Vic Wallace is ideally suited for the job of being a track and field coach.

He’s relentlessly upbeat with an uncanny ability to pantomime proper body position at the drop of a hat. He can carry on three or four conversations at one time – bouncing from one to another without missing a beat and his voice has its own built-in megaphone that can be heard anywhere on the West Valley complex.

Those attributes have been put to use every day this spring.

“We’ve been outside and had our kids on the track every day,” he said. “There’s something about this Millwood area because we’ve almost always been outside to start the season. I talk to coaches from places like Sandpoint and they aren’t outside until the third week. The THIRD WEEK!”

This spring, with its unusually balmy weather, puts greater Spokane area athletes on equal footing with areas that traditionally have a weather advantages – areas like the Tri-Cities and Yakima – and that has some observers anxious to see what happens by the end of the season.

“Are we ahead of where we were last year?” Wallace asked. “I don’t know. That’s hard to say.”

West Valley is a senior dominated squad this season and Wallace figures that situation has more bearing on where his team’s development is thus far.

For example, senior Mac Baxter is the fastest Class 2A hurdler in the state, turning in a time of 14.89 seconds in the 110 and 39.09 in the 300.

Baxter’s time in the 300 hurdles is nine-tenths of a second faster than the time he posted in the state finals, 39.93. He ran a 16.25 in the preliminary round of the 110 hurdles at the state meet a year ago.

“I’m not sure where that improvement has come from,” Wallace said. “But, wow. I really hesitate to say where he could be by the end of the season. The sky’s the limit.”

West Valley’s 4x100 relay team placed third at the state meet and returns intact. Martin Herford, Taylor Morton, Tevin Duke and Zechariah Herford turned in a 42.77 at state a year ago. The quartet has already run 43.25 seconds this season and owns the fastest time in the district.

The prospect of that group winning a state title puts a silent smile on Wallace’s face.

Duke posted the fastest time in the Great Northern League 100 meters (11.41), but the top sprinter in the district is Nathan Fitzpatrick of Ellensburg (11.19). Zechariah Herford owns an 11.54. Martin Herford has figures to be in the middle of a three-way battle for the GNL title in the 200 – turning in a 23.67. EV’s Stevens owns the league-best 23.44 thus far.

Cross country standout Skylar Ovnicek has the district’s top time in the 800 meters and is second only to East Valley’s Stevens in the 1600.

“I think it’s going to be interesting when we get to the Pasco Invitational,” Wallace said. “But the thing about the Pasco Invitational is that we haven’t had the good weather down there the last few years. It’s been OK in the morning, but the winds kick up and we’ve had rain.

“It will be interesting to see what happens in good weather.”

West Valley’s track surface was replaced prior to this season and the apron between the track and football field was dug up and paved.

“It’s good,” Wallace said. “We’re not where we’d like to be with it, but we haven’t hit the lottery with it yet.”

Girls coach Rick Kuhl said his program is breaking records.

“We have 47 girls out for track this year and we had 20-something last year” he said. “I’ve gone back through the years. Even when Jim McLachlan was here, girls track didn’t have those kinds of numbers.”

What’s more, he said, those numbers should go up. West Valley has a smallish senior class and Kuhl expects a large, talented class of incoming freshmen next year.

“We’re going to get there,” Kuhl said. “We’re going to have the kind of numbers the other schools in our league have. That’s going to be good.”