Mount Si track and field had solid success last season, and this year’s prospects look to build on that foundation.

The boys team, coached for the fifth season this spring by Chris Jackson, and the girls team, helmed by longtime coach Dave Clifford for his 32nd season, will look to replace a lot of big names who graduated in 2008.

Many of last year’s standouts are now competing in college. However, Mount Si coaches expect new players to fill those holes nicely with a lot of youthful energy.

The Wildcat girls appear to be poised to contend for a league title this season.

“We’re really excited about this season,” Clifford said. “The girls, especially, have a lot of returners — girls that competed at state for two or three years.

“We’ve got some new kids out that have some speed,” he added. “I think we have a real shot to compete.”

Among the many top returners this season are seniors Stephanie Burk, Megan Past, Molly Meyers, Diana Keller, Kayla McLain and Tori Howell.

Burk, who competes mainly in the high jump and triple jump, started her season early Saturday, Feb. 28, in amazing fashion. She won in both events in an open college meet at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland.

“I was amazed,” Burk said. “There’s a bunch of college students — they’ve been practicing for awhile, they’re doing all these warm-ups together — and I was just sitting there by myself. Somehow I just pulled it in, and I won high jump,” nearly beating a personal record.

“For triple jump, I jumped farther than I had since I was a freshman,” Burk added.

There are several top newcomers as well, including star athletes from other sports. Soccer player Nikki Stanton and gymnast Georgia Reynolds turned out this season. Stanton, a senior, is expected to run in sprinting events, while Reynolds, a junior, appears likely to compete in the pole vault.

Clifford expects Mercer Island and Bellevue to also contend for the league title.

This year looks to be a rebuilder for the boys team.

“We graduated a ton of good seniors and so we’re going to be looking to fill some big shoes,” said Jackson, whose team finished second in league and in districts last year, 15th in state.

Among key returners for the boys are seniors Brandon Roddewig, Kyle Stevens and Ryan Frazier, along with junior Zac Pearlstein.

A noticeable newcomer to pay attention to is junior sprinter Nick Beck. Another junior, Max McDevitt, also looks to step up this season.

Jackson is looking for a middle-of-the-pack finish for the boys within the league this season. Look for Bellevue and MI to be in the hunt for the league title on the boys’ side.

Competition

With Burk’s performance on top of the several collegians from the ‘Cats, the program is producing some good competitors.

“It’s just really good coaching and a lot of hard work and a lot of team spirit,” said McDevitt.

Community support is also a big part of the equation for success.

“It’s just a sign of the times,” Jackson said. “We’ve got a community here that is, more and more, demanding excellence in everything. So we have kids coming through the middle school to the high school that are fairly accomplished athletes. We just try and take it from there.”

Both programs have a strong coaching staff; assistants include veterans Dave Ovall, Suzanne da Ponte, Gregg Meyers, P.J. Stewart, Brian Peterman and Rachel Dillon, and newcomer Brady Jones.

“I think our message to the community is that if you put your kids in our program, they’re going to have a good time. They’re going to get better,” Jackson said.

“Look at this facility,” he added, pointing out Mount Si’s recently-built, state-of-the-art track course. “There’s not a better place in the state to practice or to watch a meet and [we’d] love to have [fans] come out and support us.”

Clifford’s goal is simple.

“Train kids, boys and girls, to maximize their ability in their individual events and qualify them as far as we can get them,” he said.