SOUTHRIDGE SUNS TRACK & FIELD COACHING STAFF 2007

Boys Head Coach: Ted Homme

Specialty: Sprints, Relays

Coach Homme began coaching track at Kennewick High in 1978. He was the head Girls Track and Field coach for 13 years at KeHS. His teams have placed 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th in the State Track Meet. He has been named Coach of the Year on three occasions for Big Nine Track and Field.

Homme looks forward to his 8^th season coaching Track at S.H.S. He loves seeing athletes improve their speed and believes that relays are the most exciting event to watch. In fact, he coached state runner-up

4 x 200 girls relay team his first year coaching for the Suns in 1999. In 2000, the girls took state titles in the 4x100 and 4x200. In 2001, Ben Hampton, Southridge’s first male competitor at state, finished 2^nd in the triple jump, and came back in 2002 to win the title while teammate Matt Lybbert finished 5^th in the 200 meter finals. Lybbert also anchored Southridge boys’ first state qualifying 4x100 relay team in 2002, setting a standard that continued into the 2003 season, while yet another 4x100 relay team qualified for state. Golding also placed 5^th in the 200 meter finals at the 2003 state meet. In 2004, Marcus De la Rosa was a state finalist in the 110 hurdles. 2005 brought two state finalists again in the horizontal jumps: Shane Hampton placed 7^th in the long jump and Stephen Marshall placed 3^rd in the triple jump. In 2006, Stephen Marshall won the Pasco Invite in the triple jump, placed 2^nd at state, and also ran on the state qualifying 4x100 team with Chris Warren, Brandon Plunkett, and Zack Williams. Warren also qualified individually in the 400. Each year brings a new success story.

Coach Homme loves the sport of Track and Field and enjoys being a part of the fine staff and students at Southridge. He has been a part of some great performances in Track and Field but feels his greatest accomplishment is seeing student athletes take positive athletic experiences and apply them to their lives.

Girls Head Coach: Sheila Smith  

Specialty:  Jumps

Coach Sheila Smith returns for her 10^th year coaching at SHS. Smith graduated from Washington State University in 1994, where she competed in the long and triple jumps. Her best marks are 19-3 in the long jump and 41-3 in the triple jump. Smith was a team captain and is still on the top 10 all-time list for both horizontal jumps. Smith is one of the few women to ever jump over 41 feet in the triple jump for W.S.U., and had an indoor national ranking in 1994. Smith still enjoys jumping and holds several USA Track and Field Masters records for the Inland Northwest. Last summer, just before her 35^th birthday, she set new records for her age category, leaping 18-3 in the long jump and nearly 39 feet in the triple jump. She was chosen by USA Track and Field as the 2005 National Female Field Event Athlete of the Year.

After graduating from W.S.U., Smith began coaching high school track. In 2002, the Southridge girls team finished 3^rd at the state meet. Jana Manis, who holds the school record in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 7 inches, has placed at the state meet twice and won the prestigious Pasco Invite in the event. Smith also coached school record holder Kristin Singleton, Southridge’s first individual state champion, who jumped 18 feet, 2 ¾ inches. Singleton currently competes at University of Nevada Reno on a Track and Field scholarship. In addition, Smith also coached Southridge’s first male state champion, Ben Hampton, who triple jumped 48 feet, and is currently competing for her alma mater, W.S.U., on a Track and Field scholarship, along with his teammate, former Sun sprinter Nicole Hatcher. In 2005, Smith coached Shane Hampton and Stephen Marshall to the state finals where Shane placed 7^th in the long jump and Stephen placed 3^rd in the triple jump. Last season, Marshall tied the school triple jump record, won the Pasco Invite, Districts and Regionals, and was runner-up at state.

Smith’s husband, Dustin, is a throws coach at Southridge. Their daughter, Jayden Alexis Nicole (named after sprints coach Nicole Hatcher) will turn 3 this spring. Hopefully she will follow in Nicole’s footsteps.

Dustin Smith: Javelin, Shot

Dustin Smith graduated from Kamiakin in 1988 where he earned 8 varsity letters in track, basketball, and football, and was named Male Athlete of the Year his senior year. Smith was the 1988 State Champion in the Javelin, and remains on Kamiakin’s Top 10 List in both the Javelin and Shot. Smith earned a football scholarship to W.S.U. (1988-1993) where he earned 3 varsity letters. His favorite memories include winning two college bowl games and defeating the Huskies twice in the Apple Cup.

