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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, May 11, 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 May 10, 2005 Ashland thrower also plays sweet music Prep Notebook By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Ashland High junior Jaxon Williams will be all jazzed up when he climbs into the discus ring at the Southern Oregon Conference district track and field meet Thursday at North Medford High. But no more jazzed up than he is with a guitar in his hands. Williams won the Oregon School Activities Association guitar competition at Willamette University in Salem on April 30 in the classical division, beating out 10 other district winners. He also recently teamed up with three Ashland High classmates to win the school’s battle of the bands, not to mention a separate talent show competition. A Sunday afternoon might find Williams at an art gallery in Ashland, playing background music. He’s also been known to earn a few extra bucks playing at wedding receptions. Advertisement "Classical’s my main focus, but I have a lot of fun playing other styles of music also," Williams says. "I’ve got an electric guitar that I play rock with and a steel string guitar that I play blues and jazz with. "It’s just a lot of fun to be able to express yourself musically." Williams started taking guitar lessons when he was 7 and he began to develop an interest in classical music when he hooked up with a different teacher four years later. "The thing about classical is, there’s a fine line where you can just put your emotions into it," Williams says. "You can play a song in your own style by what you put into it emotionally and how you express it." Williams plays his classical guitar with the fingernails on his right hand. To hone them, he uses a special sand paper and shapes them into circular forms. "You get a much better tone from the guitar using your nails rather than a pick," he explains. "I get some weird looks from people when they see how long my nails are, but when I tell them I play a guitar they’re cool about it." The wise would refrain from making fun of Williams, who stands 5-foot-11, weighs 175 pounds and can bench press 300 pounds. Williams is actually smallish for a thrower, but he makes up for his lack of size with his strength and technique. His personal-record discus throw of 142-11 ranks fourth in the SOC. He has also tossed the shot put 43-11 and the javelin 144-6. "You can tell Jaxon has hit the weights hard over the last year because he’s noticeably stronger," Grizzly throws coach Bart Platt says. "He’s not nearly as big as the throwers he competes against, but he’s strong and his technique keeps getting better. "I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop a couple of big ones at district." Indeed, Williams doesn’t plan on ending his track season on a sour note. IF ANDREA HERMAN advances to the Class 4A state track meet this season, it would have to be regarded as a minor miracle. The South Medford High shot putter and discus thrower strained muscles in her neck, shoulder and back when she was involved in a snowboarding accident on Mount Ashland the third week of March. "Some guy ran into me, and I landed really awkwardly, with my arms stuck behind me," Herman says. Herman missed the first two weeks of practice along with South Medford’s first meet. She visited her doctor and then a chiropractor, but pain still accompanies her nearly every time she steps into the ring to make a throw. Even so, the talented sophomore has launched the discus 112 feet and the shot put 34-3. The marks have her ranked third in the former and sixth in the latter entering the SOC district meet Thursday and Saturday at North Medford High. "Some days I don’t feel much pain at all, and other days I feel a lot," Herman says. "The discus is my best event and the one I like the most, but it’s also the hardest on my body. When you’re spinning in the ring, snapping your hips and extending your arms, it puts a lot of strain on your neck and back." Herman has been feeling a little better each week, however, and is aiming for a personal-record throw during Saturday’s discus competition. Her best mark to date was 115-5 at last year’s Crater Classic. "Right now I’m feeling encouraged," she says. "I’m starting to have fun again. I wish the season would keep going." RYAN WEISZ AND Deni Rowley have been named this year’s Rod Rumrey Scholarship Golf Tournament winners. Both North Medford athletes will receive $800 to help defer college expenses. Weisz, a football standout for the Black Tornado the past three seasons and currently a member of the track team, is headed to the University of Oregon but doesn’t plan to play sports in college. Rowley will attend Southern Oregon University and play softball. The scholarship winners are based on academic achievements, citizenship and being a team player. This year’s tournament is Sunday at Cedar Links. KIM HORN, a longtime youth sports coach in Eagle Point, has been hired as the boys head basketball coach at Butte Falls High. Horn most recently has served as an assistant hoop coach with the Eagle Point High program. 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 diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Paris Hilton Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s