Fairfax County Keeps Indoor Track; Hayes Helps Out at Potomac

Fairfax County is expected to keep indoor track under a $2.2 billion budget proposal released Thursday for fiscal year 2010. Gymnastics, as expected, was among the cuts.

Paul Regnier, a spokesman for Fairfax County schools, said the county's 25 high school indoor track programs are only safe "for the time being," noting Superintendent Jack D. Dale's proposal assumes a transfer of aid from the Board of Supervisors, assistance from the state and help in assuming anticipated costs for the expected addition of 5,000 students.

"If we have to swallow the addition of 5,000 students, plus the reduction of state aid, then, under those circumstances, there would be pretty drastic cuts and that would include indoor track," Regnier said.

In November, Dale offered a three-tiered budget proposal in which both gymnastics and indoor track would be cut in the most severe tier -- an option that would cut $219 million and 1,500 positions to make up for an expected $170 million shortfall.

Dale's current proposal, which must pass the school board and Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors before its adoption in May, used a combination of the two more extreme tiers (Tier 2 and Tier 3) to reduce the number of student athletes affected. The first public hearing on the proposal is Jan. 21.

More than 2,800 students participate in indoor track; approximately 200 students compete in gymnastics.

"Track was always a Tier 3 initiative, which meant it was only worst case scenario," said Bill Curran, Fairfax County's director of student activities. Thursday's proposed budget "means the loss of girls' gymnastics, but as we said before, it's the decline in participation levels and that was coming on its own with the continuing decline in interest."

Hayes Fills In With Girls' Team

Former Potomac (Va.) boys' basketball coach Kendall Hayes came out of his retirement from coaching Thursday to take over the Potomac girls' team on an interim basis, filling in for Coach Mike Wilson, who has not coached the past week for undisclosed reasons.

When reached by phone yesterday, Hayes and Potomac Athletic Director Bill Stearns did not provide a timeframe for how long Hayes might coach the Panthers. They also declined to comment on the reasons for Wilson's absence.

"They asked me to help out, and that's what I'm doing," Hayes said. "I don't know how it's going to feel, but I'm certainly going to have some fun with it."

Hayes said he would be on the sideline last night for Potomac's game at Freedom-Woodbridge; it would be the first high school game he has coached since retiring from Potomac following the 2005-06 season. In 21 years coaching the boys' team, Hayes won 423 games, made nine Virginia AAA tournament appearances and won a state title in 1995.

Hayes stepped down from the boys' team so he could focus on watching his son, Eric Hayes, play basketball at the University of Maryland, where he is a junior guard. . . .

No. 10 T.C. Williams (8-1) and top-ranked Montrose Christian (10-1) meet tonight at 7:45 at the University of Maryland's Comcast Pavilion in a rare Virginia-Maryland public-private boys' basketball matchup. In the teams' first meeting in Alexandria last January, Montrose Christian won a 64-58 double-overtime thriller. . . .

Spingarn football coach Paris Adon stepped down after two seasons. Interested applicants in the position should contact Spingarn Athletic Director Bruce Williams at 240-988-5340.

Special correspondent Matthew Stanmyre contributed to this report.