Going into the beginning of the 2009 track season, Ballard High School senior Michael Tran was expected by the coaching staff to be one of its team leaders. After all, he toiled as a junior varsity runner on the cross country team while building up his endurance base.

The work he put in during the fall and winter paid off for him March 19 at the North Seattle Jamboree, as he won both the long jump and 400 meter dash in personal bests.

Tran started off his day in the long jump, where all four of his jumps were superior to his 2008 personal best.

Tran scored his personal best in the 400 meters, winning the race in commanding fashion with a time of 54.6 seconds.

On the men's side, Ballard picked up victories from senior Carlos Stanley in the 100 (11.8 seconds) and senior Jack Sandstrom in the 200 (24.1 seconds).

Junior Erin Philbeck had the best performance on the women's side, winning the 1,600 meter run in a personal best of 5:36.3. Philbeck scored another personal best in the 800, running 2:39.0 to finish fifth.

Junior Tina Kellogg scored Ballard's other victory Thursday, winning the discus with a personal best throw.

Overall, the March 19 non-scoring meet, featuring teams from Ingraham, Roosevelt and host Nathan Hale, was an opportunity for many of its team members to get a taste of competition and to give the coaching staff an opportunity to measure the strengths and weaknesses of individuals going into the regular season opener next week against Bellevue and the team's first invitational meet on March 28, when the Beavers travel to Kent to compete in the Kent-Meridian Invitational.