Kallem, Kemp Went Distance for Burbank

Frank Kallem and Dave Kemp graduated from Hoover High in 1957, ran together at Glendale College and were the architects of one of the best high school boys’ distance-running programs in the nation in the 1970s.

So it seems natural that they’ll both retire as athletic directors at Burbank High in June.

Kallem, the boys’ athletic director since 1975, was the boys’ cross-country coach from 1962-74 and worked with the Burbank track and field program in one form or another from 1963-82.

Kemp, the girls’ athletic director for five years, was the cross-country coach from 1975-88 and was a track coach in some capacity from 1964-89.

But the decade they’re linked with most is the 1970s.

That’s when school records of 1:51.0 in the 880-yard run, 4:08.9 in the mile and 8:36.3 (that’s not a typo) in the two-mile were set.

It’s also the decade in which six Bulldog runners broke 1:56 in the 880, five dipped under 4:18 in the mile and five ran 9:10.2 or faster in the two-mile, topped by Jeff Nelson’s 8:36.3 in 1979 that still stands as the national record.

“[Frank and I] were very fortunate,” said Kemp, 61. “We’d both run well in high school and college and had some outstanding coaches. And the kids believed in us. And when talented kids believe in what you’re doing, good things are bound to happen.”

Kallem, 60, credited much of Burbank’s success to feeder programs at Muir and Burbank junior highs. He said coaches Bill Bertran and Brian Hurst had a fine running program at Muir that was a great help to the Burbank High program.

“They did a great job of introducing the kids to running,” Kallem said. “And showing them that it could be fun. They showed them that running wasn’t a bad thing just because it required a lot of hard work and discipline.”

Kallem guided Burbank to Southern Section major division cross-country titles in 1964 and ‘70, and runners such as Rick Romero, the 1964 Southern Section champion in the mile, Joe Santa Cruz, Freddy Ortega and Mark Covert laid the groundwork for the phenomenal decade that followed.

The 1970s featured Scott Schweitzer lowering the school record to 9:04.4 in the two-mile in 1971 and John Musich setting school records of 1:51.0 in the 880--to win the state title--and 4:08.9 in the mile in 1974.

It was a decade in which Kevin Burkin lowered Schweitzer’s school mark to 9:02.8 in 1976 and Lin Whatcott ran 9:01.9 in 1979, but was 25 seconds slower than Nelson’s school record.

Nelson had run 8:59.3 to win the two-mile in the 1978 state championships and clocked a course record of 14:32 over Mt. San Antonio College’s 2.95-mile cross-country layout in the fall of that year.

But Nelson was phenomenal during the 1979 track season, winning his second consecutive state title, making sub-nine-minute two-miles commonplace and running 8:36.3 in the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA to crush the national record of 8:40.9 set by Craig Virgin of Lebanon (Ill.) in 1973.

“We learned a lot during the early years,” Kallem said of the 1960s. “We learned that we could increase the work load substantially and the kids could handle it.”

Running 100 miles a week might sound ludicrous to many coaches today, but it was not uncommon for Burbank’s runners to do that at the end of their summer training during the 1970s.

“We were never in it for ourselves,” Kemp said. “We were in it for what the kids could get out of it.”

They got plenty.

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Shane Hackett’s reign as the yearly state leader in the boys’ pole vault lasted one week.

Hackett, a senior at Verdugo Hills, cleared 16-0 in the Santa Barbara Easter Relays at Santa Barbara City College on March 25, but senior Logan Odden of Huntington Beach Marina cleared 16-5 at the Trabuco Hills Invitational last Saturday.

Seniors Oliver Jackson of Royal and Jerrick Holmes of Palmdale, and juniors Chris Morgan of Taft and Porchea Carroll of Rio Mesa remain state leaders in their respective events.

Jackson leads the nation in the boys’ long jump with a leap of 24-3 1/2 and Holmes is the co-national leader in the high jump at 7-0.

Morgan leads the state in the boys’ 110 high hurdles at 14.08 and Carroll is ranked first in the girls’ 100 at 11.67 and 200 at 24.15.

Jackson, Holmes, Morgan, Carroll and Hackett will compete in the Flo-Jo Memorial Arcadia Invitational at Citrus College in Glendora on Saturday.

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When Hueneme hosted Oxnard in a meet last week, it christened the school’s new nine-lane track and made the Pacific View League the only league in the region to have all-weather tracks at all of its schools.

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Taft will host Birmingham at 2 p.m. today in a meet that will include five defending City Section champions.

Taft snapped Birmingham’s dual-meet winning streak at 82 consecutive victories in the boys’ meet two years ago and defeated the Patriots, 75-52, last year.

The Birmingham girls beat Taft, 74-53, in a dual meet last year, but Taft edged the Patriots, 82-78, for its second consecutive City title in May.

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Track Top 10

Rankings of teams from the region

BOYS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Taft (West Valley) 2 2 Birmingham (West Valley) 3 3 Cleveland (West Valley) 4 4 Palmdale (Golden) 5 5 Notre Dame (Mission) 6 6 Rio Mesa (Pacific View) 7 7 Littlerock (Golden) 8 8 Oak Park (Tri-Valley) 9 9 Newbury Park (Marmonte) 10 10 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte)

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GIRLS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Birmingham (West Valley) 2 2 Taft (West Valley) 3 3 Rio Mesa (Pacific View) 4 4 Cleveland (West Valley) 5 5 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 6 6 Camarillo (Pacific View) 7 7 Notre Dame (Mission) 8 NR Westlake (Marmonte) 9 9 Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 10 10 Littlerock (Golden)

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