Forging A New Identity Former Mead Runners Give New School Chance To Compete

Ah, yes, they all received a map showing the boundaries dividing the old Mead High School and the new Mt. Spokane High.

But maps don’t point you toward your destiny.

So it’s up to the 25-plus runners on Mt. Spokane’s first boys cross country team to lay that foundation.

Make no mistake. Ex-Mead runners didn’t establish a Glee Club after learning that their residences were inside Mt. Spokane’s boundaries.

The Holy Grail for young local runners is competing for Mead and coach Pat Tyson. The Panthers have finished first at a record nine consecutive State AAA meets, all under Tyson’s guidance.

Tyson, a kind of Pied Piper of high school running, has drummed up tremendous interest in his program during his 11 years in Spokane. Turnouts in triple figures are not uncommon at the North side Greater Spokane League school.

Yet the school itself couldn’t hold many more students. So a new school was built, a school that drew kids away from the Panthers’ lair.

Tom Becker, Chris Amistoso, Tim Robinson, Zach Meyers and Matt Pederson are five of those students. All bought in to Tyson’s let’s-have-fun style; all must help coach Craig Dietz build a separate program at Mt. Spokane.

“We’re still family,” said Dietz, who has fed Tyson’s program with athletes he coached in junior high. “We just have our own piece of land now. We’ll see how our crops grow.”

Becker, a junior, probably would be Tyson’s No. 1 runner. Becker’s 1996 cross country season was cut short because of a stress fracture, but by track and field season he ran 4 minutes, 21 seconds in the 1,600 meters and 9:28 in the 3,200.

“We want to be different from Mead - be our own team - but we also want to be as good as Mead,” Becker said. “We’d like to go 1-2 (with Mead) some year.”

Amistoso and Robinson were likely Tyson’s top freshman prospects last year. Because those two and Becker left Mead, some people predict that University will end Mead’s nine-year reign in the GSL and state. Mead is ranked No. 1 in the state coaches poll, U-Hi second and Mt. Spokane sixth.

Amistoso said he’s had to be more self-directed at Mt. Spokane because of the fewer runners to push him along. Expect more from the Wildcats when he, Robinson and Pederson are seniors, Amistoso said.

“And freshmen is our biggest group,” Amistoso said. “It’s probably bigger than our sophomores and juniors together.”

Dietz said the talent split is fairly equal between Mead and Mt. Spokane sophomores. The Panthers, he said, lost little (despite Becker and Meyers) when it comes to upperclassmen.

“I think our identity might come after a while, but we’re kind of still part of the Mead program,” said Robinson.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GSL boys cross country Openers: Wednesday Mead, Lewis and Clark, Rogers and Mt. Spokane at Whitworth College; Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep at Shadle Park; University and North Central at Ferris. Defending champion: League, region and state - Mead. The Panthers have won nine consecutive league and state titles. University finished second in all three competitions. Returning all-leaguers: None. Top regional returners: Seth Mott and Jeff Rees, U-Hi; Dan Schruth, Ferris; Ryan Craig, Rogers; Nick Vollmer and Joey Neuman, Lewis and Clark; Josh Mclellan, Mead; Jim Rucker, Gonzaga Prep. New team: Same as girls. New coach: Craig Dietz, Mt. Spokane. Regional: Same as girls. Projected finish: U-Hi, Mead, G-Prep, Mt. Spokane, Lewis and Clark, Ferris, Rogers, North Central, Shadle Park, Central Valley.