News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 502 - 526 of 918
Invite strong cross-country teams from throughout the western U.S. to a flat, fast course, and quick times are a likely result. Such was the case for many of the Outlaws runners at last Saturday's Nike Portland XC meet. The meet attracted more than 100 teams to compete in four different high school varsity divisions showing that the sport of cross-country may be more popular than any time in history. Nearly 4,000 runners completed races at the meet. The Outlaws competed in... Full story
A true team effort resulted in victory for the Outlaws girls cross-country team last week. They easily won Division Four of the Seaside Three Course Challenge held Saturday, September 17 at Camp Rilea. Divisions are made up according to school population, since teams come from other states besides Oregon. In all, more than 80 teams took part in the meet including many from Washington and even a few from California. In its 26th year, the Three Course Challenge is one of the... Full story
With a bright blue sky overhead and the Three Sisters mountains on the horizon, runners from seven teams toed the line at the Outlaws' Folk Festival XC Meet on Friday, September 9. The meet was highlighted by a win from Sisters runner Brandon Pollard and a strong showing from the Outlaws girls team. Bend High's large team rounded out a field of competing smaller schools including Yamhill-Carlton, Sweet Home, Crook County, La Pine, Trinity Lutheran and, of course, Sisters. As... Full story
Tradition is powerful, and the Outlaws cross-country team has plenty of it to uphold entering the 2016 campaign. Both the boys and girls teams have won the district titles more often than not over the past decade-and-a-half, including last year. For the girls, repeating looks pretty likely, while the boys, like last year, will have a battle on their hands come late October, when the state-qualifying Sky-Em District meet will be held. The girls team returns the core of the... Full story
While most of us gathered before our television and computer screens to catch the Olympics earlier this month, Sisters resident Tate Metcalf was navigating Rio de Janeiro in real time, in part to witness Ashton Eaton attempt to defend his Olympic gold medal in the decathlon. Metcalf coached Eaton at Mountain View High School in Bend. While it was not Metcalf's first Olympics - he traveled to London in 2012 - the experience in Rio provided a contrast. "Transportation was a chal... Full story
The Jere Breese Memorial Ranch Stampede, hosted by Crook County High School, provides a challenge unrivaled among cross-country courses in Oregon. Mosquito-infested irrigated cow pastures, rock-laden single-track, a creek crossing at the start and finish, a never-ending hill, and an unrelenting sun greeted runners from Sisters, Redmond, Mountain View, Summit, and La Pine in the inaugural race of the 2016 campaign. For new runners, it is an initiation of sorts to a sport in... Full story
The Olympics have been a highlight of my summer, and I went all out to be able to watch as much live through online streaming as possible. That says a lot for a guy that does not typically watch sports on the screen, but when it comes to track and field and a bunch of athletes with ties to Oregon, I was not about to miss any action. Of course, I did get chastised by my sister Shawn who regretted that I twice posted results that she was waiting to watch during prime time. What... Full story
Veteran athletes and young guns will represent the U.S. at the Olympics in track and field. The Olympic trials for track and field concluded Sunday, July 10, in Eugene, following 10 days of intense competition to determine the representatives for the U.S. in Rio next month. When it was all said and done, some veterans prevailed as champions, but there were plenty of young guns who made their mark as well. Additionally, a boatload of athletes with Oregon ties qualified for the Olympic Games. My favorite of the "old-timers,"... Full story
If the first few days of the U.S. Olympic Trials are any indication of the superb quality of the American track and field athletes, the remainder of the meet, which began July 1 and concludes July 10, should be equally dazzling. I met with decathlete Ashton Eaton's high school coach and mentor Tate Metcalf and his wife, Aimee, on day one of the decathlon, Saturday, July 2. Word on the street and in the press hinted that Ashton Eaton was dealing with some minor injuries and... Full story
Olympic track and field trials are in our backyard starting Friday. I sat down with Tate Metcalf, owner of Sisters Athletic Club and former coach of Ashton Eaton -reigning Olympic champion and world record-holder in the decathlon - to get his take on Eaton's approach to defending his title at the Olympic trials, which run July 1-10 at Hayward Field in Eugene. "First, he has to qualify," said Metcalf, laughing. "A lot can go wrong over the two days and 10 events of the decathlon, and even the world champion can have an event... Full story
The Sisters High School class of 2016 includes at least eight athletes who intend to join college teams next year to continue their careers. Among girls, Michaela Miller and Hannah Ceciliani will be playing soccer. Miller has signed on with the NCAA Division II Lancers of California Baptist University located in Riverside, California; while Ceciliani will be suiting up for Southern Oregon University, which competes at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics... Full story
Two likely Olympians stood before me about 15 minutes apart at the NCAA Track and Field Championships on Saturday, June 11, after winning their races. I had come as a reporter, hoping to get more of an inside view of an elite athlete or two. One was Raevyn Rogers, who had just won her second consecutive 800-meter title for the University of Oregon. Poised, exhuberant, humble, and tremendously talented, Rogers may well rise to further greatness in the years to come. Hers is... Full story
One hundred and twenty-four young men and women formally moved into the next stage of their lives at the 68th commencement of Sisters High School on Friday, June 3, in front of a capacity crowd in the SHS gym. Tradition ruled the evening's ceremony, as high school faculty, dressed in their black gowns and university hoods, led the procession into the gym to "The Imperial March" from Star Wars. The music transitioned to "Pomp and Circumstance" as the graduates filed in to the... Full story
