Track And Field / Seamount League Boys -- Kennedy Leaper Has High Hopes -- Diminutive Korean Already Has High-Jumped 6-6

BURIEN - The boy looked so small, and the high-jump bar so high.

At first, Hazen Coach Bo Kurle was amused. Then he was amazed as Kennedy's Jeong-Hwan Kang cleared 6 feet with ease.

"At first I thought, `There's no way that little guy can jump that high,' " Kurle said. "Then he reminded me of Rick Noji."

Kang, a 5-7 1/2 junior who came to the Seattle area from Korea three years ago, likes the comparison to the state's diminutive all-time leading leaper. Noji cleared a record 7-4 1/4 during his junior year at Franklin High School in 1984.

So, what is Kang's goal?

"I want to jump 7-4 during my high-school years," he said. "That's my wish. . . . My coach told me there was a guy from Franklin about 20 years ago, he was about 5-8 and he made 7-4."

Kang, who started high jumping when he was a seventh grader in Korea, has cleared 6-6 in a meet this season and 6-7 in practice.

"I wasn't expecting him to go 6-6 so soon," Kennedy Coach Dave Danforth said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see him go 6-8 this year."

That was Hanford jumper Kurt Kraemer's winning mark at last year's Class 3A state meet. Kang's best last season was 6-2, and he failed to qualify for state. He cleared 6 feet as a freshman, which would have been good enough to win a lot of Seamount League meets, but as a first-year exchange student, he was restricted to junior-varsity competition.

Kang hopes to do more than just qualify for state this year.

"If I can make 6-7, then maybe I will get second or first (at state)," he said.

His jumping ability isn't the only thing that has improved greatly the past two years.

"Communication can be a little difficult at times, but it's gotten better every year," Danforth said. "He's become more and more communicative every year. But he's very quiet. We don't hear a whole lot from him. He's very quiet and very polite."

Kang admits his English was limited to the A-B-C's when he arrived. But through English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, and the help of two aunts who have lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, he speaks well - although he admits it was trying at first.

"I kind of ruined my GPA in ESL," Kang said. "I'm trying to bring it up."

Kang said he and his brother, a senior at Kennedy, came to the United States to broaden their educational experiences.

"It was my parents' idea," he said. "There are lots of opportunities here. . . . I came to get a great education, and also do sports."

Kang also dives for Kennedy, and qualified for the Sea-King 3A District swim meet last winter.

"My dives have a high degree of difficulty, but I can't make them clean," he said.

Kang also enjoys drawing, another reason he likes growing up in the United States.

"I can do more things," he said. "In Korea, it's either sports or art. Here, you get art, education and sports, everything."

Kang and his brother lived in the dorm on Kennedy's campus their first year here. Their mother joined them last year, and they now all live with an aunt. Their father visited last summer, and Kang said they will see him in Korea this summer.

Kang plans to stay in the U.S. and attend college. His favorite pastime?

"I enjoy video games," he said.

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Seamount track and field / boys to watch

Lindbergh - Habtamu Aregaw, jr., distances; Lloyd Ball, sr., sprints-jumps; Brett Johnson, sr., distances; Matt Russell, sr., HJ-hurdles.

Kennedy - Paul Arnold, sr., sprints; Jeong-Hwan Kang, jr., HJ; Dan McLean, jr., distances.

Renton - E.J. Ash, sr., sprints-jumps; Ryan Coddington, jr., throws; Mensah Lambie, so., 200-400; Jacob Sateren, sr., distances; John Steauch, jr., throws; Romeo Watson, sr., sprints-jumps.

Highline - Riley Barton, sr., PV; Jeff Briggs, sr., HJ-TJ; Jason Deslongchamp, jr., 400; Ricky Epler, jr., sprints; Nick Henes, fr., 400; Jimmy Lingwood, sr., distances; Saul Kanongataa, jr., throws; Robert Scheider, sr., distances; Blake Wallick, fr., PV.

Tyee - Letwon Canton, jr., TJ; Jesse Hunt, sr., LJ; Brian McBride, jr., distances; Randall Monroe, sr., middle distances; Kyle Oleson, sr., 1,600.

Hazen - DeSean Harrel, jr., 200-400; Greg Lopata, jr., javelin-discus; Nick Switzer, sr., distances; Josh Takano, sr., distances.

Mount Rainier - Bill Henninger, sr., throws; Keith Huntzinger, sr., distances; Mike Phillips, sr., sprints-400; Travis Thompson, sr., hurdles.

Evergreen - Scott Staley, so., 1,600; Lele Te'o, sr., throws.