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Show MAY 20, lao A long time cominpf Lancer's state victory took years to achieve By KEITH DUNCAN , OGDEN Several hours after Layton High School had won their first ever state track and field championship, Russ Jones and his wife Karen were home glancing over the official results and it was Karen who made an observation in surprise. She (Karen) couldnt believe that some schools had come to the state meet and scored just four points or had no points at all, said Russ. But I had to remind her that eight years ago during my first season at Layton, the Lancers didnt score a single point in the state meet held at BYU and were last in the region meet the same year. I remember driving my Trans Am down there because we didnt have enough kids to merit taking a bus. We didnt even stay the second day because no one had made the finals. Its been a long eight years for those who have had a genuine interest in track at Layton High School, continued the Layton coach. But the wait (and work) was worth it. When sophomore Matt Denning crossed the finish line in the mile relay, Jones started dancing around like an Indian rain dancer. It was as the 1987 Layton track team went wild right along with their coach. After eight long years and a million ups and downs that went with them, Layton had achieved Jones impossible dream of track and field title, winning a coveted For me, it was an impossible dream that came true, said Jones, I just cant believe it happening. This time Jones didnt come home in his car, but rather d celebrated the state title on a yellow school bus that let everyone know on the way home what had transpired earlier in Wildcat stadium on the campus of Weber State College. The bus coming home this time had its flashers a beaming and horn a honking to let the world know. When the bus turned into the high school, the new state champs let out one more burst of enthusiasm when they read the schools markee, Home of the State Champions.' Paul Smith and the rest of his new administration had beat the team home and started laying out the red carpet. Smith, however, was getting used to this kind of thing after going through three straight region championships. The principal got on the bus and spoke to the kids and prom-- ised them a recognition assembly earlier this week. It was a happy time for all. Coach after coach had come up to Jones to congratulate him, but Jones probably got no greater thrill than when Davis John Flint clinched his fist and said, Great job Russ, you deserved mob-man- ia 4-- A jam-packe- Staff photos by Keith Duncan 4-- A : : ; : it. Flints Davis brigade was - in the title hunt too on Saturday, a man whose efforts and example go a long way with Jones. For years the Layton coach was a silent student of Flints as the latter worked his wonders at Clearfield High. I learned a hellava lot from John, hes a hellava guy. John was one of the first to congratulate me. Hes always been there to support me, said Jones. Beforeall the hoopla though ancRjefore Smith went home and- -' immediately announced the news on the schools marque, Layton certainly had their share of adversity to overcome before winning the title. But true grit and an unbelievable positive desire by the athletes pierced the very thought of defeat. Paul Kealamakia (placed third in the 100 high hurdles and ran a leg of the mile relay) used to tell me once a week last fall that this was the year wed take state. The kids really wanted it bad. But nothing sticks out in my memory more than when ' Robert Porter (won the discus at state) came to school with a patch on his lettermans jacket designating our region championship his sophomore year. I asked him why hed put it there and he told me that right below it would go the 1986 region championship patch. Then he saidhed put the 1987 region patch . on the other arm and below that was going the 1987 state championship patch. Its amazing that these kids believed they could do it, even as sophomores, said Jones. But the positive thinking was needed as Layton seemed to run into adversity every time they turned around. On Friday Porter failed to place in the shot put after battling with the flu all week. Those were points the Lancers were heavily counting on. Reliable performers never scored any points in the pole vault or the 300 intermediate hurdles and with that, it was looking fairly gloomy. Matters only worsened when Layton found themselves down going into the final event of the day and by one point (64-6in Jones finally had to pull out Gary Willhide, his anchor-ma- n the mile relay, whod pulled a hamstring. Before Gary told me he was hurt, I felt pretty good about things because our mile relay could probably come through. But and insert a sophomore to pull out your best quarter-mile- r (Denning) was just asking too much. But the kid (Denning) never gave up an inch of ground. He may not have gained on the front runners, but he didnt lose any either. Matt ran the best split of his life , something like a 5 1 .55 . 1 had told him to stick around because we might need him and when I finally told him to get ready, his eyes must have grown two or three inches. d Jones was proud of the sophomore who took fourth in the long jump, ran a leg of the state champion sprint relay and of course came through in tne days final race. I For the first time in Layton Highs history, a track and field team finally won a state championsip. Russ Jones Layton Lancers moved ahead of Weber in the last event of the day to win the championship by just three points over the Warriors. 4-- couldnt have been prouder of the little guy, get a little sleep and spend some time with my wife whod thought Id gone crazy and married track instead of her. Itll be good to get some peace of mind and rest up a bit. There hasnt hardly been a day go by the past three or four months that I havent come to tell Karen about a joy or disappointment. Track has been the only topic of discussion at our dinner table. This is an emotional thing, continued Russ, There hasnt been a day go by since January that I havent whistled, hummed or sung the Impossible Dream song. Now its a dream come true for a lot of athletes. said Jones. The kids fought through adversity and despite thinking we were down and out at times, they still came back and did some incredible things. I just cant explain their efforts and positive attitudes. I just thank God for giving us the opportunity to be there and giving our kids the ability to perform like they did. We couldnt have done it without a little of His help. This day has been a long time in coming. Now maybe, I can 4-state Layton captures By KEITH DUNCAN OGDEN Adversity, and plenty to spare, got in the way of Layton Highs track and field team last weekend but never quite enough to prevent them from win A ning the schools first ever state track championship. Layton, down by a single point heading into the final event of the day, finished third in the mile relay which was enough to propel the Lancers past Weber High and on to track title A coveted heights. Layton finsihed with 69 points and Weber settled with 66. Davis was a surprising third with 65 and Alta was fourth with 46. 3 The Warriors were ahead with one relay event left. Weber had actually beaten Layton in the mile relay in past meets, so the suspense was thick in the final moments of the track championships. One of the adversity hurdles the Lancers had to overcome emerged 64-6- 4-- A just fifteen minutes before the race when it was determined that senior sprint star Gary Willhide, could not anchor the mile relay because of a tom hamstring. Russ Jones had to insert sophomore Matt Denning who earlier had helped the sprint relay to a state championship. Calvin Biesecker started the mile relay for Layton and jumped out to an early lead before giving Continued Next Page 3) blond-haire- Staff photos by Knltti Duncan nappy quartet of Lancers includes William Reid, Craig Matt Denning and Gary Willhide. These four blazed to a new school record in the 440 yard relay and were fast enough to capture the state championship in state finals. that event last Saturday during the A . 4-- A TIME FOR HOME CLEAN-U- P FIX-U- P PROJECTS PAINTING LANDSCAPING ADD ON A NEW ROOM Big, bushy, beautiful 4 Geraniums- - U 30 6 Geraniums- - 225 Cals Flint Floral 336 E. 2nd S., Kaysville tj ROOFGUTTER REPAIRS NEW KITCHEN SEE US FOR YOUR HOME IMPROVEMENT LOAN Barnes Banking Co. 33 SO. Main, Kaysville, Utah FULL SERVICE MEMBER F.D.l.C. OUR STRONG BANK IS YOUR BEST SECURITY. Since 1891 OR COME IN FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 6-- 544-342- 4 on Fridays Monday through Thursday and Drive-iMonday through Friday 8-- 6 n: 6-- |