WSU Signs Five Track Athletes

Two high school state track champions and a junior college cross country champ are among five athletes to sign letters-of-intent to attend Washington State University, track and field coach Rick Sloan said Wednesday.

Of the five, three - Rick Smith of Olalla’s South Kitsap High, Nathan Williams of Newcastle’s Hazen High and Tyson Allen of Tacoma’s Washington High - specialize in the hurdles. The other signees include JC transfer Ernie Ammons and prep standout Chris Charles.

Smith, of South Kitsap High, won the State AAA

300-meter hurdles title with a time of 38.23.

Williams, who is 6-3 and 175 pounds, was the State AA champ in the 300 hurdles. He broke the school record in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 14.2, and set the record in the 200-yard dash (21.7).

Allen, an all-conference wide receiver, had the leading mark in the state in the intermediate hurdles with a time of 37.7 this season. He placed fourth at the State AA championships.

Ammons, the 1994 NWAACC cross country champion from Clark Community College, joins the Cougars as a junior.

Charles comes to WSU from Bainbridge Island, Wash., where he placed second in the State AA cross country championships his senior year at Bainbridge High.

, DataTimes