Positive Thinking Key Factor In Panthers’ Track Success
It takes bodies to win track dual meets. Winning state can be accomplished by a handful of exceptional athletes.
Last weekend Mead treated its third straight boys State AAA championship and first girls title as just another dual meet.
“In our deal it’s always different,” said Mead coach Gary Baskett. “We always have half a dozen people scoring.”
The Panther boys won only once, but used eight athletes to score points in 10 of 17 events and outdistance the field with 58 points.
More than numbers, more than talent, Baskett says that Panther success is a state of mind.
“It’s a mentality thing,” said Baskett. “It’s not X’s and O’s. That’s the least of our program.”
Panther track coaches teach what Baskett calls six life skills that transcend sport but carry over into it. They learn to act like a champion before becoming one. They learn to become self-starters and set goals that Baskett calls, “attitudinal, things that can be done every day.”
They are taught to prioritize, to speak positively about themselves and to visualize success.
“Each kid has certain gifts and challenges in life,” said Baskett. “It all boils down into believing in yourself, the program and learning how to work hard. Pretty incredible things can happen in whatever endeavor.”
Thus, without the distance depth of seasons past, Mead had to look beyond Jason Fayant’s second places in the 1,600 and 3,200 which were good for 16 points.
Sprinters Matt Sturm and John West provided the impetus, accounting for 25 points.
Sturm was fourth in the 100 and second in the 200, West seventh in the 100. They teamed with Jeff Dunlap and Chris McCullough to win the 400 relay on Sturm’s huge come-from behind dash.
“It’s the first time we’ve had any sprinters,” said Baskett, “and Matt’s a competitor.”
D.J. Miller added eight points with fourth and sixth places in the long and triple jumps.
“We knew there were lots of good long jumpers,” said Baskett. “D.J. answered up.”
Javelin throwers Beau Chandler and Spencer Smith finished third and sixth at 200-feet and 189-1 respectively for Mead’s remaining nine points.
And now the kicker.
“Our team will be better next year,” said Baskett. “We’ll be tough in a different way.”
Another North Side scorer at the meet was consistent North Central discus thrower Rance McCullough.
The Indian senior finished fourth at 154-8. Seldom did his throws deviate more than a few feet all year, beginning with a 149-10 season opener and ending with his state throw of 154-8, only a foot behind his season best.
Girls defy traditional challenge
Seven Panther girls scored 50 points in eight events, winning three. That was enough to beat Ferris’s more traditional big meet challenge.
Three Saxon distance runners scored 43 points in three events.
Mead’s girls also sprinted to victory, winning the 400 and 800 relays with the quartet of Autumn Wood, Abby Hornstein, Emily Williams and Jen Dunford.
For the second straight year Wood finished second at 44.6 in the 300 hurdles. Dunford and Hornstein placed in the 100 and Williams was fifth in the high jump.
All told, the four were worth a total of 35 points.
The other 15 points came from Allison Beatty’s repeat javelin title, fifth place by Katie Pollock at 10:50.7 in the 3,200 and eighth by Jamie Wakefield in the triple jump.
“It was only the fourth time Katie ran a 3,200,” said Pedersen. “Last year she was a jumper and never ran in a meet. Over the summer she decided she wanted to run and got that good that fast.”
Wakefield had a jump of 35-4 marked down wrong, said Pedersen, or else she would have placed fifth.
Another North Side placer was Rogers’ discus thrower Kelly Hughes who finished third at 137-10.
“Every senior we had all won something,” said Mead coach Annette Pedersen, “Autumn and Jen in the relays and Allison in the javelin.”
It was the first time the school won two relays in a single state meet.
“We really thought we had a better chance in the 4x200 because of state times and because the 4x100 is so iffy on exchanges,” said Pedersen. “We worked on them every day for two weeks. It was exciting we won because last year we were second by .03 second.”
Then the 800 relay win the next day was marred by the threat of a re-run after runners from two teams behind the Panthers collided. It had Williams upset.
Explained Pedersen, “Emily comes to the stands and says, ‘I don’t understand. We want to be all happy, then they say we have to re-run the race. Then we don’t. I want to be happy and don’t have any of that happy stuff any more.”’
Happy stuff? It turned out, said Pedersen, that there was plenty of happy stuff to go around for Mead’s state champs.
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