrower, there’s nothing better.”

Honorable mention

Here is a summary of stories that merited honorable mention among the Lee Central Coast Newspapers’ top sports stories of 2008.

- Santa Maria native Paul Edwards shared the championship in the GT category in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series.

- Cabrillo graduate Duane Solomon ran in the men’s 800 meters final at the U.S. Olympic Trials and finished sixth. He had qualified for the Trials in 2007.

- Cabrillo alum Danny Duffy was the Kansas City Royals’ Single-A Pitcher of the Year.

- Arroyo Grande senior Andre Dome claimed his fourth straight PAC-7 League tennis singles title.

- St. Joseph senior Ane McPike won her third straight Los Padres League girls tennis singles championship.

- Nipomo seniors Jeanette DeWitt and Korben Boaz were the first Nipomo girl and boy, respectively, to qualify for the CIF State Track and Field Meet. DeWitt, who won the girls Southern Section Division III discus championship, finished second at the state meet. Boaz medaled in the boys shot put and discus.

- Senior Karlee Owens led Arroyo Grande’s girls cross country team to a CIF State Cross Country Meet berth. An Eagles girls team qualified for the state meet for the first time since 1991, when current Pioneer Valley boys basketball coach Greg DeNike was the coach. The 2008 Eagles won the PAC-7 League championship.

- San Luis Obispo’s Steve Drake won his fourth career late model championship at Santa Maria Speedway, putting him second on the SMS career championships list.

Other notable stories of 2008

Winter: Senior Roxanne Rentschler broke the Cabrillo High School girls basketball career scoring record. Righetti’s boys basketball team repeated as PAC-7 League champion. Its playoff run ended in the divisional quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

Arroyo Grande’s and St. Joseph’s girls basketball teams lasted until divisional quarterfinals as well. Those teams won the PAC-7 League and Los Padres League championships, respectively, and St. Joseph went through the league campaign unbeaten. St. Joseph’s boys team took the LPL championship.

St. Joseph coach Ed Torres was the Lee Central Coast Newspapers’ Boys All-Area Basketball Team’s Coach of the Year. Arroyo Grande’s Vard Ikeda was the LCCN’s Girls All-Area Basketball Team’s Coach of the Year. Senior Randy Hunter of Righetti was a repeat as the LCCN’s Boys All-Area Basketball Team’s MVP. St. Joseph senior Devin Riezebos was the LCCN’s Girls All-Area Basketball Team MVP.

The Santa Ynez boys and girls soccer teams won LPL championships. Santa Ynez’s boys went out of the playoffs in the divisional semifinals.

Pioneer Valley’s girls wrestling team became the first squad in the fifth-year school’s history to qualify for a CIF State Meet. Heavyweight Laura Stewart became the first state champion in school history. Pioneer Valley’s boys soccer team became the first squad in school history to claim a league championship when it took the PAC-7 League title.

Spring: Lompoc’s baseball team won another Los Padres League baseball championship under coach Jim Allen. The Braves beat Santa Ynez late in the season to wrap up the championship. Arroyo Grande pitcher-infielder Nathan Raubinger was the Lee Central Coast Newspapers All-Area Baseball Team’s Player of the Year. Santa Ynez coach Dave Kuehn was the team’s Coach of the Year.

Lompoc swept All-Area softball honors. Pitcher Jeana Carrillo was the All-Area Player of the Year. Coach Al De Maria was the All-Area Coach of the Year. St. Joseph’s baseball team made it to the divisional quarterfinals before being eliminated.

Arroyo Grande junior Brooke Shepard won the CIF Southern Section Division II shot put title. St. Joseph’s boys and girls teams won Los Padres League track and field championships. The Knights’ boys and girls junior varsity squads also won titles, marking the first time in coach Greg Sarkisian’s hugely successful 30 seasons at the St. Joseph helm that all four St. Joseph teams won league track and field titles.

Underdog Alex Jensen of Lompoc won the boys LPL singles tennis championship.

Lompoc swept the Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table’s Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors. Football player, wrestler and track star Masson Blow was the Male Athlete of the Year. Basketball, and track and field standout Chelsea Cassulo was the Female Athlete of the Year. Pioneer Valley baseball star Colter Souza and Santa Ynez tennis standout Chelsea Weatherby were the Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year, respectively.

Fall: St. Joseph’s football team rolled through the Los Padres League campaign unbeaten to win its second league title in three years. The Knights and LPL runner-up Pioneer Valley both made it to the divisional quarterfinals before bowing out. Pioneer Valley linebacker Nick Leyden and running back Javon Davis were the LCCN’s All-Area Football Team’s Co-Players of the Year. Davis helped Righetti to its first playoff appearance since 2004. The Warriors went out in the first round.

Nipomo junior Andrew Garcia qualified for the boys state cross country meet as an individual. Arroyo Grande resident Taylor Castanon helped Mission Prep’s team get there. St. Joseph’s girls cross country team made it to the CIF Southern Section Preliminary Meet despite being decimated by injuries. The Knights missed advancing to the divisional finals by one spot.

Arroyo Grande shared the PAC-7 League water polo title with Righetti. Cerritos upset the top-ranked Eagles in the semifinals of the divisional playoffs.

Balanced Santa Ynez won the Los Padres League tennis title outright after sharing it the last two years. Foreign exchange students Nathalia Chaddad (Brazil) and Louise Gyllenram (Sweden) helped the Pirates win the league championship with solid singles play. So did doubles tandems Lauren Swift and Emily Ineman, and Erica Schroeder and Alisa Silsbee.

All of them were among the top players in the league. Swift and Ineman bounced back from a loss in the final of the LPL doubles tournament last year and won the league doubles title this year.

St. Joseph sophomore Frankie Eszes had a strong LPL tournament and narrowly lost to teammate Ane McPike, who won her third consecutive LPL singles title, in the final. Both qualified for the CIF Individual Tournament.