From the end of the bench

Best Kept Secret in NCS?

By: Bobby Puppione

Coming into this year's high school track season, many people outside the Hayward Area Athletic League (HAAL) didn't know who Yuri Nosenko was. But after missing out on a state meet birth in the 800 meters by .01 seconds at the NCS Meet of Champions two weeks ago, most people in the East Bay and in Northern California know about this Castro Valley High School middle distance star.

Nosenko started off his brilliant post-season run at the 800 by winning the HAAL title in the event at Castro Valley High on 5/11. Nosenko ran an intelligent race on the dirt track of Castro Valley. He paced the leader throughout the first lap and then took control with 300 meters to go, never relinquishing his lead clocking a PR of 1:58.95.

"I felt really good - running a 1:58 on dirt really raided my confidence," said Nosenko. "I knew from then on I could go under 1:56."

He continued his post-season run the following week at Diablo Valley College at the NCS Bayshore Meet. In the finals on Saturday, he ran strong and placed 4th in the race, qualifying for the NCS Meet of Champions in a time of 1:58.94.

Nosenko, who will be running for UCLA next year, was enthused to be at the NCS Meet of Championships two weeks ago at CAL's Edwards Stadium. In fact, Nosenko dropped 3 seconds from his old PR in his qualifying round of the 800 to advance to the finals the next day. He ran a blazing time of 1:55.92. The following day, Nosenko continued his efforts for the first 700 meters. He was in third with 100 meters to go but was passed by eventual qualifiers Matt See (1:56.92) of Amador Valley and Chris Espanoza (1:56.72) of College Park. Nosenko finished in 1:56.73. Mission San Jose Senior Jeff Squires won the race in 1:54.36 and Adam Foote of Arcata took second in 1:55.29.

"I was thinking 'ok, just hold it and you are 3rd,'" he thought. "Then I just relaxed and didn't push as hard as I should have and then they (See and Espanoza) just passed me in the last 5 minutes. I didn't realize what had happened until I was at the awards stand 20 minutes later receiving the 5th place medal."

He also ran a 400 leg for Castro Valley in the 4 x 400 relay. Nosenko (400- 50.25, 800- 1:55.92) made huge improvements in his times over last year. Last year he clocked 53.2 in the 400 and 2:01.49 in the 800. His efforts this year place him 5th on the all- time Castro Valley track list in the 400 and 800. He is also the school record holder in the indoor 400 meters (53.2).

Regards to being called the "best kept secret in the NCS" by track enthusiasts in Northern California, Nosenko remarked, "I don't know if I really was." Either way, Yuri Nosenko of Castro Valley had huge improvements over last year and will continue his running in the Junior Olympics this year and at college next year.

From the end of the bench is a weekly column featuring a star athlete in the East Bay. Bobby Puppione is a sports writer for the Castro Valley Forum and EastBaySports.com. You can contact him at pup@soccer.com or at bamapup@expn.com.

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