BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD / SEASON PREVIEW : Cross-Country Crossover Effect Puts Hart a Leg Up

The thought in previous years of Hart High finishing higher in a Southern Section track and field championship than in a cross-country final would have been easily dismissed.

But not this year.

For the first time since at least the 1983-84 school year, the track team is expected to finish higher in the section Division I championships than fifth--which is where the cross-country squad finished last fall.

And who does the track team have to thank for this reversal of fortune? The cross-country team, which won three consecutive state Division I titles from 1990-92.

“The success of the cross-country team has definitely helped the track program,” said first-year Coach Larry David, a Hart assistant the last three years before replacing Dan Houghton, now David’s assistant. “When the cross-country team started winning (Southern Section) and state titles, the number of kids coming out for track increased. That’s been a big reason for our success.”

Hart finished second behind Muir, 51-42, in last year’s Division I track championships and with senior hurdler Jason Medearis and junior distance runner Brett Strahan returning, a similar finish appears possible.

Medearis has personal bests of 14.49 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles and 38.02 in the 300 intermediates, and he finished third and second in those events in the Division I championships.

Strahan placed third in the 1,600 meters and fourth in the 3,200 in the section meet, and has run 4 minutes 13.90 seconds in the 1,600 and 9:24.5 in the 3,200.

“I think Jason and Brett can score 30 points or so by themselves if they’re healthy,” David said. “And we have some other athletes who are capable of picking up some points.”

Gavin Klinger is the leader of Hart’s supporting cast. Klinger finished fourth in the 1,600 and ninth in the 3,200 in last year’s section championships and has personal bests of 4:16.7 and 9:25.4.

John McLaughlin (personal best of 11.1 in the 100 and 22.9 in the 200) gives the Indians a solid performer in the sprints, and Medearis will see plenty of action in the 200 and 400 in dual meets before focusing on the hurdles in the championship competitions at the end of the season.

Mac Skinner (12 feet 6 inches in the pole vault) and Cameron Perry (20-6 in the long jump and 41-1 1/2 in the triple jump) are Hart’s top performers in the jumping events. Paul Walters has thrown the discus 138-1 and David Patrick has a 133-6 personal best.

“They’re a great dual-meet team,” Canyon Coach Dave DeLong said of Hart. “I think they might be better this year than they were last year. They’re very solid in every event. I bet they and Muir might have the two best dual-meet teams in the state.”

David is less effusive, but admits that the Indians should expect to win their sixth consecutive Foothill League title.

“With all of the kids we’ve got coming back, I think we should definitely be favored to win league,” David said.

“(The Southern Section meet) is harder to predict, but I think the sprint talent is spread around enough that it will prevent any one team from getting a lot of points in those events. That should help us.”

Other Teams to Watch

Thousand Oaks--Jeff Fischer, Brandon Del Campo and Kevin Marsden, the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers in last year’s state Division I cross-country championships, will give the Lancers unparalleled depth in the distance events.

Fischer and Del Campo lowered their personal bests in the 3,200 to 9:27.06 and 9:24.59 in the Spartan Relays at Rio Mesa High last week.

Marsden has personal bests of 1:59.68 in the 800, 4:22.53 in the 1,600 and 9:45.63 in the 3,200.

Add Chadd Aldrich (4:26.8 and 9:33.45) and Keith O’Doherty (9:50.27) to the mix and the distance corps figures to post ample 1-2-3 finishes in dual meets.

In the sprints, Rob Scherrei has run 22.5 in the 200 and 52.5 in the 400, and Greg Johnson has timed 52.4 in the 400.

Stan Marwin (16.14 in the 110 highs, 41.9 in the 300 intermediates last year) leads a solid group of hurdlers, and James Pashley (21-0 in the long jump) and Calvin Lin (41-1 1/4 in the triple jump) will lead the horizontal jumpers.

“I think we’ll be in the hunt (for the Marmonte League title),” first-year Coach Dan Murphy said. “I think we’ll be a contender, but I don’t think we’ll be a runaway winner by any stretch of the imagination.”

Agoura--The Chargers are the two-time defending Marmonte League champions, but Coach Bill Duley concedes that they will be hard-pressed to win a third.

“We won’t be the type of team that we were the last two years,” he said. “We’ve got some good guys, but we’re weak in some events.”

Damon Blechen could be Agoura’s most valuable performer. Blechen is the defending league champion in the shotput and discus and has personal bests of 51-3 1/2 and 148-3 in those events.

John Greene is the defending league champion in the 3,200 meters and won the Southern Sction Division II cross-country title in November.

Multitalented Dave Schaeffer has personal bests of 12-6 in the pole vault and 146-0 in the discus. Mike Krouse ran a personal best of 50.20 to place second in the 400 in last year’s league championships and will add the 800 to his repertoire this season.

