Coach Mo Basketball

4X800 BOYS Vermeer & Anderson figure well on this team as do vets Frazee and Cutting. Help may come from low hurdlers Kredit, Skiles and Kuiper. If needed, Huss & Stahl may be available. GIRLS Like the boys, a state class group was decimated by graduation. They lack the depth, but region champ holdovers Shook & Van Hofwagen provide suitable foundations. 4X400 GIRLS Like the 4x800, they loose a lot with graduation. VanHofwagen, Bias & Shook return from last year. They'll be counting on freshman Amber Hardaway as well as Huff or Lee to fill huge voids, but the nucleus is still there....as is the potential to run faster than last year. BOYS This may be the best Cougar 4x400 yet with Huss, Burns ( both who could do better than 51 seconds thhis season in the open) & Vermeer ( a top returning 2 lapper) back and a pool of Simpson, Kredit, Howard, Cuttting, Ledford, Anderson, Skiles and others to pull from. Last years group had three sub 53's to pull from, but there was a huge dropp-off after that. With Simpson alone the team also already has 4 potential sub 51s and several potential sub 53s waiting in the wings with Kredit being the key. This could be good. 4X100 BOYS Like the 4x400, the 400 meter relay is loaded. The crew that was ranked 2nd in time last season is back, but add to that the competition spiced with Huss (who rarely ran the 4x1) Simpson, Ledford, Howard and Kredit...less than a high 42 would be unacceptable. A "B" team should place in the regional and at state, leaving Huss & Burns to vie for individual honors. GIRLS Again, a group under construction. On Paper, an order of Lee to Hardaway to Bias to Huff could be very, very good.

Veteran coach Carl Tichenor has his work cut out for him. He lost half of both state class 4 x 800 teams, but has a few returning runners that he will count on to rebuid this season after a succesful cross country campaign. GIRLS The girls group returns only a couple of runners from last year, but Coach Tichenor as a long and succesful track record for "reloading" after graduation as evidenced by last years high turnonver on the girls team. Tough and short on depth, the girls track team was led by a distance team that pretty much carried the load last year with the help of two extrodinary athletes that figure heavily on the teams success for years to come. Kristen Shook & Megan VanHofwegen return as sophomores after fantastic freshman debuts. VanHofwegen was nothing short of outstanding last year finishing 3rd in the State 400 and 4th in the State 4 X 800 as a freshman! She's a pure middle-distance runner and should be at or near the top of the rankings all year in the 400 and 800. Kristen was quite a surprise last year finishing 4th in the Region 1600 and 8th at State as a freshman. She also contributed to the school record-setting 4 X 800 taking 1st in the Region and 4th at State. With last year's experience, look for enormous improvements from her in 2004. BOYS Assistant Head Track Coach Carl Tichenor, a fine former distance runner himself, returns with a fine group of runners, most of whom ran cross country this year. With a fine record of developing distance runners, Coach Tichenor was also key component in ressurecting PC's track & cross country programs. Senior, Jack Vermeer finished 4th in the Region 800 and 8th at State in 2003. He looks to be a front runner at this event all year. A team captain, Jack is expected to be a key component on one of te regions best returning 1600 meter relays. Junior, Alex Anderson, a Region medalist last year in the 4 X 800, looks to concentrate on the 800 and 400 to take advantage of his natural speed. His first year in cross-country this past fall gave him a solid distance base that should prove beneficial as he moves to the shorter distances. Junior, Brant Frazee finished 5th in the Region 1600 last year, but came away with a personal best in the process. He came within tenths of a second in running a 4:49, just 1 second off the school record. He'll break that handily this year before the end of March. He'll play a key role in the 1600 and 4 X 800 in 2004, with a stint or two at the 3200. Brant also did double duty this fall. He played linebacker for the football team and also showed up at the regionals for the cross country team. Junior, Thomas Ness, with no distance experience behind him last year, consistently ran PR's in the 3200 and 1600 every time he started a race. His off-season training should provide solid contributions in both these events this year. He could be a very pleasant surprise chasing down Frazee. Junior, Paul Bell will be a huge addition to the distance corps in 2004. He finished 2nd at Regionals and 9th at the State Championship in his first year of running cross-country this fall. Clearly, he's the best distance runner PC has produced. Look for him to challenge all comers (teammates and opponents) in the 1600 and 3200 all year. Another new-comer to track is sophomore, Andrew Moore. He was Most-Improved Runner during the 2003 cross-country campaign and looks to make significant contributions in the 1600. It remains to be seen if he'll also go down to the 800 or up to the 3200 as this is his first year in track.

