Document text
CLOUDY Temp: 57 °F Wind: NW at 9 mph Sunday, June 22, 2003 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 June 1, 2003 Skyline duo claim titles Phoenix’s May wins the 1,500 for his second crown, while North Valley’s Lewman takes the 300 hurdles By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune EUGENE — Nathan May kept his secret until the last possible moment. Jeremiah Lewman made no secret of the fact that he was just "crazy" enough to pull off the unprecedented. The two Skyline Conference track and field stars — May a senior from Phoenix and Lewman a North Valley junior — won championships Saturday at the Class 3A state meet at Hayward Field. Advertisement May summoned extra power in the final stages of the 1,500 meters, outkicking all-comers for his second title in two days and his fourth career individual track or cross country state championship. His winning time of 4 minutes, 5.94 seconds was just a couple of seconds off his personal best and gave him the bookend he sought to go with the 3,000 crown he claimed a day earlier. Lewman, all 5-foot-4 of him, established a meet record in the 300 intermediate hurdles with his third personal-best mark in the event in eight days. His clocking of 38.30 bettered the meet mark of 38.43 set by Jay Goff of Cascade in 1998. The other championship hopeful from the Rogue Valley, Rogue River girl pole vaulter Shannon Jentzsch, settled for fourth place when she cleared 10 feet, 9 inches but didn’t make it over 11- 0. May led the 1,500 through the first 400 meters, gave up the lead after 800, then regained it for the final lap. With 200 meters left, May was overtaken by A.J. Casteel of Wilsonville. That’s when the Pirate let everyone in on his little secret. "I knew he didn’t know I had another gear," said May, who won state at this distance for the first time after being runner-up a year ago. May surged past Casteel inside the final 100 meters to win going away. When he lost the lead late in the race, May admitted, "I was a little concerned, but I knew I wasn’t out of it." Once he returned the favor, it was clear sailing in front of the grandstand. "When I got the lead in the homestretch, I thought, all I have to do is hold it," said May. "I didn’t have to work any harder. The other guys had to work harder to catch up to me." May, who will attend Pacific University, admitted that he doesn’t have the kick to stay with a lot of runners at the shorter distances. He expects to run the 5,000 in college. The slow pace at the outset concerned coach Hans Voskes because the field featured a number of strong kickers. He was hoping for a 65- or 66-second first 400, but it was considerably slower, keeping some runners alive who might have wilted under a faster pace. "It was a tactical race," said Voskes, "and Nathan really stuck his nose in there. He’s always had that extra gear that he’s able to find. He’s a real competitive kid. You can be shooting free throws with him, it doesn’t matter what it is. He has that mind-set that he’s going to go after you." The coach also praised Lalo Flores, who has been injured much of the year and went nearly three weeks where he couldn’t do anything. Nevertheless, Flores made it to state and placed 10th with a time of 4:14.08. "A lot of kids would have given up," said Voskes, "but he fought back and made it to state. He’s a class kid." Lewman, who earlier in the day finished fifth in the 110 high hurdles in 15.46, put together yet another flawless trip in the 300 intermediates. He’d set a personal best last week at the Skyline Conference meet, going 39.36 for the school record. It was his first time in the 39s. He followed that in Friday’s preliminaries with a 39.14. "I’ve improved two seconds since last year," said Lewman. "Oh my gosh." If it sounds crazy, that’s fitting. Lewman is nicknamed "Crazy" because of the intense manner in which he goes about practicing. On the left heel of his track shoe, it reads, "I am." On the right, "crazy." His father, head coach Glenn Lewman, has script on his shoes, too: "Crazy’s Dad." Lewman tries to live up to the billing by letting out the occasional shout or scream just before getting into his blocks. "He’s the most uncrazy kid," said Glenn Lewman. "He had to come up with something to psyche out the other runners and get them thinking about something else." Lewman’s race featured a burst from the blocks, then a surge just past the first corner, a technique he works diligently on. "Coming off the fourth or fifth hurdle, I try to come off harder and get into a lean down the backstretch," he said. It led to a time in the 38s, which means Lewman — a football running back and defensive back — will have to change numbers this fall. He chose "38" last season as a reminder of how low he aspired to go in the hurdles. Shortly after Saturday’s race, he put in a request for No. 37 with sprint coach Todd Willaman, who also happens to be the head football coach. Jentzsch, also a junior, only took up the pole vault this year. Until last week, when she set a meet record at the Skyline Conference championships at 11-3, her best competitive jump was 10-0. With that as perspective, she hardly was disillusioned about placing fourth at state. "This is my first time at state," said Jentzsch. "It’s excellent. I couldn’t believe I was here. I’m happy with what I did." She cleared 10-6 easily on her third attempt after stopping short on her first vault and missing badly on her second. At 10-9, she sailed effortlessly over on her second try. She wasn’t so fortunate at 11-0. Jentzsch used three poles and had a fourth ready if she were in position to meet her goal of 12-0. It wasn’t to be, at least, not for Jentzsch. LaPine’s Jennifer Brown set a meet record with her vault of 11-9. "There’s a lot of everything involved in the vault," said Jentzsch. "Speed, knowing where you’re positioned in the air ... there’s a lot of in-your-head stuff. Today just wasn’t my day." The same could be said for Phoenix’s Kat Cox who, like Jentzsch, competed in the 110 hurdles. Cox got off to a clean start and was running a strong third place midway through the race when she crashed to the track. She wasn’t sure what happened. "I got out pretty good and, I’m not saying this because I fell, I think it was probably one of the best races I’ve run," said Cox, a senior, who scraped a knee but was otherwise OK. "I have no idea what happened. Everything was going fine." She got up, stepped over the next hurdle then completed the race. "You come all this way, and there’s a lot of people who didn’t make it to state who would like to be here and holding an eighth-place medal," she said, twirling the medallion. "I had to finish." Jentzsch, meanwhile, was seventh in 16.87. Among other area competitors, Christina Malara of Rogue River was sixth in the girls 200 with a time of 27.28; Illinois Valley’s Jon Riley placed eighth in the boys javelin with a throw of 168-3; and Amanda Phillips of Phoenix was 10th in the girls 1,500 in 5:02.53. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times