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Coolidge out to prove he�s no second-rate runner By Greg Stiles St. Mary�s High senior Trevor Coolidge no longer simply rates among the state�s best Class 2A distance runners. "He�s now measuring himself not so much against 2A competition, but how he stacks up against runners from bigger schools," says St. Mary�s coach Joe Volk. Coolidge opened the season with a second-place finish to Klamath Union�s Lauren Jesperson in last Saturday�s Timberline Bank Invitational at Yreka. He ran the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes-flat, nine seconds faster than he ran in the Junior Olympics last December in Spartanburg, S.C. While the runner-up finish was a pleasing way to start his senior season, Coolidge admits he�s tired of being No.2. He finished second in last year�s Class 2A state cross country meet at Lane Community College then tacked on seconds in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters in the state track meet. It was the same story in Coolidge�s other athletic pursuit � mountain biking � where he was second in a state-wide points series for expert riders and No. 2 in the state championship event at Flying M Ranch near Corvallis. "I�m motivated this year to move up one spot," Coolidge says. "I�ve been working hard to make it happen." Coolidge, who lives in Sams Valley near the Table Rocks, revved up his training this summer, attending the University of Oregon�s running camp, going to a second camp that split workouts between the coast and Umpqua River and doing a little high-altitude training in Wyoming. He discovered at the July camp in Eugene that his training regimen was laid back compared to some. "I saw what people from other states were doing and it motivated me to do more," he says. "I re-evaluated what I considered to be a hard training session. Now my long days are 12 miles instead of six and I�ve picked up the pace from 8:15 (miles) to 6:15. "It was sort of a high speed week and made me realize how slow my training had been. I didn�t expect it to pay off so quickly, but I was very happy with how it went Saturday." Jesperson and Gomez were both top-10 finishers in last year�s 4A state meet and Coolidge was squarely between them on Yreka�s rolling course. In August, he rubbed shoulders with runners from Marshfield and Rogue River along the lines of the strenuous Steens Mountain running camp. He joined forces with those same runners in the Circle the Bay Relay, then clicked off a 15:29 3-mile during a time trial near Glide. "It was down hill," he admits. Coolidge also took advantage of a family reunion in Wyoming to get a few miles of Rocky Mountain training. "I didn�t really notice a lot of difference," says Coolidge, who checked out Colorado State during the trip. He took up cross country in the eighth grade because there was no middle school soccer team at St. Mary�s. "I won my first race at Hidden Valley, then I didn�t win another one until the district meet my sophomore year in Roseburg," Coolidge says. Running is in his genes, however, with his dad, Art Coolidge, one of Southern Oregon�s premier masters runners. Art Coolidge has also competed in the 1968 Olympic marathon trials. The younger Coolidge was spurred along the training trail when he met up with Klamath�s two-time 4A state champion Ian Dobson at an Oregon Tech camp before his sophomore season. "Ian and all those KU guys imprinted their work ethic on me," he recalls. While Coolidge has eyes set on the top prize, he�s challenged his teammates to join him at the state meet. The Crusaders haven�t qualified a team for state since 1994. "I told them if we�re going to get it done," Coolidge says. "This is really the year to get it done." Klamath Union has won two of the past three Class 4A state boys cross country titles, so it makes sense that Portland State has gobbled up a bunch of former Pelicans for its team. Jeremy Park, the 1996 state champion, Ray Stevenson, along with members of last year�s championship team � Paul Dzurec and Evan Garich � comprise half of the Vikings� eight-man roster. The Southern Oregon Conference is also well represented on PSU�s women�s roster by Jill Salmon (Crater), Becca Straw (Grants Pass), Brady Lukkari (Klamath Union) and Melissa Telford (South Medford). The Oregon School Activities Association executive board Monday approved a proposal to seed the Class 4A boys and girls basketball teams for the next two years. The plan will not change the sub-tournament playoff system. The seeding meeting will follow the final round of sub-tournament games, paring the field to 16 teams. South Medford boys basketball coach Dennis Murphy submitted a proposal on the behalf of the Oregon Coaches Association. A committee of five coaches along with an OSAA staff member will select a five-person seeding committee for both tournaments. The exact criteria has yet to be hammered out, but power ratings, records, direct observation, strength of schedule, home and away performance will be weighed. Other considerations include: wins over other league champions and schools whose football and soccer teams had prolonged playoff seasons. Teams that played well late in the season will also be taken into consideration. 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