Leg up on the field
It’s not true that Adam Walden became one of the best hurdlers in the state because he had to jump over any of his 14 brothers and sisters racing to the dinner table.
Nor is it true that Walden is just one in a long line of great hurdlers because there is something in the water at Newport.
No, Walden happens to be outstanding – defending champion in the 110-meter high hurdles and runner-up in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in the State 1A track meet – because he has combined talent with a strong work ethic.
“He’s such a hard-worker,” Grizzlies coach Barry Sartz said. “He did cross country to get ready for track. We have a little speed club that meets three days a week in winter to get ready. Adam does track at least 300 days a year, does at least something to get better.”
Walden is a champion hurdler despite practicing on a dirt track at Newport, except for the one day he drives 45 miles to work out at Spokane Falls Community College.
“He’s just so dedicated and hard-working,” said Linda Lanker, the junior college hurdles coach. “His goal is to just get better. That’s what I love about him. His mindset is: ‘What can I do to improve?’ He’s just one of those kids every coach loves to work with.
“The fact that he’ll drive from Newport to get off that dirt track to run with the college kids – what kids do that? The drive to get better is just amazing.”
Walden’s father, Ferran, ran some track in high school, but the emphasis around the Walden household is about encouragement rather than competition, at least among the children.
He said an older son, Andrew, was competitive with friend and multiple state champion hurdler Ian Weber, who convinced Andrew to turn out for track in eighth grade.
“He lasted three days,” Ferran said. “He hated running, the training. He just liked to race.”
When Adam hit junior high, his brother talked him out of track because it was so hard. He changed his mind a year later.
“I just have long legs,” Adam said. “When I got up to eighth grade I didn’t know what hurdling was. Coach told me I was a hurdler. I said, ‘OK, you have to teach me.’ From there I just stuck with it.
“When I run the 100 it’s weird, there’s nothing to do really. It’s more of a challenge to do the hurdles. It’s more fun, something else to do when you’re running.”
Now brothers Aaron, a sophomore, and Aric, an eighth grader who treks to SFCC and is breaking Adam’s junior high records, are running.
That will just add to Newport’s reputation as a hotbed for hurdlers.
Despite Adam Walden’s talent, he was only eighth in the 110s as a sophomore, when Weber and teammate Justin Emel finished 1-2, an order that was reversed in the 300s.
Weber and Emel were 1-3 in the 110s as juniors.
When Sartz arrived on the scene in 2001, J.J. Jordan finished first in the 110s and Jordan Patterson was third. Both placed in the 300s and the Grizzlies finished fourth in the State 2A meet.
There were good hurdlers in Newport before Sartz, but he has improved the run. The Grizzlies scored 23 points at state in the 15 years before Sartz and 198 in his six seasons, including a 1A-record 98 in 2005 when they won state by 34 points.
But for all the previous hurdle talent, Walden is the record holder for both events and is the only one who went to the Pasco Invitational and won the 110s.
It helped to have older teammates to chase, he said. When Weber continued his career at Community Colleges of Spokane, he lured Walden to practice.
“Linda has taught me many specific things – trail leg technique, how to get lower to hurdler, a bunch of stuff that keeps me stable when I go over hurdles,” he said. “She’s very precise on what she says.”
He is eager to continue hurdling in college, though where is undetermined.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “It would be nice to have training with a team year-round instead of just by myself.”
There could be an interlude after state, at which the Grizzlies are among the favorites for the team title.
Ferran, who has 19 grandchildren and two on the way, resumed running the 400 last summer, though he was slowed by three pulled muscles.
“I just didn’t realize how hard it was when you get older until you get out there,” he said. “Maybe this summer Aric, Aaron, Adam and me will try a relay – the Walden relay.”
The only problem is there won’t be anything for the boys to jump over.