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

Cougars Begin Sloan Era With Quality Athletes

In 1895, a century ago, Washington State started its track and field program.

No, John Chaplin wasn’t the coach.

But he was from 1973 through last season, sticking out as the most visible figure in collegiate track in the region.

The fact that long-time assistant Rick Sloan takes over the Cougar men this year stands as one of the most interesting elements of the outdoor season that is getting up to speed.

Chaplin serves in university administration these days, while Sloan has had to add paper-shuffling and organizational duties to his customary load of on-the-track coaching.

“I’m still getting my time out on the track and I’m coaching everything I was before,” said Sloan, an assistant at WSU for 22 years. “It seems now, though, I come in early and on weekends just to stay caught up and to get to all the meetings.”

Now that this is officially his team, what does it look like?

“What we’ve got is a lot of very good competitors,” Sloan said.

Pole vaulter Christos Pallakis certainly appears to be a national title contender in his event, having cleared 18 feet, 6-1/2 inches while finishing in the top 10 - vaulting for Greece - in the recent Indoor World Championships in Spain.

“The thing that’s allowing him to vault well is he has a tremendous level of fitness now and he’s a little more disciplined,” Sloan said. “He said his jumps at 18-8-1/2 at the World Championships were good jumps. He’s maturing as a competitor and I think he’ll be a 19-foot vaulter - possibly as soon as this year.”

Junior 800-meter racer Eric Anderson looks like an NCAA contender whom Sloan expects to register times in the low 1 minute, 47 second area, while high jumper Jed Stannard should again compete for the conference title in his specialty.

George Loucaides will concentrate mostly on the steeplechase and 1,500 this year. The hurdles corps, meanwhile, will be headed by Jody Page and Dominique Arnold in the highs and James Swanson in the intermediates.

Jason Baskett, a senior, expects to pull triple duty in the weights.

Frank Madu, who came on strong with places in the Pac-10 Conference 100 and 200 last spring, will be joined by Henri Peyou and freshman Jeff Lightheart in the sprints.

Freshman decathlete Leo Slack “is going to be a big-timer for us,” Sloan said. Slack cracked the 7,000-point barrier in his first decath for the Cougars.

Eastern

Coach Jerry Martin sees a “young bunch that made a lot of progress indoors.”

Unfortunately, he’s without standout intermediate hurdler Dave Robinson, who has undergone two surgeries to repair a knee injury suffered last fall.

Some skilled individuals remain, though, with Jeramie Willingham (second in Big Sky Conference long jump) returning to the horizontal jumps.

Half-miler Ryan Zackula looks to improve on his third place in the Big Sky meet, while the Eagle men will have a gifted transfer appearing in the hurdles. Jamar Williams, who started college at Oregon, should give EWU a threat in the highs.

Idaho

“We don’t have much depth, but we’ve got some individuals who aren’t too bad,” Idaho coach Mike Keller said. “If I can keep ‘em all together, we can be in the top three (in the Big Sky) or maybe higher.”

Heading the list is sophomore javelin thrower Oscar Duncan, who took second in the conference last year. Another top returner is Niels Kruller, a sprinter-jumper who popped a 25-7-1/2 long jump indoors.

Keller once again introduced an international flair to his sprint crew, as freshmen Felix Kamangirira (Zimbabwe) and Jason St. Hill (Barbados) stand out, while Christopher Kwaramba (Zimbabwe) triple jumped an impressive 51-3-1/2 indoors.

Transfer Thad Hathaway, an NAIA high jump champ, has cleared 7-3-3/4. Ty Koellman (Big Sky 1,500 champ) and Frank Bruder should headline in the distances.

Whitworth

Coach Sam Wiseman sees the potential for a 7,000-point decathlon out of Kevin Wright, who took ninth in the NAIA nationals last year.

“He came into nationals ranked 16th but finished ninth because he’s just such a great competitor,” Wiseman said.

Discus thrower Brae Wilson, a two-time national qualifier, also returns for the Pirate men.

CCS

The return of conference 100 and 200 champ Randy Townsend gives coach Duane Hartman some guaranteed points this season.

Lewis and Clark High’s Ryan Karrer will add quality in the sprints, while a pair of former State AA champs, John Garthe and Jason Rowe, give CCS considerable punch in the long jump.

Gonzaga

Jon Neill, third in the West Coast Conference cross country meet last fall, leads a distance group that also features Andrew Rosdahl and Dan Shepherd.