Web site is a gold mine for track fans and coaches

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Four years ago, David Bowdoin set up an intricate computer program to record the times and marks of his track and field athletes at New Hope Christian High School in Grants Pass.

Bowdoin, who holds a college degree in softball engineering, got to thinking: Why not share his knowledge with other coaches?

He set up a Web site called Athletic.net. The rest, as they say, is history.

Bowdoin's Internet site has exploded in popularity. More than 2,000 high school teams across the country use it. It lists times and marks for athletes and categorizes them by individual schools, conferences, regions and states.

The site also lists results from virtually all the meets in Oregon, Washington and many other states, along with team schedules. Coaches are required to enter results from their meets, but once they're entered, they download and update information instantly.

Want to find out who has the 20 fastest times in the 400-meter dash in Oregon's 6A classification? Interested in checking out the event leaders in the Southwest Conference? Curious about results from the Grants Pass Rotary meet?

Simply click on the site, click on Oregon and follow the prompts.

"I made my own system to keep track of stats, made the Web site and kept building on that premise," Bowdoin, 28, says. "It's much different than when we put it up four years ago. There have been a lot of logistics involved figuring out how best to connect the data."

Bowdoin teaches biology and computer classes and serves as the head cross country and track coach at New Hope Christian. His brother-in-law, Dave Brown, helps him out with the Web site.

"I'm pretty busy this time of year but I've always enjoyed statistics, so the Web site is a labor of love," Bowdoin says.

After the Web site caught on in Oregon, its popularity spread into Washington, California and beyond. Bowdoin estimates 95 percent of Oregon high schools, 80 percent of Washington schools and 10 percent of all the high schools in the United States plug into his invention.

The Web site also programs meet entries, which saves coaches and meet directors huge amounts of time.

"Coaches used to fax entries between schools but now they can go online and download them," Bowdoin says. "They'll import into the meet program and once you have everyone's entries, you can print out heat sheets.

"A high percentage of meets (in Oregon) this year required teams to enter on the site because all the time that's saved."

Bowdoin isn't getting wealthy off his Web site. In fact, other than the $25 he picks up from certain users requesting extra features, he makes virtually nothing.

"I'm just trying to offset my costs," he says.

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THE HEADACHES ARE less frequent and severe, and a sense of humor that went on hiatus has returned.

Still, the road back to good health has been a long and frustrating one for South Medford High junior Conner Egan.

Egan, who suffered a severe concussion after taking an elbow to the face and crumpling to the court in a basketball game against North Medford on Feb. 6, feels fine when he doesn't have to concentrate on anything.

This spring, he went out for tennis for the first time. He and Dane Pearson serve as the Panthers' No. 2 doubles team.

"Tennis has been like a breath of fresh air," says Tim Egan, Conner's father. "It's the one thing where we don't sit back and say, hey, he was doing that better before (the injury), because this is the first time he's played."

School work remains a challenge for the honors student. Conner Egan, who carries a 3.67 grade point average, had to take incompletes in five of six classes during the winter quarter because of missed class time and an inability to concentrate on his work. He's made all but one of those up, but had to drop a couple classes this spring.

"Homework is a family affair now, and when it comes to taking tests, he's not too successful any more," Tim Egan says. "It's still tough for him to retain information and when he really has to focus he still gets headaches. Conner has lost whatever mechanism it is with the brain that allows a person to track something and understand it."

It's still unclear whether Egan, a 6-foot-3 wing/post, will be able to return to South Medford's basketball team. The summer league started this week but all Egan can do is shoot in the gym.

The encouraging news is that all of Egan's doctors tell him he's slowing getting better and that one day he will be perfectly normal, physically and mentally.

"His personality is back, his sense of humor is back, and I can't tell you how much that means to his family," Tim Egan says. "The healing process is longer than we anticipated, but he's getting there, one day at a time."

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LARRY KELLEMS HAS replaced Royce Miller as Ashland High's boys basketball coach.

Miller led the Grizzlies to a 19-9 record, the Southern Sky Conference championship and a berth in the Class 5A state tournament last season, but opted to step away after his only season on the job.

Miller agreed to take the position at the urging of Ashland High Athletic Director Karl Kemper last spring after the school was in a predicament trying to fill the job. Miller, who teaches math at Ashland, told Kemper he would step aside if he found a suitable replacement.

Kellems has been an assistant coach with the Grizzlies since 1999 and, Kemper said, has been instrumental in developing the JV team.

In a prepared statement, Kemper said Kellems is "a gentleman who has always demonstrated grace under pressure. He cares about the development of the whole person in the young men that he works with. He's a positive role model that is liked and respected by the players."

Kellems was the head coach at Etna High in Etna, Calif., before heading to Ashland.

Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail dhunt@mailtribune.com

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