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Clearing all
obstacles
Partial loss of hearing hasn't held back Hodgson's jumper/sprinter By MIKE
FINNEY In mid-March, the sign greeting visitors in front of Hodgson Vo-Tech read, "Quiet, Testing Zone." For Mitch Ryan, the halls of the school have been fairly silent his four years there. The senior lost much of his hearing in a bout with spinal meningitis when he was 13 months old. He almost lost his life. He has only about 70 percent of his hearing with the help of a hearing aid, but it did not take away his spirit. Ryan competes in the high jump, long jump, triple jump and some sprint events for the Silver Eagles. His father, John, said Mitch was two or three days away from death before an antibody was found at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He and Mitch's mother, Patricia Clifton, prayed and prayed for a cure. Doctors searched and searched through blood samples to find an antibody. "He had a cold one week and we went to the doctor and he couldn't get rid of it," John Ryan said. "Back in 1983, it was not a common thing. "The spinal meningitis attacked the lining of his nervous system and attacked his ears. He spent 31 days in Wilmington General Hospital. "That was a pretty hectic time. He was pretty close to being gone. The doctors said he had only two or three days left to live." So now when another runner on a relay prepares to hand off the baton to the Hodgson senior, a loud yell is heard across the track, making sure the exchange is a successful one. Those are small prices to pay, considering the alternative Mitch Ryan faced as a baby. But Ryan is not a sympathetic figure. He is a competitor. The outgoing 5-foot-7, 155-pound jumper is a threat to win a couple of state championships in track and field this season. "He finished second in the state in the high jump, both indoors and outdoors," said Hodgson track coach Marge Dougherty. "This year he was the Grand Prix winner for the long jump in indoor track." Aside from the hearing aid embedded in his right ear, Ryan was like any other member of the Silver Eagles at a March practice, tossing a football as they ran warmup laps around the wind-whipped track. "He's always trying really hard. He never stops trying, no matter what," said Carl Elder, a junior at Hodgson. "He's a grade ahead of me, so I've always looked up to him anyway. He's always outshined me, too. "I was over at his house one day and he has this nice setup with weights and everything. He's quite an athlete." Like many high school students, much of Ryan's spare time is spent in front of the TV. Spare time is hard to find for him during track season, though. "It's a lot of hard work," Ryan said. Coaching an athlete with a hearing impairment was new to Dougherty when Ryan joined the team four seasons ago. But he helped make her job easier with his open nature. "This is a first, but he does whatever he can to make sure that he understands," she said. "And not only that, but he tries to help out the other kids. With all the knowledge that he's gained, he tries to pass it on. "He spends a lot of time reading lips, basically. Sometimes when I give commands orally, I'll have to give him a hand signal so he can hear me or know when to start. "The sprints are difficult. Especially when he's doing handoffs to get the baton. They have to make sure they yell pretty loudly so that he can hear them. But so far we've never had any real problems with that." Ryan said he has always been drawn to the track. He was always trying to keep up with his older brother, Jay, who graduated from Hodgson in 1997. "I've been able to run fast most of my life," Ryan said. "Like playing baseball, I was able to get around the bases pretty fast. So I decided to try track my freshman year." So he jumped and ran sprints ... jumped and ran sprints. He says the events go hand in hand. Sprinting helps jumping and jumping helps sprinting. "You've got to do a lot of sprint workouts," he said. "You've got to learn how to do your form and stuff." Ryan's personal bests make him a state championship contender. His best high jump is 6 feet, 2 inches, his tops in triple jump is 39-9, and his best in long jump is 21-0. "The indoor season helped me out a lot," he said. "It gets you in good condition for the spring season." Another thing that kept Ryan is condition is football. "I played varsity football the last four years at wide receiver and safety," he said. "A couple of times it was aggravating when my hearing aid would pop out in the middle of the game and we're like, 'Time out! Time out!'" Ryan said. He is planning to attend college, with Delaware and Lehigh at the top of his short list. But for now, he just wants to help Hodgson keep up its recent string of success on the track. The Silver Eagles went 8-0 last season and won their fourth Blue Hen Flight B title in the past five years. "We should do pretty good," Ryan said. "It all depends on how everybody comes to practice every day. "I want to do well in all the jumps, just try to run and jump as good as I can to help the team out." He has already served as an inspiration. Reach Mike Finney at 734-7945.
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Boys track season preview
A look at the 2001 boys track season, based on preseason information submitted by head coaches. Teams listed by conference in alphabetical order. Blue Hen Conference
Charter will have a young team, with a couple of noted middle- to long-distance runners in Colin Dentel-Post and Pat Ruff. Among seniors are Jamil Garcia (hurdles, sprints and throws) and Pelumi Magbagbeola (jumps).
