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Show Hard Work Pays Off For Fuller si- f , f ',:. ''? T H yS'fJBnSS V'-.. I Dave Wigham Clipper Sports BOUNTIFUL -- No one was willing to make the award before the race began but all bets were on Viewmont's senior Brian Fuller to win the individual titles at the Region Four cross country meet held last week at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City. "BRIAN WOULD have to be the favorite, just by his times. It would be great to see him win it individually," noted his coach Lynn DuBois. All Brian would say was "I think it would be neat to win region, if it helps my team." Well last week Brian ran away from the rest of the runners to claim the top individual honors hon-ors in the region, in addition he helped guide the Vikings to their second straight region title as a team. Because of his efforts this season Brian is one of the big reasons the Vikes are one of the favorites for the state meet to be held on the same course this Wednesday. ONE OF the big question marks for the Vikes at state though is the injury status of Mike Allen. Mike placed third last week in the region meet and is being counted on heavily to place in the top ten at state. Last Friday at workouts though he pulled a thigh muscle and it's not known for certain the condition he'll be in come race time. With him at 100 percent the Vikings are considered legitimate legi-timate contenders for the crown, without him they would drop back into the pack. IT WILL BE Fuller though that the Vikes will be looking toward for leadership. The slim senior has come on strong this season to establish estab-lish himself as one of he top cross country runners in the state. "He's been very dependable depend-able and steady for us" noted DuBois. "I think he'll finish in the top five in state and he has a good chance to win it." Among his accomplishments this season has been the setting of a new Viewmont course record. His time of 12:23.0 beat the old mark of 12:28.0 by five full seconds. The old mark was set last year by one Alan Parker so Fuller is in elite company, "I can honestly say he's as equally as good as Parker if not better in cross country" added DuBois. "I don't look at the record as being better than Alan but it gave me confidence to realize I was just as good as him anyway" Brian offered. BRIAN WAS born and raised in the area, with a brief three year stay in Texas, and he began running because of scouting. "We did a lot of hiking in the mountains so a friend of mine talked me into running to get our legs in shape" he laughed. From there he just caught the spirit and running became part of his daily routine. He ran for Centerville Junior in both the 8th and 9th grades setting a district record in the ninth grade. Despite his success he doesn't have a fond memory of junior high track, "to be honest it's a joke. I never was timed until I went to my first meet and then we only had two of them all year." AS A SOPHOMORE at Viewmont he quickly quick-ly established himself as a runner of the future by earning the number three spot on the varsity team. Then last year as a junior Brian faltered a little, "I guess I just accepted the fact that I was number two behind Alan and just didn't try as hard as I should have." Don't get things wrong though, there are no hard feelings, quite the opposite, between Alan and Brian. "He really helped me a lot last season, especially with my stride" Brian quickly offered of his friend. Then it was Parker who told, encouraged really, Brian to try hard during the summer for his senior season. "Alan told me it was hard work during the summer that made him as good as he was and that I could do the same thing. I decided right then to try my hardest." So during dur-ing the time from July 1 until August 25th, Brian Fuller would run on the average 8 miles a day for six days a week. THAT WORK has paid off up till now and Brian already has a region title in his pocket but now he hopes it will carry him into this state meet. "First in region was a neat thing for me but now it's time for state. I would love to finish in the top three. Brewer of Hillcrest and Jenkins of Granger are both extremely tough so we'll just have to wait and see" he smiled. It might be noted here that both Brewer and The bets were on Brian Fuller to win ' the individual honors in last week's cross country meet. Jenkins won their region titles last week on this same course that Fuller won his. Of the three times Fuller has the fastest by far. Brewer had the fastest of his two rivals with a time of 12:40 but Brian shattered that mark in setting a new course record at Sugarhouse with a great time of 12:14. There is no one at Viewmont that has a bad word about Brian Fuller. Teachers claim him to be an ideal student, his peers respect him and his accomplishments, and his coach admires his work and leadership. BRIAN Fuller worked five long years for his region title. He also has worked hard for a shot at the state title, today he goes after that dream. |
