News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 669 - 693 of 923
After two weeks of resting a strained hamstring, brought on by middle age and not by running at a fast pace, I headed out behind Tollgate for a three-mile trial run to test whether my recovery was complete. There I merged with my colleague Lora Nordquist on the Brooks-Scanlon Road. Her husband John had run ahead and had already turned back into Tollgate, which I assumed Lora would also do. We had begun conversing and I discovered that she is training for the Eugene Women's... Full story
Summer is upon us and the running calendar has been full of action for local runners, including a large contingent who participated in two very popular half-marathons, The Dirty Half and the Smith Rock Sunrise Summer Classic. The Dirty Half, held Sunday, June 13, is the unofficial kick-off to summer running held at Phil's Trail near Bend, which may be in its last year at the site due to concerns by Forest Service managers about overuse of the area. Two local runners, one in the youngest age group and one in the oldest, came... Full story
A fun-filled, "down home" Fourth of July celebration designed to bring the community together while also supporting Habitat for Humanity will take place in Creekside City Park from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Independence Day. In addition to the picnic time, the first annual "Recycle Run" featuring both a five-kilometer and eight-kilometer run/walk will take place earlier in the morning from Sisters Athletic Club, ending at the picnic site in the park. The Recycle Run is open to all ages and is designed for everyone from casual... Full story
Sisters Athletic Club's annual mini-triathlon attracted a host of local athletes on Saturday, some of whom took part in a duathlon that was added this year. Josh Nordell, 32, showed his endurance and versatility in capturing first-place honors overall in the triathlon, finishing the 450-meter swim, 12-mile bike and three-mile run in one hour, one minute and 12 seconds (1:01:12), over four minutes ahead of his closest competitor. Camp Sherman resident, Alan Dale, took third... Full story
The SHS commencement ceremony for 2010 included looking in the rearview mirror as well as onto the road ahead for the 134-member class. That spirit of remembrance and anticipation filled the air on Friday, June 4, and was reflected in the class motto (author unknown): "Behind you are the shadows of what might have been, and ahead the image of what we hope to be." With eight valedictorians and four salutatorians, speeches dominated the evening in the packed-to-the-rafters... Full story
The Outlaws track teams gave their best at the Sky-Em District Championships, earning some squad members a trip to next week's OSAA state championships at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus. The top two finishers in each event qualify for state. The girls team came up just short in a very tight three-team race for the district meet title, finishing six points behind Marist (155) and three points ahead of Cottage Grove (146). "We racked up a lot of points by... Full story
For those folks who always wanted to be part of the Sisters Athletic Club's "Try a Tri" mini triathlon, but stayed away due to "swimophobia," the club has added a duathlon to the annual event, scheduled for Saturday morning, June 5. "The triathlon has been very successful, but every year I have folks say they'd love to be involved, but can't swim too well, so we decided to accommodate them," said Tate Metcalf, of Sisters Athletic Club. The triathlon's format is virtually the... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws will be chomping at the bit to compete this week at the Sky-Em district meet, with a pair of goals in mind: First, to compete well as a team and challenge for the district title, and second to qualify as many athletes to the state meet as possible. The final tune-up for district took place Friday, May 14 at the Wally Ciochetti Invitational in Cottage Grove. The twilight meet attracted a number of the Sky-Em schools and served as a great comparison to the... Full story
Parker Bennett slipped below the four-minute barrier for 1,500 meters at the Jesuit Twilight Relays Friday, May 7, continuing his string of record-breaking performances and leaving his coaches to wonder just how fast he will run this year. Bennett placed second among an assemblage of many of the finest high school middle-distance runners in Oregon and Washington in a time of 3:59.16. The champion, Daniel Winn of 6A Cleveland, clocked 3:58.78. "Parker ran a well-paced race and then showed just how gutsy he is on the final... Full story
It was a great day to be an Outlaws senior at the Dick Baker Track and Field Invitational, as some of the Sisters 12th graders had career bests. Parker Bennett destroyed the school record for 3,000 meters, running alone at the head of the pack to win in 8:49.92, breaking Daniel Kemp's 1996 record of 8:55. Bennett's mark is the fifth best among all high school runners in Oregon thus far. Bennett now owns the top marks in school history for 1,500, 3,000, and 5,000 meters. Anothe... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws enter the final third of the track season with a number of athletes ranked at or near the top in their events after a very competitive meet at Summit High School on Saturday, April 24. The girls team placed third and the boys fourth among 12 teams, tops among 4A schools in the largely 5A meet. At Thursday's Sky-Em four-way meet, Sisters easily captured first place on both the boys and girls side as both teams remained unbeaten among league teams. Among the... Full story
Think Again ParentS (TAPS), a community organization dedicated to the prevention of alcohol and drug use among teens in Sisters, will offer a forum for parents and community on Thursday, April 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Sisters High School auditorium. Students are also welcome. The TAPS committee is made up of school personnel as well as community members who organize and implement prevention strategies in addition to providing data, education and resources to families on the issue of alcohol and drug use among Sisters... Full story
