News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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With a strong crew of distance runners as a core, the boys and girls track teams both look very competitive as the Outlaws get the track and field season underway Wednesday at the Mountain View Icebreaker. Zoe Falk, who signed on to run for Northern Arizona University earlier this winter, comes into the season with three years of state-level experience bringing a variety of talents to the squad. As the school record-holder for 800 (2:15) and 1,500 meters (4:48), the sky is the limit for her as an individual, but she will also... Full story
In high school, the winter season for me meant running after school or in the early morning alone, often in darkness. An offer from the wrestling coach to join the team for some road work sounded like the perfect way to break up the loneliness, so I found myself hopping in the mini-bus with a bunch of guys who had no love for running. The situation was one of those classic high school scenes in which a bunch of young men try to hide their dread about what is being asked of them. But as the bus moved further and further from t... Full story
Zoe Falk's dream of running for a NCAA Division 1 school is now a reality as the record-holding runner signed a national letter of intent with the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks at a ceremony held recently at Sisters High School. Falk, who holds school records for 800, 1,500, and 5,000 meters at Sisters High School, will join a running program at NAU that is well known for excellence. In fact the Lumberjacks men's cross-country team placed second at nationals this... Full story
I have a long-held belief that distance runners are friendly and approachable. It has been my experience that in most cases logging mile after mile, year after year, takes the rough edges off a person. Of course, this could also be complete and utter bias on my part, since I am a runner. However, I had an experience last night here in South Korea that I believe supports my thesis. I went for a run after dark, which is not typical of me, but since my daughter Claire's death in November I have found that I often get very... Full story
I grew up in a small town surrounded by farm fields in the Willamette Valley, so my running routes often included gravel roads, dirt paths, and pastoral scenery. My college years featured the extensive trail systems in Eugene and runs up through Hendricks Park. Sisters, of course, offers an endless variety of trails, Forest Service roads, and backroad byways through the pondersosa forest. As I ran here this morning in Daejeon, South Korea, I needed an alternate to my typical... Full story
My wife Deirdre, son Izaak, and I are at mid-year in our first year of working at Taejon Christian International School in Daejeon, South Korea, and friends back in Sisters Country have asked what are favorite experiences have been thus far. There have been dozens of daily life experiences that are humorous and instructive, but there is one experience that has been the best so far. It is a story of homesickness, perseverance, and wonder. Only a week or so after we arrived in S... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws showed they were the class of the field as all four teams competing at the Sky-Em District Meet swept to team titles. The win launches the boys' and girls' varsity teams on to the OSAA State Championships scheduled for Saturday, November 2, at Lane Community College in Eugene. It was a repeat performance of the 2012 team and gave Coach Josh Nordell reason to smile afterwards. "I was a little nervous leading up to district, but now I am just super excited fo... Full story
In the final race before this week's District Championships, the Outlaws cross-country teams showed why they are the heavy favorites to defend their Sky-Em titles and return to the state meet. The boys and girls teams beat all but one of the 4A teams present at the Elmira Country Fair Classic, held Wednesday, October 16. Celebrating the return to action of senior Brandon Pollard, the boys' team took sixth place overall among 29 teams from all classifications. Marshfield of Coos Bay, which just dropped down from 5A this... Full story
It's been a long time since the Outlaw girls have had two runners under the 20-minute mark in the same race in the same season. Zoe Falk and Aria Blumm pulled off that feat at the George Fox Adidas Classic held at Mission Bottom State Park Saturday, October 12. The meet featured one of the deepest, fastest fields of runners of the 2013 season in Oregon. Falk finished in 19:37, while Blumm annihilated her personal record by some 30 seconds on her way to crossing the line in 19:52. The high quality of the runners in the race... Full story
October is racing time according to coach Josh Nordell and his charges have taken the expectation seriously with nearly the entire squad running at season and even career best levels in the past week. The Oxford Classic, set on a fast course in Bend's Drake Park, provided the most recent test for the Sisters' runners and they passed with flying colors in Nordell's view. Aria Blumm took over the leadership role for the Outlaws in the varsity girl's elite race when the team's... Full story
In the first Outlaw Invite cross-country meet held Saturday, September 28, senior Zoe Falk sprang from the starting line like a deer on the first day of hunting season and never looked back on her way to a decisive victory over Sky-Em league rival Breanna Wright of Cottage Grove. Falk cruised through the home course in 19:44, a full 40 seconds ahead of Wright, for her fastest time of the 2013 campaign, leading the Outlaws to an easy team win which included all seven runners... Full story
As summer has certainly given way to fall, both here in South Korea and in Sisters Country, runners are trading heat, dust, and humidity for cooler temperatures and some rain. Personally, it's my favorite time of the year for running. Let's start with what's happening here in Daejeon, South Korea and then move back to Central Oregon. Humidity for me fits in the category of mosquitoes, lima beans, and dental work: I want nothing to do with any of them. With daytime highs here... Full story