Christiana will go after another season of success behind Quinn Martin and Joe Dury. Martin is a top contender in sprints and hurdles, with Dury among many Vikings expected to do well at middle distances. Some others are Tim Bradley, Themba Alleyne and Tsering Alleyne. After Martin, the team doesn't have the sprinters it did last year. Looking to step in is David McComb. Heading the field competitors are Matt Johnson and Kris Cooper.
Glasgow coach Alan Duncan said the Dragons will do their best despite a low number of athletes. The Dragons can feed off a strong showing at the indoor state meet, where relay teams were paced by Dyshee Pierre, Vernon Gibson, Matt Scherr, Curtis Brown, Alan Pearson, Laurens Maliepaard, Quincy Dews and Dante Washington.
Hodgson's strength is its jumpers. Troy Dennis was a state champ at Division II in the long and triple jump last year, with Mitch Ryan among the top three in the long and high jump. Eddie Barksdale is a leading sprinter, with Andrew Scarpitti and Mike Grafton the leading distance runners. Larry Cylc competes in discus.
Mount Pleasant has strength in the sprints with seniors Tony Clark and Magic Thomas and junior Kerry Miles. At the middle distances the Green Knights will count on Craig Andrews, Tyler Mayforth and Ryan Ramos. Coach Randle Holmes said the largest factor on how the team will succeed is its small numbers, since several athletes will compete in three or four events at each meet.
Henlopen Conference
Cape Henlopen returns multiple event winners from last year's state meet, such as Larry Miller, Dewayne Holloman and Kyle Mansfield. But the Vikings, champions in Division II last year, will compete in Division I at this year's state meet. Coach Pat Pollock said the team is aware of and ready for the challenge. Cape's strong field event competitors are led by Chris Neubling, Mike Blankenship, James Eley, Larry Miller, Nick Lemmon and Hao Gaun. Pollock said there are holes to fill in the distance races. Stepping in are Andrew Freeman and Matt Jackson. Matt Riggs and Nick Adams head the sprinters.
Dover will compete with the familiar names that have consistently made the Senators a top contender in recent seasons, starting with Odun Balogun (hurdles) and Jason Lilly (200, 400).
Lake Forest has good numbers, starting with distance specialists Mike Gleeson and Steve O'Beda. George Hicks sprints for the Spartans, Jeff Scott is a hurdler and Cedeno Patrick, Tony Powell and Mike Yost lead the way in the field events.
Polytech has some experienced pole vaulters back in seniors Chris Boyles and Aaron Zimmerman, and some seasoned distance runners with seniors Chris Hall and John Leech. John Drummond runs the middle distances, and Bruce Daye and Robert Winters head the sprinters.
Seaford has built up some depth for this season, though coach Vince Morris said it doesn't mean the team has a lot experience just yet. Heading its returnees are Ramaar Cannon (sprints); Cameron Fitzgerald, Cole Scott, Quentin Speight and Seth Elder (distance); Charles Brittingham (hurdles) and Ben Hastings (pole vault). Field competitors are Aaron Irvine, Cannon and Brandon Stump.
Smyrna is another strong field events team, starting with Randy Faulkner, the pole vault champ at this year's indoor meet. Shawn Thomas does well in shot put and discus, with Marcus Solloway going in the shot put and hurdles. In running events, the Eagles have John Worral, Ben Taylor and Reid Doughten.
Independent Conference
Tatnall's young team is guided by Adam Franklin, Matt Smallheer and Travis Hunter (sprints), Max Greene (shot put, discus) and Thomas Peter and Kyle Kershner (distance). Smallheer and Hunter also are top throwers.
Tower Hill brings back two top seniors in Rob Randolph and Adam Kalamchi. Randolph was first in the 110 and 300 hurdles at last year's Division II state meet, and finished second in the 200. Kalamchi was second in the 400, and looks to track down a school record in that event this season.
Nonconference
Caravel will call on Harry Wright (hurdles), Kameron Cale (shot put, discus), Scott Neifert (distance), Dave Winfield (triple jump), Mike Price (sprints), Justin Saunders (shot put, discus) and Jamie Juno (distance).
Salesianum started to come on strong near the end of the indoor season. The traditionally deep team will be led by distance runners Charlie Dielmann, Brian Monaghan and Kevin Winchell. Sprinters are Harris McDowell and Andrew Purner, with the top jumpers and hurdlers being David Robinson, Ian Baker and Jim DelGrosso.
St. Mark's goes into one last running season with its top distance runners Kyle Berseth, Mike Lahm and Chris Coyne. The Spartans also have Nick Gupta (200) and Tim White (800).
Wilmington Christian has a smaller team but some top talent in distance runners Chris Lucernoni, Jeff Raybould, Nate Singer and Luke Holbrook. Brandon Loomis is a leading sprinter, with Mike Smith heading the middle distances. Andrew Carnes goes in the hurdles and relays.
– Compiled by Buddy Hurlock