Camarillo--Jeremy Fischer, the runner-up in the high jump in last year’s state championships, cleared a Ventura County record 7-3 in a season-opening meet and has spanned 22-1 in the long jump. However, the Scorpions have another standout in distance runner Eleazar Hernandez.

Hernandez, a junior, finished third in the state Division II cross-country championships last fall and ran a personal best of 9:15.03 to win the 3,200 in the Spartan Relays.

He leads a distance corps that includes Jeremy Park (9:43.33 in the 3,200), Ben Hill (9:52.08) and Ronnie Franco (1:59.28 in the 800).

Allan Sadowsky (22.6 in the 200), Jon Throckmorton (139-2 in the discus) and Mike Wygant (16.02 in the 110 highs, 42-5 1/4 in the triple jump) give the Scorpions solid performers in several other events.

Birmingham--The Braves placed second, first and second in the last three City Section championships and are capable of another top-two finish with multifaceted James Lincoln leading the way.

Lincoln placed fifth in the high jump in last year’s state championships and raised his personal best to 6-10 to win the high school portion of last month’s Sunkist Invitational. He also has bests of 15.2 in the 110 high hurdles, 21-8 1/4 in the long jump and 44-10 in the triple jump.

“I think James alone could score about 30 points in the City meet,” Coach Scott King said. “If we can get 20 to 25 points from our other kids, we could be right there.”

Ismael Castellanos, Keyote Gilmore and Adam Oliver are some of those “other kids.”

Castellanos ran 1:58.7 in the 800 last year, but King says he could break 4:20 in the 1,600 this season.

Gilmore has spanned 21-11 in the long jump and King figures Oliver is capable of raising his best from 12-3 in the pole vault to close to 14 feet.

Ventura--Ramsey Jay and Noah Walsh are the leaders of a Cougar squad that is shooting for its second consecutive Channel League championship.

Jay, a junior, has personal bests of 10.9 in the 100, 22.21 in the 200 and 48.98 in the 400. He placed fifth in the 400 and seventh in the 200 in last year’s Southern Section Division II championships. He also has leaped 21-4 in the long jump.

Walsh has bests of 15.37 in the 110 high hurdles, 39.7 in the 300 intermediates and 6-4 in the high jump.

Shawn Burdick has thrown the discus 136-0.

Taft--The Toreadors rode triple sprint champion Andre DeSaussure to a tie for third in last year’s City championships and they appear to have a better supporting cast.

DeSaussure, the runner-up in the 400 in the state meet, is favored to become the first athlete to win back-to-back titles in the 100, 200 and 400 in the City finals, but he will be sidelined for another week or two while he recovers from a strained hamstring.

When he returns, he will join a 400 relay team that timed 42.68 last season and appears capable of running about 41.50.

Ben Peiny, a City finalist in the 300 intermediates, will lead off the 400 relay team and appears capable of scoring points in both hurdle events in the City meet.

Dwyer McKeith is capable of bounding 45 feet in the triple jump, according to Coach Mel Hein, and Jerry Brown (100 and 200) and Moses Backus (400) give Taft added depth behind DeSaussure.

Individuals to Watch

Jamaal Chase (Quartz Hill)--A finalist in the long jump and triple jump in last year’s state championships, Chase won those events in the Sunkist Invitational with personal bests of 23-9 and 49-3.

His hopes to become a member of the exclusive 25-50 club (25 feet in the long jump, 50 feet in the triple jump).

For good measure, Chase has cleared 6-4 in the high jump.

Jim Romero (L.A. Baptist)--The Arizona-bound senior placed sixth in the high jump in last year’s state championships but is also an accomplished long jumper and a decent sprinter.

He won the high jump and the long jump in last year’s Southern Section Division IV championships and placed sixth in the 100.

He has personal bests of 6-10 3/4 in the high jump, 22-9 3/4 in the long jump and 11.0 in the 100.

Esa Sallinen (Burroughs)--The Finnish exchange student has a personal best of 15-5 in the pole vault, and Burroughs assistant Mike McHorney figures he could greatly improve by the end of the season.

“There were a lot of different coaches at (the Sunkist Invitational) who watched him jump and they all said that with his speed, he could be a 17-foot vaulter,” McHorney said. “Right now, he’s jumping high off his speed. He’s not using the pole at all. If he learns to do that, he could jump a lot higher.”

Danny Haag (Granada Hills)--The Highlander senior placed second in the 110 highs, fourth in the 300 intermediates and sixth in the long jump in last year’s City championships.

With personal bests of 14.8 in the highs, 39.61 in the intermediates, 21-2 3/4 in the long jump and 6-3 in the high jump, Haag could single-handedly lead Granada Hills to a top-five finish in the City meet.