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Frasier plans return to action Friday
By John Gunther, Sports Editor
Tuesday, April 03, 2007 | No comments posted.
COQUILLE - Josh Frasier considers pulling the plug on his cross country season last fall the toughest decision he's ever made.
Coming off a spectacular track season that saw him win state titles in both the 800 and 1,500 meters and then run the second-fastest 800 ever by an Oregon Class 3A athlete in the summer, Frasier expected a big cross country season to start his senior year.
Instead, after a promising start, all he got was persistent pain in his left knee.
“The frustrating thing was (doctors) couldn't figure out what it was because it wasn't popping up on MRIs or X-rays,” Frasier recalled Monday.
After winning the Ben Creek Invitational, the Marist Invitational and the Northwest Invitational and finishing fourth overall, and first among prep runners, in the Prefontaine Memorial Run, Frasier's season was done.
Once the pain came, it never left, and the senior called it quits the week of the Sunset Six district meet, not wanting to jeopardize his chances for the track season this spring.
“It was devastating,” he said of the decision. “It was something I didn't want to do. But looking in the long term, I wanted to keep running.”
That's what he's doing now, planning his official comeback on Friday night at the Coos County Meet when he has a chance to become a four-time champion in the 1,500 meters.
That he's running is a 180-degree turnaround from the end of his cross country campaign.
All along, Frasier thought he had some sort of knee sprain. It wasn't until surgery in December that the real problem was determined.
Frasier had an 11-millimeter band of plica, a soft tissue that normally dissolves as children grow, but that, for some reason, never did go away in his knee.
“From all the training, it got all inflamed,” Frasier said.
The same thing happened to his late brother Robert when he was a runner at Coquille.
After the physicians removed the plica from Frasier's knee, he had to rest completely for six weeks before starting a rehabilitation program.
After about a week on a no-impact elliptical training machine, he moved to a stationary bicycle, then a stair-step machine and then a treadmill - staying on each device until he felt completely comfortable.
Then, three weeks ago, he finally was able to start running again.
“It feels good to be back at it,” he said, adding that he was going crazy not being able to run and feeling out of shape.
He still feels out of shape, by his standards, but is excited to try to defend his titles in the 1,500 and 800 on Friday night in the 99th version of the Coos County Meet.
Frasier has won the 1,500 at the County Meet each year, and has won the 800 the past two years after taking the 3,000 as a freshman. He also was part of the winning 4x400-meter relay team as a sophomore.
The prospect of being a four-time champion at the 1,500 is too good for Frasier to pass up, even if he's not where he wants to be in his training.
“It's going to be fun,” Frasier said.
But winning won't be easy.
He's facing a stacked field - one of the best in recent years - including the North Bend trio of Spenser Lynass, Trevor Berrian and Steven Garboden, all members of the school's state champion cross country team; as well as Bandon's Logan Scherer and Marshfield's Jared Bassett.
Last year, Frasier's winning time in the race was 4 minutes, 11.11 seconds.
This year, Berrian and Garboden and Scherer all have run under 4:20 and Lynass has clocked a time of 8:55.8 in the 3,000 meters - still the best in the state according to www.athletic.net. Bassett also is making his season debut after recovering from injury, but ran 4:11 at the Midwestern League district meet last spring.
North Bend head coach Steve Greif, a history teacher and track historian, put the loaded 1,500-meter field into perspective.
“As usual, the South Coast has been blessed with outstanding track and field talent that will be showcased at County,” he said. “This is not the first time that local fans will be treated to some events that feature future state competitors and future collegiate athletes.
“All these young men in the distance races have been in big races before and I'm sure they are looking forward to having others in this race that will (push) them to fast times.”
Frasier is confident, despite the tough field, after competitions over the weekend at high school meets in California.
“After the times I ran this weekend, I'm pretty confident,” he said, though he declined to say how fast he ran in the 800 and 1,600 meters (California does not contest the 1,500).
Kori Frasier, Josh's mom and coach, was similarly pleased with the results in California.
“I wanted to take him someplace to try (the knee) out,” she said of wanting competition for Josh before the county meet. “It was fine. We're happy with it.”
Kori Frasier has entered her son in both the 1,500 and 800 this week, with the plan to pull him from the latter race if there's any problem with the first one.
Last year, Frasier just missed the meet record in the 800 meters, thwarted by gusty winds.
He's not thinking about records this year, especially after the injury and with the county meet three weeks earlier in the season. Instead, he just wants to win.
“Right now, it's just getting the base under me,” he said, explaining that his mileage base of about 40 miles a week is 10 fewer than this time last year.
Meanwhile, he'll try to soak up his final experience of the county meet, which he ranks behind only the state and district championships.
“It's the whole atmosphere,” he said. “It's Marshfield, where (Steve) Prefontaine went.”
Even 30 years after his death, Steve Prefontaine still is a legendary inspiration for distance runners across the country.
“I've went all over the country, and when I tell people I'm from the Coos Bay area, they flip out,” Frasier said.
Frasier hopes to add to his own legacy Friday night.
Notes: Admission for Friday's meet is $3 for adults and $1 for students. Concessions will be available throughout. ... The first field events will begin at 4 p.m., with the first running event, the 4x100-meter relay, at 5:30 p.m. ... The honorary captains for the meet are the Prefontaine Memorial Committee, which has supported track and field throughout Coos County and this year helped with the purchase of a new fully automated timing system scheduled to be used for the first time Friday.