Ashley Nordell, an accomplished ultra-marathon runner who recently moved to Sisters, took top honors right here in her own new backyard, winning the Peterson Ridge Rumble 60 kilometer trail race Sunday, April 11. Nordell covered the course in five hours, one minute and 32 seconds to place 11th overall and eight minutes ahead of the second female finisher. The race turned into a family affair for Nordell, as her husband, Josh, finished a close second in the 30-kilometer... Full story
The path to becoming an Olympic gold medalist can take quite a few twists and turns, but seldom does an athlete create a technique largely on his own that leads him to the heights of Olympic glory. Such is the case for Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic high jump champion, who began experimenting with a new method for high jumping while he was a high school student in Medford, Oregon. Fosbury conducted a clinic and shared a message Friday, April 2 at Sisters High School as a... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws didn't have quite the finish they hoped for at the Oregon High School Nordic State Championships, held February 26 and 27 at Mt. Bachelor, but the teams still had a successful season in the eyes of coach Tom Blust. Summit swept both the boys and girls team titles, while the Outlaws ended up in fourth place for both boys and girls after expecting to finish as high as second. "It appeared that we were a little off our best, and most of the other teams really... Full story
After two months, my New Year's resolution to run nearly every day remains intact and I even have my first "race" under my belt. I qualify the word "race" because I've never run slower in a timed event than last weekend's Buck Mountain Mudslinger trail run near Silver Falls. My wife Deirdre and I, along with other local runners Rhonda Schantz, Sean Meissner, Wendy Miller, Tami Gill, Lois Kaping, and Char Sundstrom, traveled over the mountains for the first running of the... Full story
Local artist Alma Cox can officially refer to herself as an author since the publication earlier this year of her first book "Collage Fusion: Vibrant Wood and Fabric Art using Telamadera Techniques." She signed copies of the book last month at Stitchin' Post, where the book is available for purchase. Cox decided to write the book after she penned an article for the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors that described her mixed-media technique of Telamadera Fusion or "TF". "The... Full story
Despite calls from the announcer to "think snow," the rains never stopped at the annual Hoodoo Nordic Night Race held Thursday, February 11 under the lights at Hoodoo Mountain Resort. The weather didn't appear to cool the fires of the Outlaws skiers, who once again showed competitiveness against the powerful skiers from Summit High School. A total of 175 skiers took part in the race, which included the regular OHSNO teams from Summit, Redmond, Bend, Sisters, Corvallis and... Full story
With pun fully intended, I believe a running movement is afoot in Sisters Country. Since the start of the year and the resurrection of my own running career, I have encountered many people around town who ask me about running. They want to know about races, about how to train, and what running events we might be able to get started here in Sisters. I am thrilled. Let me explain. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a running boom took place all across America and it had its root... Full story
I have discovered that putting my personal athletic goals for 2010 in the newspaper is one way to be held accountable. Ever since I wrote about my daughter giving me a running calendar for Christmas and my subsequent plan to actually use it, area people have been inquiring about my progress. I am happy to report that I ran 27 of the 31 days of January, and while the weight loss has not been particularly significant, I feel healthier than I have been in a few years. While a number of those runs have only been a couple of... Full story
The largest meet of the Nordic ski season resulted in the strongest performances of the season for the Outlaws team. The boys team finished second among 11 teams, and the girls placed third at the Skadi Cup Classic Ski Race, near Mt. Hood. The race featured the southern division of the Oregon High School Nordic league and most of the northern division of the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association as well. Parker Bennett once again paced the Outlaws boys, this time with... Full story
The Outlaws Nordic ski team faced its toughest challenge of the season at Saturday's Mt. Bachelor Pursuit and came through with some top finishes. Snow conditions were "absolutely perfect" for classic waxing, according to head coach Tom Blust. Pursuit racing includes two stages. In Saturday's race, stage one featured a 3.5-kilometer classic leg, followed by a 4.8- kilometer skating leg. The classic leg began as a mass start and results from the race determined the starting order for the pursuit leg. Amity Calvin finished... Full story
The New Year, perhaps along with our unseasonably mild weather, appears to have inspired a number of locals to get out on the trail, either for the first time or in increased numbers. I feel almost proud to report that I have run every single day of 2010 through the seventeenth, bumping my weekly total up to 25 miles as of January 16. I have my first race of 2010 planned for the end of February and hope some other Sisters folks will journey over the mountains to join me for the February 27 Buck Mountain Mudslinger Run at... Full story
The Matsiko Children's Choir, comprised of 35 Ugandan orphans, treated the fifth and sixth grade students at Sisters Middle School to an hour of singing and dancing on Friday, January 8, that left everyone in the crowd with a smile and possibly a new perspective on the impact of education. Sixth grade teachers Carol Packard and Deirdre Kanzig invited the group to come as a tie-in to the sixth graders study of Africa last term. "Any time you can expose American children to... Full story
Courtney Blust came through as the top individual performer for the Sisters High School Nordic team in an Oregon High School Nordic league skate race held Saturday, January 9, at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park. Blust finished fourth in a field of 65 girls, skating over the 5.8-kilometer course in 21:29 to lead the Outlaws. Janelle Hjelmstad scored next for Sisters in 26th place (25:25) and Amity Calvin, off her normal pace, finished in 30th (25:51). The remaining girls finishing... Full story
