Old Rivals Find New Challenges

Add John Beattie of Ventura High to the list of coaches who wish the Channel League consisted of eight schools, instead of the current lineup of five.

Beattie, in his third year as the track and field coach at his alma mater, appreciates the fact that Rio Mesa, Oxnard and Hueneme left the Channel League to join former Marmonte League members Camarillo and Channel Islands in the first-year Pacific View League, reducing travel costs and promoting natural rivalries.

But he says he’ll miss competing against a team like Rio Mesa with the Channel League title at stake.

Ventura edged two-time defending champion Rio Mesa for the Channel League boys’ title last year, and the teams would have been expected to battle for the championship again this season were they still in the same league.

“We liked running against them,” Beattie said. “We always knew we’d have a good meet against them and the kids always got up for it.”

This year could have been particularly exciting because Ventura and Rio Mesa return several key performers.

Ventura is led by distance runners Josh Spiker and Matt Swaney, quarter-miler Clark Goodwin, jumper Preston Biller and versatile Chris Foster.

Spiker, a junior, finished 14th in the national cross-country championships in December and clocked 4:28.53 in the 1,600 meters and 9:18.23 in the 3,200 last year.

Swaney, a senior, placed third in the Southern Section Division I cross-country championships in November, and has run 4:26.75 in the 1,600 and 9:37.81 in the 3,200.

Goodwin, a junior, has a best of 49.43 in the 400 and has run a hand-timed 22.3 in the 200.

Biller, another junior, is defending Channel League champion in the triple jump and has leaped 43-6 3/4 in that event and 20-9 in the long jump.

Sophomore Foster has run 15.3 in the 110 high hurdles, cleared 6 feet in the high jump and bounded 41-8 in the triple jump.

“We should be pretty balanced,” Beattie said. “The [shotput and discus] might be the only events where we’re going to be a little thin.”

Seniors Jerome Stevens, Mike Dickran, Austin Dillon and John Coleman, and junior Brian Tillquist are Rio Mesa’s top returning performers.

Stevens won the Channel League title in the shotput last year and has a best of 53-0 in that event. He has thrown the discus 149-7.

Dickran and Dillon finished 1-2 in the 800 in the Channel League final last year and have run 1:57.17 and 2:00.55 in the event.

Coleman had bests of 10.9 in the 100, 22.64 in the 200 and 20-8 1/2 in the long jump last year.

Tillquist ran 15.36 to finish second in the high hurdles in the Channel League championships.

“It’s got its pros and cons,” Coach Pete Weinerth of Rio Mesa said about being in the Pacific View League. “I do miss the competition against Ventura. We always knew our kids were going to run well against them. But I also like being in a league where we get to go up against our rivals.”

Other teams to watch:

Birmingham--The Patriots don’t appear to have enough elite athletes to place high in the City Section championships, but they should once again be a strong dual-meet team.

Senior Orlando Nettles has run 10.6 in the 100 and 22.0 in the 200, and senior Rudy Calderon has clocked 14.9 in the 110 high hurdles and 40.4 in the 300 intermediates.

Senior Scott Cala has run 9:49.4 in the 3,200 and senior Ariane Chapman has bests of 6 feet in the high jump, 20-6 in the long jump and 41-7 1/2 in the triple jump.

Camarillo--Matt Lea, Ventura County record-holder in the 400 at 47.38, is at Arizona, but senior Greg Brown leads a team that should battle Rio Mesa for the Pacific View League title.

Brown, defending Ventura County champion in the high hurdles, has run 14.98 in that event and 41.8 in the intermediates.

Senior David Woolsey has run 52.0 in the 400 and senior Daniel Kuhmann ran 9:52.52 in the 3,200 to win the Marmonte League title last year.

Harvard-Westlake--Seniors Brandon Stewart, Alex Holmes, George Witter and Albert Liu, and junior Solomon Tesfay give Coach Jonas Koolsbergen a solid nucleus to build around.

Stewart has a best of 23-4 1/4 in the long jump and 23.01 in the 200, and Holmes has put the shot 52-7 and thrown the discus 148-4.

