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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 7, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 6, 2005 MIKE WISNOVSKY ST. MARY’S HIGH SCHOOL, 1986 By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune There was a time when track standout Mike Wisnovsky shared the same oval with a number of future Olympic gold medalists. Now, much of his running is done chasing after his two young children. Wisnovsky, 37, has been removed from competitive running since he graduated from UCLA in 1991, but he remains well-represented in "Who’s Who" of Oregon track and field and has fond memories of a successful collegiate career. "I left knowing I did everything I could to run as fast as I could," says Wisnovsky. "I walked away saying that’s the best I could do." And he walked right into a familiar business. Wisnovsky handles sales for Valley View Winery in Jacksonville, which has been in his family for more than three decades. He and his wife, Kim, also a St. Mary’s graduate, have been married nine years and have two children: Gabriella, 3, and Stephen, 10 months. Advertisement Wisnovsky only briefly considered another occupation that suited his economics degree. He recalls interviewing for a position in New York with Merrill Lynch. "They kept asking me, ‘Why do you want to come to New York when all of us want to go to Oregon and have a winery?’ I couldn’t answer that question," he says. "It’s been great fun. You’re working for yourself and working for your family, and every day, I don’t do two things that are the same. We keep moving forward and moving the business forward." Moving forward, of course, is not new to him. Wisnovsky was a 400- and 800-meter specialist who put up eye-opening marks for the Crusaders on a regular basis. At the Class 2A level, he still owns the all-time best state championship marks in both events and holds the records for each class, freshman through senior, in the 400. His meet records, both coming his senior year, are 48.44 for the 400 and 1:52.5 in the 800. He was twice named the boys athlete of the meet. Wisnovsky recalls winning the team title as a senior, something he desperately wanted. But the best race he was involved in was the state 400 his junior year, when he edged Shane Campbell of Enterprise, 48.65 — then the meet record — to 48.68. "A lot of people still say that’s one of the best races they’ve ever seen," says Wisnovsky of the showdown between Campbell, the state’s best sprinter, and the middle-distance star. Wisnovsky had inexplicably lost at state as a sophomore even though he had easily the best time going in. A year later, when Campbell led by 3 meters with 100 to go, Wisnovsky says, "Here I am thinking the same thing is going to happen." But he remained relaxed and ran past a tightening Campbell. A number of colleges were interested in Wisnovsky, but he was a "recruited walk-on" to UCLA, earning a scholarship his final three years. He stuck mostly with the 800, running a best of 1:49.0 as a sophomore. Nevertheless, he placed in the Pac-10 meet three straight years, with a best of fourth, and occasionally filled in on a 4x400 relay team that would set the NCAA record of 2:59.91. Among his teammates at UCLA were Olympic gold medalists Steve Lewis, Kevin Young and Danny Everett. "I ran on relays with all those guys," says Wisnovsky. On the women’s side were Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gail Devers and Florence Griffith-Joyner. "It was like a ‘Who’s Who’ down there on the track," says Wisnovsky. "We had six or eight gold medalists running around all the time. That era there was just incredible." Indeed, it was quite a run. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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