BOYS TRACK AND FIELD / Players to Watch
* Mike Chavis, Mission Viejo, 100/200, Sr.
* Ryan Downey, St. Margaret’s, 1,600/3,200, Sr.
* DeShaun Foster, Tustin, 100/200, Sr.
* Robert Fuentes, Saddleback, HJ, Sr.
* Mark Gleason, Mission Viejo, 800/1,600/3,200, Sr.
* Cody Jones, Edison, LJ/TJ, Sr.
* Jack Kuehn, Foothill, 1,600/3,200, Sr.
* Devin Lindahl, Dana Hills, 100H/300H, Jr.
* Church Loo, Newport Harbor, TJ/LJ, Sr.
* Dante Maxey, Tustin, 100H/300H, Sr.
* Mike McNair, Mater Dei, 100/200, Sr.
* Colin McRae, Aliso Niguel, 100/200/400, Sr.
* John Sanders, Fountain Valley, 100/200/PV, Sr.
* Alex Smith, Katella, 800/1,600, Sr.
* Santosh Swamidass, El Modena, HJ, Sr.
* Joe Thomas, Buena Park, HJ/TJ/LJ, Jr.
* Rasuli Webster, Brea Olinda, 200, Sr.
* Jonathan West, Sonora, 400/800, Sr.
* Al Williams, Irvine, 100/200/300H, Sr.
* Julius Williams, Tustin, 200/400, Sr.
League Favorites
Century: Foothill; Empire: Katella; Freeway: Troy; Garden Grove: Rancho Alamitos; Golden West: Tustin; Olympic: Orange Lutheran; Orange: Brea Olinda; Pacific Coast: Aliso Niguel; Sea View: El Toro; South Coast: Mission Viejo; Sunset: Esperanza.
Key Dates
March 20-21, Jack Bighead Relays at Santa Ana College; March 27-28, Tustin Relays; April 4, Trabuco Hills Invitational; April 11, Arcadia Invitational; April 17-19, Mt. San Antonio Relays; April 25, Orange County Championships at Trabuco Hills High; May 23, Southern Section finals at Cerritos College; May 29, Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College; June 5-6, State meet at Cerritos College.
1997 Final Poll
1. Tustin; 2. El Toro; 3. Edison; 4. Mission Viejo; 5. Brea Olinda; 6. Foothill; 7. Santa Ana Valley; 8. Woodbridge; 9. El Modena; 10. Katella.
Notes
The matchup that never happened between Mission Viejo’s Mark Gleason and El Toro’s Danny Lee in the fall cross-country season probably will never happen in the distance events this spring. Lee is expected to be sidelined by an ankle injury . . . Saddleback high jumper Robert Fuentes is receiving some coaching from Charlie Davidson, a Saddleback graduate who was a state champion hurdler in the early 1990s . . . Mission Viejo junior miler Chris Kemp, an exchange student from Australia, is nationally ranked in the triathlon among his age group . . . Villa Park’s Ryan Wann, a standout football player for the Spartans, is running track for the first time and promptly threw the shotput 43-0 without even a lesson . . . Canyon junior Chris Jackson sat out last season, but already has set a mark of 21-8 in the long jump during an intrasquad meet this season . . 2. Santosh Swamidass of El Modena already has established the mark to beat in the high jump, clearing 6-8 against University two weeks ago . . . Aliso Niguel is seeking its first league championship in the school’s history . . . Because of a shortage of sprinters, Sonora’s cross-country team is also its 1,600-relay team.