Document text
SUNNY Temp: 55 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 20, 2002 Steve Hanlin, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound defensive end for North Medford, earned the No. 1 defensive lineman award and top senior defensive lineman award at both the University of Oregon and Nike combine camps this past summer. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Hanlin stands out for North The Black Tornado star came from humble beginnings to become one of the best defensive ends in the state By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Steve Hanlin could be the North Medford High football poster boy for unflagging determination and perseverance. When Hanlin first turned out for football in the seventh grade, he was relegated to the junior varsity. As an eighth-grader he made the varsity squad but seldom played. Not until his sophomore year did Hanlin find the field with any regularity, and even then he played virtually no defense. Two years later the once thin-as-a-pencil, clumsy-as-a-nerd, slow-as-molasses Hanlin is among the top defensive ends in the state. "A lot of younger kids bail out of sports if they’re not playing full time, but Steve liked football so much that he stuck with it," North Medford coach John Beck says. "He’s living proof that hard work equals success." Hanlin was one of the defensive heroes during the Black Tornado’s 13-12 upset victory at Lake Oswego last Friday. He registered six solo tackles, six assisted tackles and sacked Lakers quarterback Mike Stutes on a fourth-and-five play late in the game that preserved the victory. Hanlin faces another big test tonight when the Tornado meets Roseburg at Spiegelberg Stadium in the Southern Oregon Conference opener for both teams. North Medford defensive line coach Brad Eaton first noticed Hanlin in the spring of 2001 when he began planning for the following season. "We didn’t have one defensive lineman who had played a down of varsity football the year before (when North Medford advanced to the state championship game)," Eaton says. "But I could see right away that Steve would help us. "He had a motor that never quit and feet that never stopped." Never mind that Hanlin, who had played tight end on the JV team his sophomore year, had no clue what to do on defense. "He didn’t know anything, but the good thing about that was he hadn’t developed any bad habits," Eaton says. "He’s a quick learner, and he absorbed everything we threw at him." Hanlin improved so quickly that he earned first-team, all-conference honors last season as a junior. He was still rail-thin — carrying only 180 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame — but used his improved quickness, strength and fundamentally sound ways to knock down opposing running backs and quarterbacks. Still yearning for growth as a gridder, Hanlin attended the Nike combine and University of Oregon camp over the summer. He turned heads at both — earning the No. 1 defensive lineman award at the former and top senior defensive lineman award at the latter. Both clinics featured more than 300 players. But a bad thing happened on the final day of the UO camp. An instant after catching a pass on the artificial surface of the Moshofsky Center, Hanlin got hit from the side. He felt pain in his left knee and heard a pop. "The trainer there thought it was just a sprain, but I knew something was wrong," Hanlin says. A magnetic resonance image revealed Hanlin’s worst fear: a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Surgery to replace the ligament would have wiped out Hanlin’s senior season. He opted to strengthen the muscles around the knee, wear a brace and tough it out — then have surgery after the season. Hanlin isn’t the first athlete to compete with a torn ACL, but it’s yet another sign of his indefatigability. "I think I’ve lost a little quickness and it gets sore after a game, but there was no way I was going to miss my senior year," says Hanlin, who has grown to 6-5 and 205 pounds. "I’ve worked too hard and too long to get to this point." Hanlin is being recruited by Oregon and Portland State, who sent assistant coaches to scout last Friday’s game. What they saw was a tall, still-skinny kid causing havoc on a high school field. What they imagined was a taller, filled-out young man — with all of his knee ligaments — causing havoc in a college stadium. And who would argue with that? Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S