Forty Years of TrackAt Highline Community College

To be able to participate in a collegiate sport is every serious athlete’s dream. For many men this dream came true when they were members of the track and field team at Highline Community College. The fortieth year of men’s track and field will be coming to a close at the end of May 2002. The history of the men’s track team is filled with stories of ups and downs, championships and disappointments, and it is time for us to remember both these high and low times.

The first track tryout was on March 1, 1963, and the head coach was to be Don McConnaughey (“Track Turnout”, 1963). The first meet was against Centralia Jr. College, and the Thunderbirds won by a score of 68-41 (Peterson, Dick, 1963). In 1963 there was a star athlete by the name of Dick Lyzell who set very high marks in both the shot put and discus. With a throw of 50’10 1/8” in the shot he set a mark that is still a challenge to reach today (“Track Team Qualifies”, 1963). Only three years after track started at Highline, the 1965 team captured the North Division Title with a tremendous effort (Leonard, 1965). During the sixties the school’s top times and marks were set as the standards for future athletes to try to beat. Some of these outstanding marks were the discus at 156’ 7 ½”, (“Eleven”, 1966) the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.7 seconds, the mile relay with a time of 3:20.5, (Clavin, 1966) the high jump at 6’ 8 ½”, the pole vault at 14’ 0”, (Bolinger, 1967) and the long jump at 23’ 4 ½” which was not only a school record it was also a state record. The 1969 men’s track team won the first state championship of any sport at Highline Community College (“T-Birds”, 1969). What better way to finish the decade than with a state championship.

The seventies started out strong with another division title win, and in 1972 the T-Birds proved they could compete with four-year universities (Heavener, 1972). At an invitational with such schools as Oregon State and Portland State, the men pulled off a third place finish. In that same invite the team won the mile relay and broke the meet record in the four-mile relay (McConnaughey, 1972). In 1973 the team was stronger than ever. They not only won the division title, but they did it by winning every running event, and placing 1-2-3 in the mile and pole vault (“Track Team Wins”, 1973). In 1974, Tim Murray, one of the greatest distance runners to come out of Highline, set a school record in the mile with a time of 4:08.2 (“Murray, Greyell”, 1974). Also in 1975 the high jump record was nudged up to 6’10” (“Murray Paces”, 1975). To end the seventies Ray Prentice set a school record in the 1500 meter run with a time of 3:48.76 (Weeks, 1979).

To begin the 1980s, Brian Slater set top marks in the in the shot put and discus with throws of 51’7 ¾” and 158’ respectively (“Griffith”, 1982). The school record in the 400-meter dash was brought down to a blistering 48.38 seconds (Kirwan, 1984). The decathlon is a grueling two-day event that sucks every last bit of energy out of an athlete. The athlete competes in the shot put, discus, javelin, long jump, high jump, pole vault, 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, and the 1500-meter run. Whoever wins this event in the Olympics is considered the world’s greatest athlete. And in 1986 Brent Wheeler won the decathlon at the NWAACCs by setting a school and state record of 6,769 points (Ahaya, 1986). From 1980 to 1988 Highline’s track team got second in the NWAACCs (Peterson, Gary, 1988). 1989 was Highline’s turn to become number one. Star Thunderbirds of the 1989 team were Bret Goller whom took first in the 10,000-meter run, 5,000-meter run, and the steeplechase, along with Ron Johnson and Garth Willard who both cleared 16’3” in the pole vault (Cantn, 1989).

During the 1990s very few exciting things happened for the men’s track team. The Thunderbirds never finished better than second at NWAACCs, and only two school records were broken. The high jump was inched up to 7’0”, (Ball, 1998) and the mile relay was brought down to 3:15.52 (McDonald, 1997). Then in 1999 an athlete by the name of Dominique Demouchet came to the team. He was the champion in the 400-meter hurdles in 1999 and took second in the long jump. Demouchet is now an assistant coach for the T-Birds (Kirk, 1999).

Nowadays the track team is under the supervision of head coach Robert Yates. Assisting Yates in the sprints, hurdles, and field events are Les Black, John Pietz, and Dominique Demouchet. The 2002 squad is looking strong and should be a top contender for the NWAACC championship. A core of great athletes leads the team this year. The sprinters are lead by Brandon Sutton, the hurdlers by Jershon Foyston, distance by Aaron Fulwider, and the throws by Corey Lehosky and Nathan Carter. This year both the coaching staff and the athletes are pumped and ready to sprint, jump, and throw their way to the championship title.