Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Saturday, Jun. 27, 2009

PREP BOYS' TRACK: Moore the best of the best

Winning a pair of individual state titles was not all Blaine's Shayne Moore set his sights on when the track season began this spring.

"When we were setting goals at the beginning of the season, I knew he would have a shot to win titles in both the 300 hurdles and the 110 (hurdles)," Borderites coach Mike Grambo said in a phone interview. "He finished third at state last year, and he loves to run the 110, so I knew he could do it. But when I sat down with him, I told him that nobody from Blaine had ever been selected Whatcom County's top track athlete of the year. And that's when his eyes lit up."

By accomplishing his first goal of sweeping the Class 2A hurdling state titles, Moore has now accomplished his second and can call himself the county's best.

Moore was selected The Bellingham Herald's All-Whatcom County Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Lynden coach Layne Hutchins, who led the Lions to their first state title by six points over second-place Blaine, was selected the Coach of the Year.

"I knew this was within my reach," Moore said in a phone interview after hearing of the award. "I remember reading the articles and seeing the athletes' picture in the paper with those epic portraits. To be selected the top athlete in the county is quite an honor."

Even more so, considering the senior is the first Blaine athlete in any sport to earn the county's top honor in the four years the postseason award has been selected for each sport.

"When I first got here, we were struggling in a lot of sports," Moore said. "I can remember, especially playing football, it was rough at times. But each year, it's been getting better and better. It's been pretty cool to watch the transition to where it is now."

Moore certainly earned the recognition as the county's best this spring over a talented field of track and field athletes from Whatcom County that either won their own titles or placed highly in multiple events. But what set him apart was that he won two titles - and in convincing fashion.

"Being the best in Whatcom County and in this district is crazy," Moore said. "Four of the top eight teams (at the 2A state meet) are from Whatcom County and our district. Being able to say you are the top athlete in Whatcom County - you really are saying you are the best of the best."

It would be very difficult to argue that fact after the season Moore turned in this spring.

On top of winning the 110 hurdles at the 2A state meet with a time of 14.61 seconds, he won every 110 hurdles final he entered this spring except one - where he finished second to Burlington-Edison's Jeff Adams at the April 18 Larry Eason Invitational at Snohomish.

He was equally as impressive in the 300 hurdles, where he won the 2A state title with a blazing time of 38.89 seconds. His only finals loss this year in an event considered one of the toughest on the track came at the March 27 Lynden Bedlington Twilight Meet, where he finished second to Burlington-Edison's Cole Sager.

Moore also was a vital part of Blaine's 4x400 relay team, teaming with Caleb Statham, Jacob Rogers and Ephraim Westbrook to help the Borderites place fifth in the event with a time of 3:28.36.

And he did all of that despite a surgically repaired shoulder that he said he's still regaining strength in.

As a sophomore, he dislocated his shoulder while playing football. Last spring, whenever he nicked a hurdle in practice or in a meet, he would feel the shoulder pop out. In mid-stride he would pop it back in and keep going, but the injury required surgery about a month before the start of football season last fall.

"It was really tough missing my senior year of football," Moore said. "I was still a captain for the team, but I missed being out there with my teammates. I think that made me hungrier to do better this spring."

That hunger motivated him to work hard throughout the winter to prepare for the spring.

"Every day, I'd be leaving school around 3:30 or 4:30, and I'd see Shayne getting the hurdles out on the track by himself and working out," Grambo said. "We can't coach them then, so I'd watch him through the glass and be yelling things to him that he obviously couldn't hear, but it was great to see him working so hard. I think his state titles are really neat, because it shows you what hard work can do."

Wins and hard work tell only part of the story about Moore, whom Grambo said is also an excellent teammate and a good friend to all his competitors.

"You don't often see the great athlete be a great team player, but Shayne is one of those guys," Grambo said. "He puts other athletes before himself. He is always there to help out other athletes on our team and cheer them on at meets. He is so supportive. ... He's a man of character, and those are the tough ones to replace."

His support didn't end with the athletes wearing the Borderites' orange and black uniforms, though.

Moore also is extremely close with other athletes in the Northwest Conference, including his fiercest competitors from Burlington-Edison.

"Without Jeff Adams, I wouldn't have been able to do what I did this year," Moore said. "He pushed me to keep getting better, and I knew it was going to be one of the two of us to win the state titles this year. We developed this great friendship off the track. We were fierce competitors on the track, but as soon as we cross the finish line, we were friends again. ... When Jeff tripped in the 110 finals at the district meet and didn't make it to state, it was heartbreaking. I cried with him. I really missed being able to compete against him at state."

Moore will have plenty of other tough rivals to run against in the coming year, though, as he is heading to the University of Washington on a partial track scholarship.

"I think his best race in college is going to be the 400 hurdles," Grambo said. "He will run the 110s good, but they are higher. I think he will really excel in the 400 hurdles. He's the type of athlete and the type of kid that I believe can do whatever he sets his mind to."

Obviously that now includes being selected the best in Whatcom County.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.