Tradition is the name of the game when it comes to the Sisters cross-country team traveling to the Seaside Three Course Challenge every September. Established by legendary Seagull coach Cornelius Branson over two decades ago, the event now draws more than 2,000 runners from throughout the Northwest. The Outlaws have attended every year since 1994. The Three Course Challenge is named for the unique format: Varsity runners draw from a tin can a white, blue, or red poker chip to determine which of the three courses they will... Full story
The high school cross-country competitive season got officially underway Saturday, September 7, at the Breese Ranch Invitational east of Prineville on a rugged course. The meet was hosted by Crook County High School. The Cowboys felt the home-course advantage as they slipped in ahead of the Outlaws in the boys team standings as the top 4A team, despite strong efforts by the top three runners from Sisters. Summit and Mountain View claimed the top two team spots. Brandon Pollard... Full story
With 12 of the top 14 runners returning for the boys and girls cross country teams, coaches Josh Nordell and Rima Givot have plenty to be excited about as the season gets underway with a kick-off meet this weekend. The girls team, which won another Sky-Em League title last year and placed seventh at state, return an enviable crew of experienced and talented runners, led by senior Zoe Falk who is considered one of the top 4A runners. Falk, who placed second in the 800-meter final at the OSAA Track and Field Championships last... Full story
After a one-year hiatus, the Outlaws cross-country team toed the starting line once again near downtown Portland for the annual Portland to Coast High School Challenge, held in conjunction with the Hood to Coast Relay August 23-24. The Outlaws have been participants in the event since near its inception in the 1990s, sometimes fielding two teams, but they had to take last year off due to scheduling conflicts. A total of 50 teams from throughout Oregon and southwest Washington took part in the relay. Following last week's... Full story
Editor's note: Deirdre and Charlie Kanzig are taking a two-year leave of absence from the Sisters School District to teach at Taejon Christian International School in Taejon, South Korea. See story at www.nuggetnews.com in the Education section. The first thing runners do when arriving at a new location is to figure out what the local running options are. So, on the second day here in Daejeon, South Korea, my wife Deirdre and I set out to explore the paths near our apartment.... Full story
The annual Sisters Recycle Run and Walk attracted a healthy crowd on a beautiful morning July 4, with over 50 participants combined involved in the 5-kilometer and 8-kilometer courses. Race director Julia Rickards reported that a record number of walkers took part this year and everyone felt pleased with the courses in what she described as a "down-home, low-key" event. Both courses took place on the lower reaches of the Peterson Ridge Trail system and finished at Creekside... Full story
In the past month I have had experiences that have given me some new perspectives surrounding my life as a runner. As a young man, I qualified for the Boston Marathon a number of times, but had agreed to only travel there when a good friend also qualified. Sadly, he never did, and life went on without me taking part in the epic race. Two weeks ago, I enjoyed a trip to Boston and Cambridge for a school counseling institute sponsored by Harvard and the College Board. On my... Full story
It's not every day you see a flash mob in Sisters, but those attending the Sisters Middle School promotion ceremony on Wednesday, June 12 experienced that and more as 104 eighth-graders celebrated with one final hurrah together before family, friends, and faculty in the one-hour event. Following a heartfelt rendition of the national anthem by eighth-grader Emma Houck, outgoing Principal Mark Stewart, who will take over as director of the elementary school for the 2013-14... Full story
Not to be upstaged by The Biggest Little Show in the World, the 65th commencement of Sisters High School was held Friday, June 7, the first time the ceremony has taken place on the same weekend as the Sisters Rodeo. A total of 101 students received diplomas at the conclusion of the ceremony, along with four exchange students, in one of the smaller graduating classes in the past decade. In all, six students earned 24-credit State of Oregon diplomas, 71 earned 26-credit regular... Full story
One school record fell along with numerous personal bests for the eight members of the Sisters High School track and field team who represented the Outlaws at the OSAA State Championships held May 24-25 at Hayward Field in Eugene. Zoe Falk broke her own school record for 800 meters on her way to a second-place finish behind reigning champion Emily Bever of Molalla. Falk's 2:15.95 time, by far her best of the year, knocked .40 seconds from the mark she set last year. "Going... Full story
While not quite able to repeat as District champions, the Sisters girls' track team still managed to qualify five girls to the state meet in a total of eight different events at the Sky-Em District Meet held at Cottage Grove High School May 16 and 18. The boys' team will be sending three representatives to the state meet in four different events as well. The girls finished second to a well-balanced Cottage Grove squad for the team title, but behind the efforts of Alisha... Full story
The first Rotary Mountain High track and field meet held Friday afternoon, May 3, at Bill Reed Stadium produced plenty of excitement under sunny skies. Rotary has sponsored a meet in Sisters for years, but this year they changed the date in the hope of better weather. They got it, with temperatures in the low 70s at the start of the meet. The traditional Rotary Invitational Meet was held in early April and often faced winter-like conditions and was even cancelled due to snow... Full story
The Wally Ciochetti Invitational has become a premier track and field event, attracting some of the very best 4A teams and providing outstanding competition for teams entering the championship part of the season. A total of 17 teams took part in the meet held at Cottage Grove High School under balmy conditions. One after another, Outlaws athletes improved season and career bests as the twilight meet moved from afternoon to evening, according to Coach Josh Nordell. On... Full story