Nearly every Sisters athlete who qualified for the state track and field meet came home with a medal, concluding the 2016 season on a high note for the Outlaws. The Sisters athletes jumped, threw and ran at the OSAA Championships held Friday and Saturday, May 20-21 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. T.J. Hooks got the medal collection underway Friday with a personal best in the 3,000 meters, where he finished sixth in 9:11.67. "T.J. ran bravely, as... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws girls track and field team won its second consecutive Sky-Em District team title, while the boys team placed a strong third in the two-day meet that concluded Saturday, May 14, at Cottage Grove High School. The first day of competition on Thursday, May 12, saw temperatures in the low 80s, which challenged some athletes, most notably the 3,000-meter runners who competed in the only running final of the day. The heat did not stop T.J. Hooks and Jadon... Full story
A solid showing at the 17-team Wally Ciochetti Invitational at Cottage Grove High School Friday, May 6, convinced Head Coach Jeff Larson that his track and field team is ready for the Sky-Em District meet. Districts are set for Thursday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13, also at Cottage Grove. The meet featured 4A teams from throughout Oregon and many of the state-level leaders in every event, making it a preview of sorts for the upcoming district and state meets. The district... Full story
The girls dominated and the boys won a squeaker at the seven-team Madras Invitational held Saturday, April 30, at Madras High School. With pleasant temperature, a blue sky and just a little wind the Outlaws ended April looking like they are coming into championship meet form, according to Coach Jeff Larson. "We had so many career and season bests, it was crazy," he said. Crazier still was the final score on the boys side. The Outlaws piled up 167.5 points, but tiny Hosanna... Full story
The Sisters High School track and field teams finished up the Sky-Em league schedule and also got a taste of big-meet competition in two meets last week. At Sweet Home for the second time this season Wednesday, April 20, the Outlaws once again used the three-way meet to test new events and prepare for the more important meets coming in May. Bright spots from the meet, in many cases, came from the Outlaws pushing one another to good marks, according to Head Coach Jeff Larson.... Full story
The 14th edition of the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20- and 40-mile trail race started Sunday, April 10, with a crisp clear morning that turned into one of the warmer race days in the history of the event. Nonetheless, a total of 452 runners completed their respective courses, making it the largest overall finish number since the race began back in 2003. Race director Sean Meissner could not recall temperatures climbing into the mid-70s in previous years. "That made it a little toug... Full story
Getting back to competition after a long spring break did not faze the Outlaws. They opened the Sky-Em season with strong early season performances at a four-way meet that included league rivals Sweet Home and Elmira, as well as 3A Creswell in a contest held Thursday, April 7, at Elmira. "It was good to have our first meet in three weeks," said Head Coach Jeff Larson. "The wonderful weather and solid level of competition brought out the best in the Outlaws." The girls took top... Full story
The 14th annual Peterson Ridge Rumble 20- and 40-mile trail run is set for Sunday, April 10, with a full field of runners in both distances. Race Director Sean Meissner, a former resident of Sisters now living in Durango, Colorado, is in town all week getting the course checked over and marked before the 8 a.m. start of the 40-mile race. "The trails look to be in good shape due to the recent weather not being overly wintry," he said. "Some years we have to deal with snow." The course starts at the junction of Edgington Road... Full story
One of the advantages of running is that you are typically going at a speed that allows you to regard things you would not notice when biking or driving. There is a sign that I have driven past hundreds of times along Highway 20. It's just beyond the edge of town, on the north side, where cars pick up speed as they head out toward the Santiam Pass. There is a pull-out there, but nothing else to attract one's attention. I stopped at this spot to stretch a number of years ago... Full story
The second race of the 2016 Nordic ski season brought noticeable improvement among the members of the Outlaw team at the XC Oregon Invitational at Mt. Bachelor on Saturday, January 23. The race featured more than 100 racers in each division, and the Outlaws approached the meet very relaxed and in good spirits, according to Coach Kelly Crowther. "The boys took an extended warm-up before the race to take advantage of the excellent classic snow conditions and it appeared to be advantageous as they did perform quite... Full story
My transition back to America after two years in South Korea has been challenging and interesting in a variety of ways. I didn't know that my return would coincide with the loss of my ability to run. We returned in mid-June, but could not move into our Tollgate home which was being rented out, so we moved into a place at Black Butte Ranch, praying that our home would become available before the lease was up in June 2016. Being in a new location in Sisters Country did provide some new perspective and opportunities, which was... Full story
Unlike the past two seasons with scarce snowfall, the 2016 high school Nordic ski season got off to a good start with plentiful snow and scores of participants at the Teacup Race held near Mount Hood on Saturday, January 9. The Sisters Outlaws, a small but mighty contingent totaling six athletes, fared quite well overall among a total of nearly 150 skiers. Shayla Curtis turned in the top performance for the Sisters girls, finishing in 22nd place with a time of 24:32 for the five-kilometer course. Serena Salisbury finished... Full story
