Document text
North Medford High track coach Mark Hodges was all smiles as he brought in his results from a dual meet against Klamath Union last Thursday. "Wait till you see the girls' 100-meter time," he said. "Emily Dunn set a school record." Dunn's time of 12.1 seconds indeed set a North Medford school record and tied the all-time Black Tornado mark established by Judi Morton in 1977. But the race was run at Klamath Union High, where many, if not most of the sprinters in the Southern Oregon Conference, register their lifetime bests. The track slants downhill in the direction the sprinters run the 100, SOC coaches have repeatedly said over the years. And so any noteworthy times must be regarded with skepticism, I told my colleagues in our office that night. That comment sparked a lively discussion. Do we know for a fact that the track slants downhill? Have there been surveyors on hand to determine this? Does the altitude in Klamath Falls play a part in these fast times? And what about the timers at these meets? Perhaps they've been quick on the click as the runners cross the finish line. I don't know the answers to all these questions, but I've learned a couple things since the meet last week. The track does indeed have a slant to it, although not as much as it once did. Ken Coffman, who coached track at Klamath Union from 1976 to 1995 and who is now the head coach at Oregon Tech, said the track underwent a renovation a few years ago that removed some of the pitch. "It used to be real bad," Coffman says. "(Former Ashland coach) Bob Julian used to joke that when his sprinters got into the blocks and began to look down toward their feet they could see the finish line. "Then when the race started they'd take one big leap and be at the finish." Coffman says he once had a sprinter who clocked 9.6 seconds over 100 yards at the Klamath track but could do no better than 10.4 away from home. Even with the renovation, Coffman says you can still detect a slant if you stand in the infield and look at the grandstands along the route. Grants Pass coach Roger Stewart became convinced of the tilt when he saw rainwater spilling toward the finish line at a meet two years ago. "I've got no engineering background, but I stood there in a downpour and watched the rain run that way," Stewart says. "Our sprinters love to run on that track. They know they're going to get their PRs (personal records). Even so, Coffman doesn't believe Dunn's record time should have an asterisk attached to it. How fast someone runs usually has variables, he says. Were the timers accurate? Was there a tailwind? Did he or she get away with a false start? How high-tech were the sprinter's shoes? "Give the Dunn girl her due," says Coffman, who was at the meet Thursday scouting talent for his college team. "She ran a strong race." Morton's record was run over 100 yards and her time was converted. The former Medford High standout clocked 11.2 in the 100-yard dash at the 1977 SOC district meet at Bowerman Field. She actually set the record twice in as many days - once during preliminaries and again during the finals. And so there's another variable. Would Morton have been able to sustain her speed from 100 yards to 100 meters and clock 12.1 for the latter distance? The whole matter becomes inconsequential if Dunn can clock 12.0 or faster during her remaining 11/2 seasons of track with the Tornado. And Hodges believes she will. "She's gotten a lot more consistent this year and her starts have gotten better," the North Medford coach says. "Running a 12-flat is within her ability right now." SPEAKING OF questionable times, Stewart did a double-take when his Grants Pass boys 4x100-meter relay team clocked 42.64 at the Roseburg twilight meet last Friday. That time was also a school record and was considerably faster than the quartet's previous best of 44.2. Not only that, the 42.64 was electronically timed. The hand-timed conversion is 42.5. Grants Pass doesn't have anyone on its short relay who has run faster than 11.3 over 100 meters, but the running starts that are allowed on a relay can make up for lost time, especially when the hand-offs are as smooth as GP's were Friday. "We went into the last exchange dead-even with Roseburg and came out with a 5-meter lead," Stewart says. "I've never seen passes like that." FORMER SOUTH MEDFORD High track standout Perry Custance has found a new toy - the steeplechase. Custance, who now competes at Oregon Tech, has won the event during his first two attempts at the 3,000-meter gut-buster that features huge wooden hurdles and a water jump. "He's still learning how to run it, but he's not afraid of it," says Coffman, the OIT coach. Custance's best time is 9:36, which qualifies him for the NAIA national meet, but Coffman expects him to run under 9:30 on Saturday when he competes in the Woody Wilson Invitational at Davis, Calif., an event that features more than 40 teams. "His goal is to place at nationals, and I wouldn't put it past him," Coffman says. Reach reporter at 776-4469, or e-mail