Ballard set: Ya sure ya betcha

Q: I have a daughter at Ballard High School, which is leaving the 3A Metro League to join the 4A KingCo Conference in the fall. What are things Ballard should know about the suburban KingCo schools on the east side of Lake Washington and vice-versa?

A: Things Ballard should know about the seven suburban Eastside schools: 1) There are more minority students than you realize at Juanita, Lake Washington, Inglemoor and Bothell; 2) It's rare that a suburban KingCo 4A school fields a noncompetitive team in any sport. Your mission is simple: "Get better or get whipped" 3) The athletic facilities at the suburban schools (Bothell, Inglemoor and Woodinville in the Northshore School District and Lake Washington, Juanita, Eastlake and Redmond in the Lake Washington School District) will make you drool. Don't whine. Suburban schools always have bigger campuses than city schools because there is more available land. Besides, you have a brand new school and a swimming pool next to it; 4) The suburban schools have been competing against Roosevelt, Franklin and Garfield for five years and it's no big deal to them that Ballard is joining the league.

Things the Eastside should know about Ballard: 1) With its new building that opened in fall 1999, Ballard has become the most popular high school in Seattle. More kids apply to Ballard than any public high school; 2) Ballard is a distinct community in Seattle and Ballard High School has a community flavor and community following; 3) Ballard is more diverse now but its heritage is Scandinavian. I have friends who went to Ballard High School in the 1960s and 1970s who remember classmates jabbering in Swedish or Norwegian to their homes from pay phones at the school. The school used to have a cheer that went, "Lutefisk, lutefisk, lefsa, lefsa, we'll beat Garfield, ya sure ya betcha" 4) Ballard probably will have the best 4A city football team in the fall but will be the underdog against every suburban opponent. Ballard's best sports are baseball and fastpitch.

Q: How much contact can high-school coaches have with their teams during the summer?

A: Coaches of autumn-sport teams can be involved with summer workouts, camps and tournaments up until three weeks before the first official fall practice (Aug. 26). Coaches of winter and spring sports can have contact with their teams up until the first day of fall-sport turnouts.

Q: How is it that a foreign student from Columbia playing for Prosser was able to compete in the state 3A tennis tournament? She finished second.

A: A 1998 decision by an appeals court in Spokane ruled that foreign students can't be barred from varsity competition. The WIAA has a rule that a two-year exchange student must play one of those years on junior varsity but that doesn't affect students here for only one year.

Q: He set a state record of 13.85 seconds for the 110-meter high hurdles this spring, but Nate Robinson of Rainier Beach didn't win the event at the 3A track championship. How often has this happened?

A. Scott Spruill, publisher of the Washington Track Annual, notes that Deanna Coleman of Issaquah set the 800-meter record of 2:04.7 in Nashville, Tenn., in 1979 but never competed in the race at the state meet. Spruill said Coleman opted for national competitions and also had a lot of downtime because of injuries. Lynette Matthews set the state shot-put mark of 51-4 for girls in 1971 in Garden Grove, Calif.

Q: What local school won the most state championships in 2001-02?

A: King's, the 1A high school in Shoreline, won four state championships and was runner-up in girls basketball and boys track. The Knights won boys cross country, girls cross country, boys basketball and girls track.

This is the final Sideline Smitty column for the school year. Ask a question during the summer: voice mail (206-464-8279), snail mail (Craig Smith, Seattle Times Sports, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111) or e-mail csmith@seattletimes.com.