CHS has 'Moore' on track

Matt Moore knows that he truly won't know where he stands until he qualifies for the NIAA 4A State Championships to be held the third weekend of May in Southern Nevada.

But the Carson High senior hurdler has enough confidence to know he may be able to to hold his own against the best that Las Vegas has to offer.

"I've got to wait to go down to Vegas to see if they can beat me - to see if they can come close," Moore said.

Moore has been virtually unbeatable in the 300-meter hurdles and the 110-meter high hurdles this season on the high school level. Moore continued his strong season on Saturday at the Silver State Invitational at Spanish Springs when he ran a converted time of 39.34 seconds to win the event.

It appears Moore is peaking at the right time of the year heading into a meet this weekend at Brigham Young University.

"I felt great," said Moore about last Saturday. "I feel I'll do a better job at BYU this weekend."

"My goal for state is a 37.5," added Moore, whose obvious goal is to sweep the 300 and 110 hurdle events at the NIAA 4A State Championships.

Moore has a season best of 14.8 in the 110 hurdles and his goal is to run 14.0 or better at state. "Hopefully I'll take state," Moore said. "That's what I'm training for."

At the Northern 4A Championships in a little more than two weeks, Moore and Josh Heilman have the chance to win three or even four events. Heilman will be among the favorites in the 100 and 200 and Moore will be a among the favorites in the 300 and 110 hurdles.

Carson is also among the favorites on two relays that Moore will be running - the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

Another athlete who has already made her mark in the hurdles and sprints is freshman sensation Kayla Sanchez.

"I'm pretty impressed," said Moore about Sanchez. "I think she can do better. I think she can do a lot better between now and state. I know I can perform better."

Carson also has another hurdler who has made his mark in Seth Carter. "We push each other," Moore said. "We push each other a lot."

There's also a possibility that Carson's boys and girls could sweep the Northern 4A crowns. It figures that the boys title will come down to Galena and the Senators.

"They've got a lot of guys running in the distance races and high jumping," said Moore about Galena.

Moore said the Senators can also even make a run at the state title. "I think we have a pretty good chance at winning state if everybody performs their best," he said. "The team's just got to get their heads into it. It's pretty much mental now."

One of the keys to the Senators' success in hurdling is their training every Monday that includes downhill running.

Moore said the training is "to basically make our transition (over the hurdles) and that will eventually make our transition when we're running on flat ground."

The training on hills is key since the Senators are limited to how much they can train on the CHS track, which is essentially in disrepair. While Carson does practice on its track, it has been able to host any events there this year.

"This is killer," said Moore about the track. "We were running the hills and it felt better than this. Pretty much anyone who runs on this, that will get them shin splints."

Carson coach Todd Ackerman said it's hoped that a school bond measure in 2006 will provide funding for a new track to be placed in time for the 2007 season.

It's likely that Moore will continue to compete in track on the junior college level, with a Feather River Community College being a possibility. UC Davis has also talked to Moore as a result of his performance there at the Woody Wilson Invitational earlier this month in which he shattered his own meet record in winning the 400 hurdles in 55.43.

There's also the possibility of attending Dickinson State, an NAIA school in North Dakota. Moore was a receiver for the Carson football team and could compete in football at Dickinson as well. "I'd love to play football, too," he said.

But for now, Moore can't believe he's near the end of his high school career. "All of it's going by too fast," he said. "I can't keep a hold of it."