Smith has coached Track and Field for 11 years and brings knowledge in from several sports, as well as athletic development, strength and conditioning, and plyometrics. This is his eighth season with the Suns

and looks forward to working with his returning athletes after top competitors Jason Tuck and Victoria Guile graduated in 2004. Vicky holds the school record in the shot, throwing over 38 feet. Smith also coached the first thrower to compete at the state meet in 2002, Jennifer Steel. She currently holds the school record in the javelin. Smith looks forward to working with returning standouts Jeremy Salinas, Josh Antonson, Doug Yale and Ken Dickman.

Dave Hurst: Pole Vault

Coach Hurst began pole-vaulting in seventh grade and still hasn’t quit! His personal best is 14 feet, although his best after age 30 is 12’6. He plans to vault until he can’t run anymore….(or until his son beats him…whichever comes first). While Coach Hurst has coached the high jump for many years, he is now specializing only with boys and girls pole vault. He has worked with two top collegiate high jumpers and has coached Kennewick High School Boy’s record holder as well as the girl’s second highest jumper in recorded history for Kennewick High.

While at Southridge, Hurst has already been to state twice with pole vaulter Heather McClary in 2000 and 2002, and coached school record holder Jessica Fuller. Fuller graduated in 2005 and is currently competing in Track and Field for Washington State University. Junior Cameron Fancher and sophomore Mackenzie Hall have been training very hard and should have outstanding seasons.

Kathy Morrey: Hurdles

Southridge is fortunate to have Kathy Morrey for the fifth year with the Suns. Morrey is an excellent hurdles coach who has shown great dedication and determination in working with athletes. Coach Morrey graduated from Kamiakin High School where she was a state champion on the 4x400 relay team and was a state finalist in the 300 hurdles. She went on to compete for Brigham Young University where she was an all-conference 400 meter hurdler. While running at BYU she also competed in the 100 hurdles, 4x400 relay, 4x100 relay, 400, and 800. Kathy graduated from BYU with a degree in Business Management and minor in coaching. Through the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) she recently has added the titles, Certified Personal Trainer, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, to her credentials.

Following her goal to be a track coach, she began by coaching at Kamiakin for five years and had great success while there. She took some time off to spend with her young children but was excited to return to coaching again and has already seen great results. In three short seasons at Southridge, Morrey has coached school record holder Dustin Golding, a finalist at the district, regional and state level in the 110 hurdles, as well as state finalist Marcus de la Rosa in 2004. Last year freshman Kasey McNeill moved to the #2 spot on the all-time lists for both hurdle races and was a Regional qualifier. Teammate Karissa Strebin is also one of the finest hurdlers to have competed at Southridge and should have an amazing senior year in the 100 hurdles. Coach Morrey looks forward to working with all her returning hurdlers as well as anyone else brave enough to give hurdling a try.

Rick Regan: Discus, Shot

Rick Regan began his teaching career in 1968 for the Department of Zoology at Washington State University, teaching Human Anatomy part-time. In 1971 he started teaching full-time for the Department of Physical Education at W.S.U. He taught weight training, weight lifting, conditioning and SCUBA diving. Beginning in 1972 he became the first director of the Human Anatomy Laboratory at W.S.U. and taught in the WAMI program for the University of Washington School of Medicine.

In 1976, Rick and his wife Lynn moved to Kennewick. During the past 30 years he has taught math, science, biology, health and physical education for the Kennewick School District. Lynn is a librarian at Southridge. Their daughter Tifny graduated from Southridge in 2001, from W.S.U. in 2005, and recently moved to Dallas, Texas, to begin her life in the “real world.” Their son Rod graduated from Southridge in 2004 and is currently in the Marine Corp. where he just completed his first (and hopefully last) deployment to Iraq.

Regan began his coaching career in the summer of 1964 coaching baseball. From 1971 to 1975 he worked with the throwers and football players at W.S.U. teaching them the Olympic lifts and assistant exercises to enhance strength and power. Since then he has coached gymnastics, volleyball and track at both the middle school and high school levels.

Currently Coach Regan teaches strength and conditioning and health at Southridge High School. He also enjoys presenting workshops and doing consulting work in the area of strength and conditioning.

Rick has been selected for inclusion in Who’s Who Among American Educators several times.

Dave Rockstom: Distance

This is Coach Rockstrom’s 3rd season coaching for the Suns. During his 33 years of coaching, he has been head boys and girls track coach, head boys and girls cross country coach and coached AAU and middle school basketball.

