VOL. XXII, NO. 11
JUNE 6, 1981

Track Season Ends; Boys Go Downstate
The Maine West varsity track team sent two of its competitors to the Illinois High School Association track state finals at Eastern Illinois University at Charleston. A total of eight area athletes qualified out of the Evanston District track meet for the state meet.

Maine West junior Chris Walsh, who conditioned virtually all year for this state meet, qualified in the 800 and 1,600 meter runs. Walsh won the 1,600 meter run at Evanston and placed second only to Maine East's Kurt Rothisberger, with a time of 1:56.6.

Mr. Ron Brown, varsity track coach, said, "You can't have an eight second drop in the mile and not surprise your competition. There were six or seven milers in that race who had run better times than Chris Walsh clocked a 4:21.7, which may lead him to just running in that event only. I think it 		would be nice to have a junior make it to the state finals, but in order to do that he'll have to run between a 4:16 and a 4:18 to qualify." Coach Brown later commented, "The talent is there; it's all starting to come together for him."

Also qualifying at the state meet was Wade Usyak, with a 6-foot-5 1/2inch leap in the high jump which put him in second place. That height was a new Maine West outdoor record and Wade's best this season. Coach Brown said, "He's been flirting with that height all year; his timing just wasn't there before." Before the state meet, Brown believed that Wade would have to jump at least 6-4 or 6-5 to make the top 12 cut for the finals.

The team is now looking forward to a good year with Walsh having experience from this year's state meet and being in even better condition.