The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The return of many key athletes coupled with a turnout of a lot of new faces has head track coach Bob Johnson smiling as he and his staff prepare for the first outing of the year at Marist Thursday.

"The roster shows somewhere over 85 boys and girls out here, and the great thing is the number of freshman who have come out," said Johnson.

If Johnson's name sounds familiar it is because he coached the Outlaws from 1995 through 2003 before a two-year stint at Redmond High School and one year volunteering at Sisters Middle School. In all, Johnson's coaching career spans 36 years, many of which were at West Linn High School near Portland.

"I'm in seventh heaven being back out here coaching the Outlaws," said Johnson.

Johnson's vanity license plate "Bullet" hints at his lifelong ties to sprinting. In addition to his own successful career through high school in California and later for the Beavers at Oregon State, Johnson is well-known for his success in coaching athletes in the 100, 200, 400 and relay events.

The fact that his team returns many of the sprinters who qualified for the state meet last year, along with some very high quality jumpers, throwers and distance runners, gives him reason to think big, but he insists that the squad is taking it one day at a time.

Returning state qualifiers include Cory McCaffery in the sprints and long jump, Eli Callan in the hurdles and relays, middle distance star Stefan Redfield, thrower Jeff Sampson and Ben Mansker in the pole vault. As far as state meet point scorers go, both boys' relay teams made the finals at state last year, with McCaffery, Callan and Kelly Crowther returning.

McCaffery placed second in the long jump a year ago by just an inch, while Callan placed eighth in the 300 hurdles and Jeff Sampson fifth in the discus.

The girls lost two-time state hurdles champion Jenny Boswell to graduation, but the rest of the state-qualifying 1,600-meter relay team, Jena Rickards, McKenzie Williams, Kirsti Burck, is returning along with Kelsey Neilson (long jump, high jump) and Kali Ulmer (high jump).

Cammy Jacobson, a state qualifier in the pole vault in 2005, also returns.

"Our mission each year is to do our best and be a class act," said Johnson.

Joining Johnson as coaches are: Jeff Reynolds (throws); Bob Casper (hurdles); Dennis Dempsey, Wayne Powell and Kris Kristovich (distance); Jim Anderson (pole vault); Alex Cretsinger (long jump and triple jump); and Nicolette Callan (hurdles and javelin).

"There's a lot of coaching experience when you consider the careers of Jim Anderson (44 years), Bob Casper (40 plus years) and Dennis Dempsey (25 plus years)," said Johnson.

The team gets the competitive season underway with an Ice Breaker meet at Marist, Thursday March 15. The biggest home meet of the year, The Rotary Invitational, is scheduled for Saturday, April 7.