WV tears down the John Frank By Jeffery Jen (Record-Searchlight sports) Sunday, April 15, 2007 SHASTA LAKE -- The wet conditions turned the boys discus event into an adventure Saturday at the 37th annual John Frank Invitational track and field meet at Central Valley High School. What the event didn't turn into was a showcase for West Valley standout Jake Fuller and the other top throwers in the Northern Section. Not with rain and mud making the throwing circle too slick to get much traction. "I wanted to go for the meet record," Fuller said. "But, conditions didn't allow that to happen. It was horrible with all the mud and rain." Fuller didn't knock down a meet record this time. Instead, he and fellow discus thrower, Shasta's Jason Wacker actually knocked down part of the netting frame that surrounds the discus throwing pit. The Eagles senior did rebound enough to win the event with a toss of 167 feet, 7 inches on his fourth attempt, but the circle never got dry enough for him to launch one past the 172-3 meet mark. Fuller's 180-9 throw earlier this season is the second-best discus throw in the state. During warmups before the final flight, Wacker released his toss too early and his discus struck the top portion of a tall white frame, knocking it down and leaving Wacker a little red-faced. However, Fuller matched him on his first attempt, hitting the frame in the same spot and causing it to fall as well. By that time, Fuller’s grandfather Bob McMullen made his way to the same side to film Fuller’s throw. Instead, McMullen dived out of the way to make sure he didn’t have the frame posts fall on him. Fuller went to check on him, but came to improve on his next three throws to claim another first-place result in the discus. “I had to slow down and relax a bit,” Fuller said. Central Valley’s Jeff Janulewicz finished second at 141-3, while Wacker wound up third at 130-1. With conditions unfavorable for a big throw, the highlight of the meet went to Fuller’s teammate, Josh McOmber. The senior blazed to a meet-record 14.41 seconds in winning the 110-meter hurdles, to the second-fastest electronic time in section history. “I was surprised about the time,” McOmber said. “But, I felt relaxed out there and I’m running real well right now.” McOmber then cruised to a second victory in the 200 in 22.83, more than a second faster than anyone else. The closest battle came in the boys 1,600 between Fall River’s Brent Handa and Enterprise’s Eric Malain. “I told Brent that we needed to run something around 4:25 before the race,” Malain said. “So, we went out and shared the lead for the first two laps, then raced each other in the final two laps.” Handa would jump out in front and try to pull away in the third lap, but Malain passed him to start the final lap and held on for a win in 4:25.19. Handa was second in 4:25.57 with the pair clear of the remainder of the field by 15 seconds. West Valley rolled to a sweep in the team standings. The Eagles boys team rolled up 108 points as Ethan Ostrom tied his meet record and won the pole vault at 12-6, while Trevor Siperek and Ryan Fairley went 1-2 in the 3,200 with Siperek winning in 9:56.19. Anthony Oliva also won the 100 in 11.39 and Andy Miller won the shot put in 48-2 for the Eagles. Central Valley’s Eric Cary took the pole vault in 6-2, while Anderson’s Chad Dunlap won the long jump (21-2). Red Bluff did well in the middle distance events. Nathan Rebol took the boys 800 in 2:02.77, matching the first-place result of his younger sister Erynn, who won the girls 1,600 (5:22.5). The Spartans’ Ana Eicholtz also won the girls 800 in 2:22.44, holding off West Valley sophomore Michelle Johnson (2:23.09). The Eagles girls still dominated the team results with 139 points, while Red Bluff was a distant second with 54 points. Shasta took third with 53, followed by Oroville (51) and Foothill (43). Other WV standouts were Stephanie Alward winning the 100 hurdles (17.03) and placing second in the long jump and 300 hurdles, Rocky Russell taking the triple jump (34-4) and placing third in the 100 (13.59). Eagles sophomore Amanda Oliva won the 100 in 13.32, while Alyssa Christensen won the 200 (26.74). In field events, Becky Unger and Ashley Turner went 1-2 in girls discus. Unger won with a throw of 112-2, but Turner took first in the shot put (35-4˝). A couple of small-school performers also took firsts. Bishop Quinn’s Lauren Galligan won the 400 (1:02.56), while American Christian’s Bethany Rasmussen claimed the 3,200 (12:00.03). Heritage, out of Brentwood, was second with 51 points among boys, followed by PV (45), Red Bluff (44) and Enterprise (35). Top marks Key athletes at John Frank Invite. Boys Josh McOmber, West Valley: 1st in 110 hurdles (meet-record 14.41 seconds), 1st in 200 (22.83) Eric Mailain, Enterprise: 1st in 1,600 (4:25.16) Girls Amanda Oliva, West Valley: 1st in 100 (13.32), 3rd in 200 (27.42) Ashley Turner, West Valley: 1st in shot put (35-4˝), 2nd in discus (110-5)