BOYS The Cougars return most of the talented squad from last year including top ranked sprinters Nate Huss & Geoff Burns who both clocked 10.9 and timed 100s and low 23 200s. Both, along with Kyle Gingg, Sam Ledford, sophomore Danny Lazzaire 11.8, and higly touted freshman TJ Simpson give the Cougars unmatched depth that will includes two dozen more atletes, most members of the state championship football team, and you have one of the best sprint corps in the state. Cougar sprinters accounted for nearly all of thhe high scoring PC football points. Huss, ranked in all three sprints, and an able 800 meter runner, placed 4th in the state at 100 & 400 meters and has the talent to be a force in the 200, both hurdles and both jumps. One of the fastest sprinters in the state last year, Burns seemed poised to be a contender in the 100 & 200 going into the regionals last year. Like Huss, he'll be a contender in all three sprints. He's also a threat in the long, triple and high jumps. Other returning sprinters who figure to be major contributers include Matt Kredit, a late bloomer and a strong 200/400 runner, Ladarius Howard and Kellen Cottrell. All contributed to Cougar 4x100 & 4x400 relay teams last year. Mike Stahl moves down from distance and should help out in either the 400 or low hurdles. Junior Olympian Travis Simpson makes his long awaited debut this season. He was nationally ranked in the JO sprints and has years of relay experience, especially in the 400/200 meters. GIRLS A recent infusion of talent from the spriritline, basketball and volleyball teams will give the girls a new look this season. Erica Bias returns as the top quartermiler and she has the abolity to support both relays and jumps if needed. Sophomore Megan Van Hofwegan finish 3rd at state wit a PR of 63.7 in limited one lap duty. With a little speedwork, she'll again be in the hunt as all 9 400 meter state finalist return. Moriah Huff emerged as one of the regions top sprinters and was a medal winner in the long jump at region and state, jumping big (3rd at both) when needed (PR 15'6"). Moriah should be a force in the sprints this season as she was clocked with sub 13 & sub 28 100/200s wit limited opportunities. Erika (a junior) has proven range in all three sprints and relays. Freshman Amber Hardaway will provide immediate help in the relays as the girls sprint team seeks growth. In past seasons, Coach Mo's sprinters dominated their regions at Phoenix Moon Valley (every sprint, hurdle & long jump title in 97 & 98 and a region title in 98) and later at Desert Vista (2000 girls state title and tops in region in the '99 sprints, hurdles and a state champion triple jumper in Bobby Wade-now of the Chicago Bears). Look for the tradition to continue at Phoenix Christian.

GIRLS Sprinter Huff is one of the top returning jumpers (3rd) in the state. She'll try the triple jump in '04. Lee and Speck will also look to contribute in the horizontals as will the freshman Hardaway. BOYS Perez is a returning medalist in the long jump, but he'll be challenged by team mates in 2004. Kredit & Howard both Jumped 18 feet last year. Kredit, Skiles & Perez all placed in thhe regions top 10 in the long & triple jumps. Ledford, Burns, Huss & Lazzarie all ave the talent to jump 20' as does Simpson.

BOYS Led by Coaches Lofton & John Duer, the bulk of this group will hail from the 2A state championship football team. Back are Andrew Thompson, Jake Van Hovel, Marcus Lee & Trevor Askland. Hurdler/jumper/quarterback Aaron Skiles has the arm to contribute in the disc. Athletic footballer/hooper/sprinter LaDarius Howard may be asked to help in the disc also. This group is under pressure to perform this year if the team is to contend for regional & state titles. GIRLS Multi sport athlete CY Speck is the girls most versitile athlete. She did well with limited participation last year, but has the ability to do well in both throws. Whitney also returns from last season.