BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD: ’94 PREVIEW : Tough Break Won’t Keep Foothill’s Taub Off the Mark

Foothill senior Ethan Taub wasn’t going to let a little thing like a broken leg ruin his final year of high school track and field.

The defending county champion in the 400 meters sustained a broken lower right fibula in the Knights’ third football game of the year, ending his prep football career.

“I’m not going to worry about it,” said Taub, whose injury occurred when he was hit by a Newport Harbor defender while he rolled out for a screen pass from his running back position.

“Just knowing Ethan, I was a little reluctant to think that something like that was going to slow him down any,” Foothill track and field Coach Jerry Whitaker said.

The injury, which Taub has worked on rehabilitating since October, still bothers him and requires daily icing to keep the pain at a minimum.

“There is no doubt that he is running in some pain,” Whitaker said. “He is not completely comfortable.”

Said Taub: “It really wasn’t that big of a deal. . . . there wasn’t even any surgery.”

The first real measuring stick for the senior came Feb. 19, in the Sunkist Indoor Invitational at the Sports Arena, where Taub was set to defend the 500-yard title he had won a year earlier.

Taub quickly distanced himself from the competition on the small track that tends to make races more physical. He easily won his heat in a time of 59.2 seconds, finishing second overall in the meet.

The comeback seemed right on schedule.

“I’ve only worked with maybe one other kid who has been in that arena as far as toughness goes,” said Whitaker, days after the race. “They just don’t come around like Ethan everyday.”

The toughness he exhibited in the Sunkist meet might have earned him the opportunity to run the 800 meters this spring.

“He is further ahead at this point of the season than Tad Heath was last season,” Whitaker said. Heath won the event at the Orange County and Southern Section Division II championships last year for the Knights.

It would seem almost silly to switch Taub’s event after his success. After all, why fix something that isn’t broken?

“I know I don’t have the raw speed to run the 400 in college, so I am going to have to move up (in distance) if I am going to do anything in college,” said Taub, whose only previous experience in the event was a 1:57 clocking in practice a year ago.

This summer, Taub was a member of the U.S. contingency to last summer’s Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem. After a fifth-place finish in the open 400 meters, he ran a leg for the victorious 1,600-meter relay team.

“That was more a life experience than an athletic one,” said Taub, who is Foothill’s athletics commissioner and plans to study international business or pediatrics in college.

Taub hasn’t always been big man on the Santa Ana campus. In fact, until two years ago, he wasn’t even the big man of his own house.

Ethan’s older brother, Aaron, a 1992 graduate of Foothill, broke the school record in the 400 meters (48.4) and was the leader of the Knights.

“I was never consciously trying to beat his school record,” said the younger Taub, who erased his brother’s mark with a 48.12 in last year’s Master’s meet.

“I was just content to run in his shadow, and if I broke through, that would be great.”

Taub followed a 400-meter chronology that saw him win the county title (49.14), finish second in the section meet (48.48), advance to the State meet from the Master’s competition and breeze through the State preliminaries (48.87).

His enthusiasm for running at last year’s State meet in Cerritos was dampened by its postponement because of rain. When the meet was held two weeks later, Taub said, he was already beginning to enjoy his summer.

“You can just feel if your body is ready to go or not,” he said. “And mine really wasn’t at that point.”

Taub round out his junior season with a seventh-place finish (48.99) in the State final.

Boys’ Track at a Glance

Top Jumpers: John Bain, Foothill, Sr., PV; Jeremy Becker, Cypress, Sr., LJ, TJ; Reggie Curry, Tustin, Sr., TJ; Robert Griffin, Magnolia, Sr., PV; Reuben Hernandez, La Habra, Sr., LJ, TJ; Clay Kilbarger, Canyon, Sr., HJ; Troy Langley, Canyon, Sr., HJ; Tony Muniz, Woodbridge, Sr., HJ, LJ, TJ; Sven Northcott, Marina, Jr., PV.

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Top Sprinters and Hurdlers: Zack Berridge, Western, Sr., 200; Greg Cleave, Cypress, Jr., 100, 200; Dahrin Footman, Esperanza, Jr., 100, 200; Tony Garcia, Foothill, Sr., 110 HH; Travis Harr, El Toro, Sr., 110 HH, 300 IH; Anton Hector, Esperanza, Jr., 300 IH, 400; Jimmy Hutsell, Cypress, Sr., 200, 400; Matt Lete, Saddleback, Sr., 300 IH; Mel Lete, Saddleback, Sr., 300 IH; George McDonald, Buena Park, Sr., 100, 200; Shaheed Qassim, Laguna Hills, Sr., 110 HH, 300 IH; Ethan Taub, Foothill, Sr., 400; Gary Young, Woodbridge, Sr., 100, 200.

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Top Distance Runners: Trent Bryson, Newport Harbor, Sr., 3200; Julio Cordero, Saddleback, Sr., 800; Matt Huss, Santa Margarita, Sr., 1600, 3200; Brendan Mahon, La Habra, Sr., 1600, 3200; Jaime Martinez, Orange, Sr., 1600, 3200; Mike Moreno, Katella, Sr., 3200; Andrew Morgan, Mission Viejo, Jr., 800, 1600; Martin Pennell, El Toro, Sr., 1600; Darrin Porter, Capistrano Valley, Sr., 800; Delphino Resendiz, Katella, 3200; Adalberto Sanchez, Capistrano Valley, Jr., 3200; Phil Sitner, Villa Park, Sr., 1600.

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Top Throwers: Sean Andrews, Dana Hills, Sr., shotput; Ronny Aristondo, Century, Sr., discus; Jason Bader, Edison, Jr., discus; Steve Gonzales, Newport Harbor, Sr., shotput, discus; Jimmy Stewart, Esperanza, Sr., discus; Wade Tift, Newport Harbor, Sr., shotput.

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League Favorites: Century: Foothill; Empire: Esperanza; Freeway: La Habra; Garden Grove: Garden Grove; Olympic: Orange Lutheran; Orange: Valencia; Pacific Coast: Century; Sea View: Woodbridge; South Coast: Mission Viejo; Sunset: Ocean View.

1994 Presason Rankings: 1. Esperanza; 2. Woodbridge; 3. Foothill; 4. Newport Harbor; 5. Cypress; 6. Mission Viejo; 7. Dana Hills; 8. Capistrano Valley; 9. Mater Dei; 10. Saddleback. Others: Century, Canyon, El Modena, Katella, La Habra, Ocean View, Villa Park.

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Key Dates: Rotary Relays, March 5; Irvine Invitational, March 12; Katella Relays, March 18-19; Trabuco Hills Invitational, April 2; Esperanza Invitational, April 9; Tustin Relays, April 15-16; Mt. SAC Invitational, April 16; Orange County Championships, April 23; Southern Section preliminaries, May 14; Section finals, May 21; Master’s Meet, May 27; CIF State championships, June 3-4.