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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ram Boys Must Work Harder To Claim Track Championship

Ward Sanderson Correspondent

There will be a renewed sense of competition in boys Northeast A League track and field this season.

The traditionally dominant squad, Riverside High School, still has talent, but it must adjust to competing without last year’s strong senior class.

Lakeside will try to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish, and Deer Park will attempt to move up from the middle by focusing on its strength in the throwing events.

All three schools will compete in season-opening meets April 20.

Riverside

Winning meets won’t be as easy for last year’s NEA champions.

“We just had an outstanding team last year,” said Coach Cory NeVille. “But we lost a lot of talent to graduation. Between just two of our old seniors, we lost about 60 points.”

This year’s seniors standouts are Eli Hassler, distance; David Yonker, hurdles; Shane Aerey, sprints and long jump; and Mike DesFosses in the pole vault.

The lone returning junior is Mark Horton in the middle-distance events.

New but promising additions to the Rams are sophomore Jon Ashcraft in the high jump and mile and freshman Brandon Roth in the sprints.

Riverside’s first league competition happens at home against Kettle Falls and Colfax.

Lakeside

Coach Jim Pettet is excited about his team’s chances, mostly thanks to an increase in turnout numbers.

In fact, this year Lakeside’s team has nearly doubled in size.

Seniors leading the Lakeside squad are Jason Quimby in the 400-meter dash, Matt Novitske in the javelin and Joe Brown in the shot put.

Pettet said his scoring potential lies mostly on the oval.

“We’ve got some wheels,” he said.

Those wheels belong to 4-by-100 meter relay team members Tai Saito, a sophomore; Jeff Dean, a senior; Jason Quimby, a senior; and Ryan Chicoine, a junior.

Lakeside starts the season at Newport, where it also will face Chewelah.

Deer Park

The Stags could improve their league standing if they can overcome weaknesses in the distance events and score points with a squad of strong throwers. Cheryl Yoke, head track coach for the first time, said her boys team looks better overall.

“We finished in the middle last year, but we’re really strong now,” she said.

Seniors include Chuck Day in the sprints and long jump, Scott Hodges in the throwing events and Stephen Palmer in the long, triple and high jumps. Other seniors are Dan Player, shot put and discus; Tim Simpson, hurdles and high jump; Ty Gunning, javelin; and first-year high-jumper Tom Colvin.

Younger standouts include junior Aaron Moran in the javelin and sophomore Toby Savage in the distance events.

Deer Park starts its season at Medical Lake, where the Stags also will compete against Freeman.