SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW | Shrinking team expands its ambitions with eye toward Tacoma

Published 4:28 pm Friday, March 9, 2012

LANGLEY — The track surface may be falling apart, and the team’s numbers may drop, but the goal to send athletes to the state championships only grows.

Last year, the Falcon track and field team sent three athletes to the state championships in Tacoma. This season, the Falcons expect to send as many, if not more to the 2A title meet.

“We’ve got a few promising kids,” said Falcon head coach Doug Fulton.

Two of those state competitors, both throwers, returned to the team — sophomore Nick French and junior Angelina Berger. Berger set the South Whidbey record in the shot put last year at 38 feet, 5.25 inches. At the state meet, Berger finished fourth with a throw of 37 feet, 10 inches, about six feet shy of the first-place toss. Her goal is to not just return to Tacoma, but to win the shot put title.

“Hopefully to beat that state record would be kind of cool before I graduate,” Berger said. “I’d be happy to go to state in all three of my events.”

She attended a throwing clinic at the University of Washington prior to the season’s start. It helped her begin this season where last season left off — with her throwing well. And though shot put may be her best event, it’s not her favorite.

“Discus goes really far, and javelin goes really far. Shot put only goes like 40 feet — it’s not that eye catching,” Berger said.

The team’s size won’t be eye catching either. Overall, the team added a handful of athletes to its ranks. South Whidbey has about 40 athletes running, jumping, vaulting, hurdling and throwing. It should be enough to cover all of the events, Fulton said.

“We’re pretty well rounded,” he said.

The team may be about as well rounded as the bubbles that form under the track when it rains too much. Along the 100-meter stretch near the grandstand, bubbles have formed between the layers of resurfacing, which has forced South Whidbey to delay its home meets until the weather warms up. The Falcons only host one Cascade Conference meet and the Carl Westling Invitational this year.

“The resurface they put on 12 years ago is delaminating from the old surface, so it’s forming bubbles which is dangerous,” Fulton said. “We can’t really host when it’s wet.”

Poor track conditions won’t affect French, who primarily threw the javelin last year. As a freshman, French set his personal best toss at 161 feet, 5 inches. At the state meet, he threw 160 feet, 11 inches. As a group, the throwers hope to send more than French and Berger to the championship meet.

“The throwing unit’s goal is to get as many people as possible to state,” said senior thrower Colton Justus.

“We have a lot of young throwers this year. Our goal is to build their strength and get them to state by their senior year.”

The sprinters are aided by assistant coach Dean Hatt. Already he has the boys and girls dashers singing his tune.

“He’s a good storyteller. He has a lot of experience as a coach,” said junior sprinter Anna Hood.

“He also sings our workouts to give us inspiration,” added senior Sarah Cepowski. “If he says, ‘We’re running the 300, 200, 200, 100,’ he’ll be like, ‘It’s the three-two-two-one, the three-two-two-one.’”

Hood was .6 seconds from qualifying in the 100-meter dash. Hood said she hopes to shave some seconds and make it to state.

“I want to make it to state. I came really close last year,” she said.

South Whidbey has six conference meets and will attend four invitationals. The closest away meet is a jamboree with Coupeville, Lakewood and Oak Harbor at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15 at Oak Harbor High School. The Falcons’ first home meet is the Westling Invite on Saturday, April 21.