Runners cap season with state trophy

Sisters High Schhol girls cross country team took a third place finish at the OSAA State Championship meet.

In a show of great team depth the Sisters High School girls cross country team ran to an impressive third place finish at the OSAA State Championship meet Saturday, November 3, at Lane Community College.

Philomath, ranked first all season in coaches' polls, lived up to its billing, claiming the top trophy with 85 points, while Rogue River, the five time defending champions finished second with 99.

Sisters was next with 121 points, and Baker wound up fourth with 141 points.

The Outlaws entered the meet ranked fourth.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of finishing behind those two great programs," coach Charlie Kanzig said. "The girls came here to bring home a team trophy and they did it with incredible teamwork."

Resa Hodson led the charge finishing 17th in 20:36 and it wasn't long before the rest of her teammates joined her at the end of the chute. Tiffany Stevens was next in 34th place (21:23) and then came Iris Powell, Anna Morton, and Rikki Glick in 36th, 37th and 38th.

All three were timed in 21:30.

"Before the race I told the girls that teams had won trophies in the past even with scorers as high as 60th place, so when I saw the top five come in under 40th place, I knew they had run well," said Kanzig.

As it turned out, Sisters had the fastest finishing sixth and seventh runners in the meet.

Melissa Little placed 50th (21:56) and Amy Cretsinger 67th (22:32) among the 124 finishers.

The Outlaws did an excellent job of sticking with the race plan, according to Kanzig.

"I've seen teams struggle with going out to fast or getting lost in the crowd, but the girls stuck together and moved up throughout the race," he said.

For the lone senior on the team, Tiffany Stevens, the meet turned out even better than she'd hoped.

"It was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me, especially for my senior year," she said.

"The way that we competed as a team was a great way for me to end my cross country career."

In addition to the girls themselves, Kanzig gives a lot of credit to all the kids involved on the cross country teams this year and to his assistant coach, Rima Givot.

"A lot of times people see cross country as an individual sport, but I can't emphasize enough to teamwork involved in the girls' success," said Kanzig.

"Even those athletes not running in the meet contributed to the performance of the girls' team."

Melissa Little agreed and appreciated the tremendous support of the rest of the team and their families.

"There were a lot of people there even though it was quite a distance for them to come and watch," she said.

While Kanzig is happy to relish the accomplishments of the team this year it is hard not to look ahead to next year with six of seven varsity runners returning and a number of girls coming up ready to compete.

"I take things one season at a time, but I can't pretend I'm not excited about next season," he said.