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Grants Pass, North eye crown By Don Hunt It hasn�t taken Scott Myers long to establish dominance in the shot put and discus this spring. The North Medford High senior unloaded a school-record toss of 57 feet, 10 inches in the shot put during the Black Tornado�s season-opening meet on March 15. One week later, he launched the discus a school-record 173-1. It�s no secret that the 6-foot-1, 265-pound senior has a goal of winning both events at the Class 4A state track meet on May 26 in Eugene. He also hopes to put North Medford on his broad shoulders and lead the Tornado to its first Southern Oregon Conference championship since 1993. "He�s the man on this team," North Medford coach Mark Hodges says. "He�s one of the team captains and one of the hardest workers. There�s just no telling how far he�s going to throw those things." With Myers and a talented sprint crew leading the way, North Medford has enough horsepower to unseat two-time defending SOC champion Grants Pass. But then, so do a couple of other teams. "It�s going to be a dogfight at district," Grants Pass coach Roger Stewart says. "It�s a matter of who wants the bone." The Cavemen lost their top two performers to graduation � do-everything Jake Zeliff and hurdler Mike Thompson � but return sprinter Parker Lane, the defending SOC champion in the 100 and 200. Lane is nursing a hamstring injury but should be back on the track within two weeks. The senior speedster, who has run the 100 in 10.8 and the 200 in 21.99, sat out basketball this past season to concentrate on indoor track. "Before he got hurt he was in the best shape of his life," Stewart says. "He has such a strong base I don�t think he�s going to lose much by sitting out a couple weeks. "He�s a lot stronger than he�s ever been." Parker gives Grants Pass the firepower to win four events at district � he also anchors both relay teams � and the Cavemen have several other high-caliber performers. Brian Palmer returns as the second-fastest 800-meter runner (1:56.41), Luke Lathen is back as one of the top jumpers � he cleared 6-4 in the high jump last Thursday � and Kyle Hayes returns as a top challenger in the pole vault, where he�s already cleared 13 feet. The Cavers� Collin Janke also returns as one the premier distance runners in the SOC. "They�re still the team to beat," Hodges says of the Cavemen. "They�ve got some great kids and they�ve got depth." Myers aside, the Tornado�s hopes for an SOC title rest largely on its sprinters. Thomas O�Brien, Justin MacLaughlan, Matt Parish and Matt Schneider are capable of piling up big points in the sprints and relays, although O�Brien is currently on the sidelines nursing a sore ankle. With a makeshift lineup, North ran the 4 x 100 relay in 44.16 and the 4 x 400 relay in 3:33.0 last Thursday. Both times are the best in the SOC in the early going. Another North Medford performer to watch is Dustin Brooks, a junior who registered district-leading marks in the long jump (19-7) and triple jump (44-0) Thursday. "We�ve got some good kids but our sprinters have to stay healthy and some of our young guys need to come through," Hodges says. "But we�re real pleased at what�s happened so far. We�re excited at the possibilities." South Medford, meanwhile, looks to be vastly improved from a year ago when the Panthers finished seventh at district and managed only 58 points. If nothing else, the Panthers will be faster on the track. Sprinters Justin Baldoni, Jonathan Klenke and Andres Reed are all capable of placing at district and Shaun Olson should be one of the SOC�s top middle distance runners. Cameron Gallop, who launched a lifetime best of 147-7 in the discus last Thursday and has been over 50 feet in the shot put, is another Panther to keep an eye on. Klamath Union probably doesn�t have enough depth to win district, but the Pelicans boast two of the state�s top runners in Lauren Jesperson and Jacob Gomez. Jesperson finished second at district and fifth at state in the 800 (1:55.15) last season as a freshman, while Gomez was second at district in the 3,000 (8:46.0). Ashland welcomes back district javelin champion Cameron Voget (198-4) and the Grizzlies have one of their bigger turnovers in several years. But Grants Pass routed the Grizz by 46 points in a dual meet Thursday. Roseburg habitually finds itself near the top of the SOC � the Indians were fourth last season � and should again be in the upper half. Joe Newton returns as the discus champion (169-2) but could have trouble knocking aside Myers this time around. Distance specialist Chris Roberts, who finished third in the 3,000 last season, will also produce surefire points for the Tribe. Pole vaulter Mike Moore, who took second to teammate Ryan Rackley at last season�s district meet, is Crater�s best hope for a blue ribbon. Moore has a best of 13-6. Shot putter Chris Dearmon also returns with the second-best mark in the shot put (54-1). Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.