Witter has run 15.47 in the high hurdles and could be a 13-foot pole vaulter.

Tesfay has a best of 51.0 in the 400 and Liu finished 11th in the Southern Section Division IV cross-country final last year.

Littlerock--The Lobos are one of the most exciting young teams in the region, led by junior Rodney Woods and sophomores Marcus Raines and Jose Galeano.

Woods, defending Golden League champion in the triple jump, set a career best of 46-6 1/4 to win the Northridge-Alemany Relays.

Raines, defending league champion in the intermediates, has run 39.83 in that event and 15.40 in the high hurdles.

Galeano was sixth in the 400 in the league final last year, but ran a career best of 49.50 to win the Northridge-Alemany Relays.

Newbury Park--Senior Patrick Dolan and junior Will Svitek are the top performers on a Panther squad that is trying to win consecutive Marmonte League titles for the first time.

Dolan, defending league champion in the intermediates, has run 38.8 in that event, 49.62 in the 400 and leaped 20-9 in the long jump.

Svitek, a highly regarded decathlete, has run 15.50 in the high hurdles, put the shot 53-11 and thrown the discus 152-10.

Taft--The Toreadors might have had the best team in the region before senior Blaine Bussey was declared academically ineligible and sophomore Jason Lovell was expelled from school for disciplinary reasons.

Bussey, the fastest returning 400 sprinter in the state at 47.20, ran 47.0 in a all-comers meet last month. Lovell, a transfer from Cleveland, ran 49.2 in the 400 last year.

Senior Marquis Brignac and sophomore Chris Morgan should be the Toreadors’ top performers.

Brignac has run 10.91 in the 100 and clocked 22.23 to win the 200 in the Northridge-Alemany Relays.

Morgan won the high hurdles in a best of 14.60 in the Northridge-Alemany Relays and has leaped 21-10 in the long jump.

Notre Dame--Senior Kevin Lelles suffered a stress fracture near his right ankle during cross-country season, but could top his bests of 2:00.0 in the 800, 4:19.42 in the 1,600 and 9:31.7 in the 3,200 by the end of the season.

Junior Darrin Barton has run 11.19 in the 100 and 15.8 in the high hurdles, and senior Todd Fenton has leaped 21-0 in the long jump and 41-6 3/4 in the triple jump.

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AT A GLANCE

THE PROVEN: Senior Mentu Daniel of Antelope Valley is the second-fastest returning 400 sprinter in the state with a best of 47.24. He ran 1:59.45 to win the 800 in the Northridge-Alemany Relays at Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Senior Tim Adrian of Moorpark placed fifth in the discus in the state championships last year and has a best of 183-6. Junior Oliver Jackson of Royal is defending Ventura County champion in the long jump and triple jump and won the long jump in the Southern Section Masters Meet last year. He has gone 23-2 in the long jump and 44-0 1/2 in the triple jump. Junior Shane Hackett of Verdugo Hills won the City Section freshman-sophomore pole vault title last year and cleared a career best of 15-0 to place second in the L.A. Invitational indoor meet at the Sports Arena on Feb. 23. Senior Brian Freeny of Channel Islands is the top returning high jumper in the region with a best of 6-6 and placed second in the Southern Section Division I finals last year.

THE PROMISING: Senior Andre McIntosh of Cleveland lost valuable training time to injuries last season, but placed fifth in the 100 and eighth in the 200 in the City finals. He has run a wind-aided 10.71 in the 100 and has a career best of 22.13 in the 200. Senior Mike Lemon of Nordhoff ran 1:55.45 in the 800 last year, but finished a disappointing ninth in the Southern Section Division III final. Senior Jon Rymsza of Chaminade was a surprising winner of the 880-yard run in the L.A. Invitational and ran 2:00.21 to place third in the 800 in the Northridge-Alemany Relays.

FAST FACT: Bryan Dameworth of Agoura was the last runner from the region to break 4:10 in the 1,600 and nine minutes in the 3,200. Dameworth ran 4:07.87 in the 1,600--converted from a 4:09.32 mile--and 8:53.26 in the 3,200 as a senior in 1990.