Coming off a spectacular track season that saw him win state titles in both the 800 and 1,500 meters and then run the second-fastest 800 ever by an Oregon Class 3A athlete in the summer, Frasier expected a big cross country season to start his senior year.
Instead, after a promising start, all he got was persistent pain in his left knee.
“The frustrating thing was (doctors) couldn't figure out what it was because it wasn't popping up on MRIs or X-rays,” Frasier recalled Monday.
After winning the Ben Creek Invitational, the Marist Invitational and the Northwest Invitational and finishing fourth overall, and first among prep runners, in the Prefontaine Memorial Run, Frasier's season was done.
Once the pain came, it never left, and the senior called it quits the week of the Sunset Six district meet, not wanting to jeopardize his chances for the track season this spring.
“It was devastating,” he said of the decision. “It was something I didn't want to do. But looking in the long term, I wanted to keep running.”
That's what he's doing now, planning his official comeback on Friday night at the Coos County Meet when he has a chance to become a four-time champion in the 1,500 meters.
That he's running is a 180-degree turnaround from the end of his cross country campaign.
All along, Frasier thought he had some sort of knee sprain. It wasn't until surgery in December that the real problem was determined.
Frasier had an 11-millimeter band of plica, a soft tissue that normally dissolves as children grow, but that, for some reason, never did go away in his knee.
“From all the training, it got all inflamed,” Frasier said.
The same thing happened to his late brother Robert when he was a runner at Coquille.
After the physicians removed the plica from Frasier's knee, he had to rest completely for six weeks before starting a rehabilitation program.
After about a week on a no-impact elliptical training machine, he moved to a stationary bicycle, then a stair-step machine and then a treadmill - staying on each device until he felt completely comfortable.
Then, three weeks ago, he finally was able to start running again.
“It feels good to be back at it,” he said, adding that he was going crazy not being able to run and feeling out of shape.
He still feels out of shape, by his standards, but is excited to try to defend his titles in the 1,500 and 800 on Friday night in the 99th version of the Coos County Meet.
Frasier has won the 1,500 at the County Meet each year, and has won the 800 the past two years after taking the 3,000 as a freshman. He also was part of the winning 4x400-meter relay team as a sophomore.
The prospect of being a four-time champion at the 1,500 is too good for Frasier to pass up, even if he's not where he wants to be in his training.
“It's going to be fun,” Frasier said.
But winning won't be easy.
He's facing a stacked field - one of the best in recent years - including the North Bend trio of Spenser Lynass, Trevor Berrian and Steven Garboden, all members of the school's state champion cross country team; as well as Bandon's Logan Scherer and Marshfield's Jared Bassett.
Last year, Frasier's winning time in the race was 4 minutes, 11.11 seconds.
This year, Berrian and Garboden and Scherer all have run under 4:20 and Lynass has clocked a time of 8:55.8 in the 3,000 meters - still the best in the state according to www.athletic.net. Bassett also is making his season debut after recovering from injury, but ran 4:11 at the Midwestern League district meet last spring.
North Bend head coach Steve Greif, a history teacher and track historian, put the loaded 1,500-meter field into perspective.
“As usual, the South Coast has been blessed with outstanding track and field talent that will be showcased at County,” he said. “This is not the first time that local fans will be treated to some events that feature future state competitors and future collegiate athletes.
“All these young men in the distance races have been in big races before and I'm sure they are looking forward to having others in this race that will (push) them to fast times.”
Frasier is confident, despite the tough field, after competitions over the weekend at high school meets in California.
“After the times I ran this weekend, I'm pretty confident,” he said, though he declined to say how fast he ran in the 800 and 1,600 meters (California does not contest the 1,500).
Kori Frasier, Josh's mom and coach, was similarly pleased with the results in California.
“I wanted to take him someplace to try (the knee) out,” she said of wanting competition for Josh before the county meet. “It was fine. We're happy with it.”
Kori Frasier has entered her son in both the 1,500 and 800 this week, with the plan to pull him from the latter race if there's any problem with the first one.
Last year, Frasier just missed the meet record in the 800 meters, thwarted by gusty winds.
He's not thinking about records this year, especially after the injury and with the county meet three weeks earlier in the season. Instead, he just wants to win.
“Right now, it's just getting the base under me,” he said, explaining that his mileage base of about 40 miles a week is 10 fewer than this time last year.
Meanwhile, he'll try to soak up his final experience of the county meet, which he ranks behind only the state and district championships.
“It's the whole atmosphere,” he said. “It's Marshfield, where (Steve) Prefontaine went.”
Even 30 years after his death, Steve Prefontaine still is a legendary inspiration for distance runners across the country.
“I've went all over the country, and when I tell people I'm from the Coos Bay area, they flip out,” Frasier said.
Frasier hopes to add to his own legacy Friday night.
Notes: Admission for Friday's meet is $3 for adults and $1 for students. Concessions will be available throughout. ... The first field events will begin at 4 p.m., with the first running event, the 4x100-meter relay, at 5:30 p.m. ... The honorary captains for the meet are the Prefontaine Memorial Committee, which has supported track and field throughout Coos County and this year helped with the purchase of a new fully automated timing system scheduled to be used for the first time Friday.
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