Meuse Doubles His Pleasure

SIMI VALLEY — Quartermilers say the event is too long and distance runners contend that it’s too short, but the 800-meter run is just the right distance for Ryan Meuse of Simi Valley High.

The Pioneer junior will compete in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relay in the Ventura County track and field championships at Rio Mesa High today, yet the 800 is the event in which Meuse is making a name for himself at the national level.

“The 400 isn’t as interesting to me,” Meuse said. “I like the 800 because there is more strategy involved.”

Meuse displayed plenty of strategy in the Arcadia Invitational three weeks ago when he came through the first 400 in 10th place but finished second in a career-best of 1:52.57.

His previous best was 1:54.36 set in winning the intermediate (age 15-16) division of the USA Track & Field championships in Houston last August and gave him his first victory over Obea Moore of Pasadena Muir.

Moore, defending state champion in the 200 and 400 and Track & Field News magazine’s 1996 national high school athlete of the year, ran poorly by his standards, finishing fourth in 1:52.99 after coming through the first 400 in 50.7. But none of that mattered to Meuse when he entered the homestretch and saw a struggling Moore ahead.

“I’ve raced him so many times in the 400 and he’s beaten me by at least three seconds,” Meuse said. “So when I saw him, I just said, ‘Oh, I have to go for this.’. . . I wasn’t even tired because of the adrenaline rush.”

Meuse’s time at Arcadia ranks fourth in the nation this season and has him shooting for bigger things such as the school and Ventura County record of 1:51.6 set by Dave Bogard in 1965.

Bogard’s time, which is converted from a 1:52.2 clocking in the 880-yard run, came in the 1965 state championships when he finished fourth.

“I really want [the school record],” Meuse said. “Plus the fact that he ran it as a junior makes me want to do it this year.”

Chuck Gustafson, Simi Valley boys’ track coach, believes Meuse could break Bogard’s time by a substantial margin if he gets in the right race.

“Under the right conditions, there’s no reason he can’t run 1:50 or under,” Gustafson said. “He could run in the 1:49s if the conditions are right.”

Ideal conditions are a calm day with no wind and mild temperature, a first lap in the 53.5-54-second range by Meuse and a high-quality field to push him to the finish.

The required field was present at Arcadia, but Meuse went out too slowly, coming through the first 400 in 55 seconds.

He isn’t apt to get the needed pace or competition today because he’ll run the 400 before the 800 and no one else in the county has broken 1:55 in the 800 this season, but Meuse isn’t worried.

He figures he’ll have opportunities to run fast in meets the Southern Section Division I championships, the Southern Section Masters Meet, the state championships, the Golden West Invitational and the USA Track & Field Junior championships in Edwardsville, Ill., in the next two months.

After that, Meuse will decide if he’ll run for the Van Nuys-based Valley Striders youth track club. Although he ran for them in previous summers, he might curtail his racing schedule this year in order to be fresh for cross-country in the fall.

Meuse placed third in the Marmonte League cross-country championships last November, but struggled during the early part of the season after competing in track until early August.

He’ll play striker for Simi Valley’s soccer team after cross-country before a senior track season that could land him a scholarship offer from a major university.

“He really can do anything,” Gustafson said of Meuse, who has a best of 49.10 in the 400. “He doesn’t like people to talk about his size, but he’s a very good athlete for his size.”

The 5-foot-8, 139-pound Meuse says that his small stature doesn’t bother him and jokes that the fact that he’s closer to the ground gives him a faster stride pattern.

He also points out that Sebastian Coe of Great Britain stands 5-9 3/4 and Wilson Kipketer of Denmark is 5-7 3/4. Coe holds the world record of 1:41.73 and Kipketer is third at 1:41.83.

“I look at those guys and I don’t worry about size,” he said. “I use it as motivation.”

Meuse’s statistical knowledge comes from reading Track & Field News from cover to cover each issue, but there is more to his life than just living, breathing and eating athletics.

He has a 4.1 grade-point average and three of the five classes he’s enrolled in are advanced placement courses.

“My life is pretty much a blur at times,” he said. “But I’m one of those people who likes to do a lot of things.”

While many coaches would cringe at the thought of a top-notch 800 runner like Meuse playing soccer because of the potential for injury, Gustafson likes it.

“I think it gives him time to rest [mentally] between the different sports,” he said.

“I think it gives him a good break.”

Meuse concurs with Gustafson, although he realizes he won’t be playing competitive soccer in college if he earns a track scholarship.

“Right now I think it works, because I’m one of those guys who can get run down and sick of one sport real easily,” he said.