Coach Rockstrom explains, “It has been my privilege to have coached two state championships teams and had 10 other teams that finished in the top four at state. Also I have coached 8 different athletes who won individual State Championships as well as many others who have won District or Regional Championships.” However, more importantly, Coach Rockstrom values the relationships he has built with his athletes. “A bigger highlight for me, personally, is coaching smiles. I thoroughly enjoy the reward that is involved with an athlete who achieves a goal. Each athlete I have coached sets goals and when they achieve their goal, it is a life-long learning experience and memory for them and a success for me. I hope to have many more.”

In the last two years there have been 22 new marks added to Southridge’s top 10 list in the distance events, including two school records. Coach Rockstrom hopes to see several more added this year!!

Nicole Hatcher: Assistant Sprints

Nicole Hatcher is one of the finest athletes from the Tri-City area. She was a 1^st team All-Conference soccer player and a extremely successful track athlete, earning 12 state medals and currently holding 5 records for Southridge High School. Hatcher earned a scholarship to Washington State University where she competed in the sprints and relays. She was the Pacific Northwest Indoor 200 meter champion in 2005 with a time of 24.66 and competed at the Pac-10 Championships in both sprints and relays during her time at Washington State. Hatcher is currently teaching at Hanford High School and looks forward to continuing her career as a teacher and coach in the Kennewick School District. We are very fortunate to have someone as dedicated and talented as Nicole return to Southridge to encourage athletes to achieve their goals.

Jamie Monroe: Distance

Jamie Monroe Graduated from Kennewick High School in 1994 where he ran Cross-Country and Track under Coach Rockstrom. In Cross-Country Jamie was on a team that finished 2^nd in State behind the #1 team in the nation at the time Mead High School. Jamie had High school PR’s of 4:31 for the 1600 and 10:22 for the 3200.

After high school Jamie Monroe joined the Navy and went on to become a Navy SEAL becoming one of 19 original graduates from a SEAL Training class that started with 160 students. As a Navy SEAL medic, he did a tour in the Middle East before getting out of the Navy to go to college.

In college, Jamie ran Cross-Country for the University of San Diego where he ran 26:32 for 8km (5 miles, 5:20 mile pace), and was on a team that finished 2^nd in the WCC conference in 2000 for Cross-country. While attending USD Jamie also was a sponsored adventure athlete (Oxydol Extreme Clean Detergent) for 3 Eco-Challenge races in Malaysian Borneo-2000, New Zealand- 2001, and Fiji-2002. The Eco-Challenge is a 4 person team race that covered 300+ miles either paddling or kayaking, hiking, mountain biking and swimming.

Before moving back to the Tri-Cities Coach Monroe lived in Los Angeles and worked as an event director for a company that put on triathlons and running and mountain biking events across the country. Most recently Jamie graduated with a Masters in Business from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and opened his first business venture Salon Monroe.

Heidi Fryer: High Jump

This is Coach Fryer’s first season coaching track at Southridge, though she has been involved in the gymnastics program here for two years. Fryer graduated in 1998 from McLoughlin High School in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, just an hour away. While in high school, she lettered all four years in cross-country and track and competed in seven State Championships between the two sports. In track, she held the pole vault record for 6 years and still holds the triple jump record. Her senior year, she placed 5^th in the 100m hurdles at State. She pole vaulted in the National High School Track and Field Championships in Raleigh, NC in 1998. She also traveled to Kennewick five days a week to compete in club gymnastics, where she took second on balance beam and all-around at State her senior year.

Coach Fryer attended college in Minnesota, where she competed in varsity gymnastics and outdoor track all four years. In gymnastics, she was part of the third place team at the 2002 NCGA National Gymnastics Championships and competed vault and balance beam. She was also an alternate on floor exercise. In track, Fryer was the first woman to compete pole vault for her college. She held the college record in this event until it was broken by only one inch. She also competed in the 100m hurdles, triple jump, and was the lead-off for the 4x100m relay.

Since graduating college, Coach Fryer has volunteered her time with small high schools in Washington and Oregon who can’t always afford specialized coaches. She has been involved in pole vault clinics and hurdle technique workshops. Her first paid position was coaching all the sprints, jumps, hurdles, and relay events at Clarkston High School. During this time, she coached several talented athletes who competed at the Pasco Invite and State Championships. Most of these athletes continue to compete in track in various colleges in Washington and Idaho. Coach Fryer is excited to have the opportunity to coach track again this year. She began this sport as a freshman in high school in response to a challenge that “Girls can’t pole vault!” and now can’t live without it.

Interested results for the Pasco Invite, Districts, and Regionals? Check out: http://www.jcrawford.net/ Also, check out the Tri-City Herald’s Sports web page: www.tricityherald.com/SPORTS/trackroll.html