Surge Of Interest 50-Member Roster With Many New Faces Gives Lc Track Team A Fresh Look At The Start Of Another Season

Thu., March 27, 1997

John Miller Correspondent

GSL boys track and field

In sheer numbers alone, there are plenty of faces springing, sprinting, and throwing over at Hart Field, where the Lewis and Clark boys track team meets for practice.

The only thing is, said coach Mark Vandine, most of those faces are completely new to him this year.

Don’t get him wrong, though. Vandine is overjoyed with the 50 kids on his boys roster. Just three years ago, when he took over the track program, LC could muster up barely 50 kids between the boys and girls teams.

“We just don’t have a whole lot of returners,” says Vandine, whose Tigers tied for sixth place a year ago with Gonzaga Prep.

With a relatively young boys track team at Ferris as well, coach James Fisher calls 1997 something of a building year.

But that doesn’t mean he’s lowering his expectations.

“We tell the kids they are champions,” Fisher says. “That means everything they do - on the track, in the classroom - has to be done like a champion.”

Gonzaga Prep finished last year tied with Lewis and Clark. Even though the Bullpups lost a pair of state-qualifying sprinters from a year ago to graduation, they have experienced athletes returning in nearly every event.

“With the boys, our distance runners will be the strong point,” said Terry Kelly, the girls head coach and an assistant with the boys.

Although it has a relatively young lineup, Lewis and Clark returns some tested talent. Bryce Stack dropped his 400-meter time last season to 51 seconds and already is breaking the 40-foot barrier in the triple jump.

“I can see him going 42,” Vandine says.

Junior Jason Rayson, a high jumper who cleared 6 feet last season, already has jumped 6-4 in clinics this winter. Luke Bowman, just a junior, narrowly missed regionals last year in the 300-meter hurdles last year and could break the 41-second mark this year.

Junior Corey Johnson will join Stack, Rayson and Bowman in the battle for spots on the Tigers’ 1,600-meter relay team.

Adam Love, a junior competing in the pole vault and discus, joins distance runners Joey Neuman, a sophomore, Dave Beegle, a senior, and juniors Nate Bradley and Nick Vollmer to round out returning Tiger tracksters.

Ferris’ coach Fisher already has a state champ in Isaac Hawkins, a senior who in addition to winning the Washington cross-country title last fall for the second time, doubled in the 1,600 and 3,200 at Star Track last spring.

The Saxons have several other state hopefuls this season. Ferris coach Fisher said junior Ty Williams - “Mr. Versatility” - has the potential to go 6-7 in the high jump and score well in the pole vault and hurdles events.

Senior Charlie Gordon has jumped 6-2 in the high and should also be a threat in the intermediate hurdles, triple jump and relays. Junior Jonathan Parker, in the sprints and relays, is recovering from a knee injury of two years ago and looks to improve his times. Senior Joel Bourg is another hopeful in the long jump and sprints.

The Saxons’ talented distance team is rounded out by Andy Brown, a senior, and Dan Schruth, a sophomore. The throwing events are Fisher’s big unknown this year, although returning junior James Missel anchors that group at discus and Matt Dillon, just a sophomore, could be a surprise in the shot.

Gonzaga Prep’s Phil Saraceno, a South Hill senior, returns to the Bullpups’ sprint crew, where he will also run in the relays. Mark Doolittle, also a senior, is in the hurdles.

The distance squad, led by juniors Rick White and Jim Rucker, is expected to provide the team with consistent scoring as the season opens with a non-league match tonight at West Valley.

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