Document text
60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, April 19, 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 April 19, 2005 Custance helped put together big Newland meet Prep Notebook By DON HUNT Mail Tribune The runners who participate in Friday’s sixth annual Bob Newland Invitational are probably too young to remember Perry Custance. They probably don’t know that he was the top distance runner in South Medford High School history, setting school records in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters that still stand. Or that he once finished 13th at the state cross country meet after slipping and falling halfway through the race and getting trampled on by a pack of runners. Or that he displayed the guts of a bullfighter at the 1999 Southern Oregon Conference district meet when he essentially went into a sprint with two laps to go to stun Klamath Union star Ian Dobson and win the 1,500. Few trained harder. Fewer still ran harder in a race. Advertisement And not many loved and respected track more than Custance, a shy, introspective individual who helped established the Newland meet for sophomores and freshmen as part of his senior project in 2000. Last June, Custance died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound near his family’s home in Ruch, a week or so after he stopped taking an anti-depressant drug to relieve side aches and lower back pain. Custance, who was set to graduate from Oregon Tech last fall with a degree in software engineering, would flash one of his sly smiles if he knew what the Newland meet has become: a 17-team track and field extravaganza featuring more than 400 runners, jumpers and throwers. The sixth annual event kicks off Friday at 4 p.m. at South Medford High. "Perry helped set the framework and the structure of this meet," South Medford track coach Bill Rowan says. "He was the one out there getting sponsors, contacting schools and getting volunteers to work it. "That first year, I think we had nine teams. Now we’ve got 17. We get new coaches calling every year who want to be a part of it. "Spotlighting the younger kids was a great idea." In honor of his former standout, Rowan has implemented the "Custance Mile" that will be run in place of the 1,500 Friday. Most of Custance’s family will be present: Father Gary, mother Wanda, sister Fairlight and Fairlight’s sons, Grant, 2, and Aaron, 3 months. Fairlight’s husband, Brett, a captain in the United States Army, is serving in Iraq. Prior to the mile, the family will be acknowledged and Perry commemorated. "We’re really touched by this," says Gary Custance, a Medford certified public accountant who attended virtually all of his son’s meets at South. "It means a lot to Wanda and I, knowing that people think so much of our son." The Newland Invitational is Medford’s only large-scale track event following the demise of the Rogue Relays in the 1980s. "Perry meant a lot to us," says Rowan, meaning himself and his wife, Sandy, who coaches the South Medford distance runners. "He was a great kid and the ultimate competitor. We’ve never had a kid who ran as hard as Perry, not even close." NORTH MEDFORD sophomore Haley Godfrey set a school record in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 6 inches at the Mt. San Antonio Relays Saturday at Walnut, Calif. The lofty jump also moved Godfrey to No. 1 in the state. Black Tornado senior Steve Johnson also excelled, launching the discus a state-leading and lifetime-best 167-5. The Tornado’s 4x100 girls relay team registered a time of 50.34 seconds, which is tied for sixth in the state. The squad was Godfrey, sophomore Sara Weeks and juniors Kaila Lawson and Molly Brophy. The meet, held just outside Los Angeles, features many of the top track athletes in the nation. IT HASN’T TAKEN Klamath Union basketball standout Jenni Ritter long to get the hang of track. Ritter ran the 300 intermediate hurdles in 47.89 seconds at Saturday’s Crater Classic, finishing second to Sisters’ Jenny Boswell. Ritter, a senior who is headed to Portland State on a basketball scholarship, is out for track for the first time since junior high. "She’s a very natural athlete and a quick study," Klamath Union coach Mike Herron said of Ritter. "You look at what she did (Saturday) and you realize she’s got a chance to get to the state meet." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, 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. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s