Eagles Making Track and Field Progress, Javelin Thrower 2nd in NorCal
The 10 members of the Eagle men's track and field team have been working hard and making progress during a series of meets leading up to the Golden Valley Championships, which will be held April 26th at Yuba College.
All 10 are Eagle football players, and the head track coach this spring is longtime assistant football and weightlifting coach Tim Frisbie, who responded to a request from athletic director Charlie Roche after previous coach Julius Jones took a position elsewhere.
Team highlights so far include a javelin throw of 48.81 meters (160 feet, 1 inch) by freshman Anthony Seiler of Chico, the second best throw so far this season in the GVC and Northern California and 10th best throw in the state. Seiler, a transfer from Butte College, hit that mark April 5th at the Linfield Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational in McMinnville, OR. Seiler also ranks 5th among GVC long jumpers with a mark of 5.86m, which he hit at the Beaumont meet in Redding March 1st, which was the Eagles' season-opener.
Sophomore Key'shawn Thomas of Bremerton, WA, had his best javelin throw of 38.16m at the Beaumont meet and is currently ranked 8th in the GVC. He also ranks 9th in the shot put at 11.95m and 13th in the discus at 34.52m.
Sophomore Genaro Reyna of Cashmere, WA, had his best times of the season at the Chico Twilight Invitational April 11th: 11.65 in the 100m and 23.61 in the 200m. He currently ranks 11th among GVC sprinters in the 200m and 14th in the 100m.
Freshmen Zaveon Jones of Mountlake Terrace, WA, and Howie Thorne of Pasco, WA, had their best shot put marks at the Wildcat Invite March 7th at Chico State. Jones' throw of 10.9m ranks 13th in the GVC, and Thorne threw it 9.63m.
Freshman Robin Trenbeath of Phoenix, OR, ranks 15th in conference with a long jump of 5.31m, a mark he set at the Beaumont meet.
Thorne had his best javelin throw of the season, 32.85m, at the Twilight meet, which is 15th best in the GVC, and sophomore Soren Slowikowski of Ashland, OR, had a best of 30.2m at the meet in McMinnville.
Freshman Julian Lehman of Corvallis, OR, (4.75m) and Slowikowski (4.5m) both rank top 20 in the GVC.
Freshman Asher Lucas had his best 100m time of 12.11 at the Wildcat Invite, where Trenbeath also had his best 100m time of 12.38.
Frisbie said the team is planning to soon field a 4-by-100m relay team, and he praised the Eagle athletes for "showing up, working hard and getting better" despite the inclement weather adversity they faced early in the season. "It's a great group of kids."
A snow-covered track limited the team's on-field practice time, and they opened the season at the Beaumont meet before they'd had a workout on their own field.
Frisbie has past experience coaching track at Siskiyous, but he doesn't see himself as a "track guy." So, he's glad to have the help of assistant coach Steve Pyles, who has many years of experience coaching track and field at both Yreka High School and COS.
Frisbie said the Eagles have also benefited from the assistance offered by former head coach Katie Woodward, now an assistant coach at Yreka High, where the Eagles practice throwing twice a week.
The Eagles do not have a women's track and field team this season.
By Steve Gerace