Sisters High School track teams are primed for District meet

A beautiful spring evening provided just the right setting at the The Wally Ciochetti Invitational track meet at Cottage Grove for Sisters athletes to tune up for the upcoming district meet.

The boys team finished a strong third among some of the state’s top programs and the girls had some outstanding individual performances, which bodes well with the Capital Conference Championships scheduled for Friday, May 19 and Saturday May 20 at Stayton High School with berths to the state meet on the line.

The top two placers in each event at district advance to the state meet.

In Friday’s meet, Cory McCaffery followed his strong anchor of the 400-meter relay team’s victory in a season best of 44.30 with a clear win in the 100-meter dash in 11.61. Joining him in the relay were Nick Purvis, Travis Myrick and Kelly Crowther. Before the evening was over, McCaffery was the owner of the Sisters High School record in the long jump with a winning leap of 21 feet 7.25 inches, which won by over two full feet.

Ande Phillips picked up third place at 19 feet 10.25 inches.

Kelly Crowther showed he is ready for anything at district with a second place finish in the 400 (52.29), which moved him to a fourth place ranking in the Capital Conference. He was part of the third place 1,600-meter relay team along with Stefan Redfield, Eli Callan, and Nick Purvis. The squad is ranked second in the league going into the district meet.

Purvis had another strong meet, finishing second in the 200 (24.04) and opening the 1,600 relay with his best 400 of the year.

Redfield set personal bests in the 1,500 (4:16.92) and the 800 meters (2:03.81) and enters the district meet with an outside shot at qualifying for state in the latter event. Freshman Mike Calavan showed that he can take on his older competitors with a huge improvement in the 1,500 to finish in 4:38.74.

Andy Stahn proved he is ready to compete for a spot on the 1,600-meter relay in the future with a personal best of 55.08 in the 400.

“Andy is a great example of hard work and determination paying off,” said assistant coach Sally Taylor-Pillar. “He just keeps getting better and better.”

Eli Callan approached his season goal in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a second place finish in 42.03. He is currently rated third in the Capital Conference and intends to nab one of the top two spots at District.

Benton Urquhart, the freshman phenom, ran through a sideache to hold on for fifth place in the 3,000 in 9:35. Lucas Glick ran his fastest time of his young career to finish 10th in 9:58.61. Both runners look to score points in the district meet despite the fact that the two fastest 3A 3,000-meter runners reside in the conference.

Among throwers, Jeff Sampson hopes to make noise in the shot put and discus at district. His 43-foot 1- inch effort Friday was good enough for third place. He is ranked second in the league, but is a full 10 feet behind Molalla’s Jake Barker who has thrown over 54 feet. Sampson will be in the thick of action in the discus at district, where he is also rated second, although his mark at Cottage Grove of 111 feet 9 inches was well off his best of 130 feet 3 inches.

The girls team, down in its overall depth this year, has a number of individuals who will pick up points at district if Friday’s results are any indication.

Jenny Boswell looks poised to defend her district and state crowns in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles. She was victorious once again in both races at Cottage Grove and leads the state in both categories.

Jena Rickards led a pack of runners throughout the 3,000-meter run to lower her best time of the season to 11:39 for second place and ran a flashy leg of the 1,600-meter relay team that is looking to sneak in for a second place finish at district behind state leader Cascade in that event.

Tara Hermens had a pair of throws in the 90s in the javelin and comes into district rated third with a best of 102 feet 5 inches, less than four feet behind the number two rated thrower.

Anna Pepperling showed her senior spirit with a season best of 9 feet in the pole vault where she placed third based on misses. She and teammate Cammy Jacobson are tied for second in the league at that mark behind a 10-foot vaulter from Molalla. Jacobson did not jump Friday.

Kali Ulmer and Kelsey Neilson both have a shot at state berths in the high jump with season best marks of 4 feet 10 inches. One girl in the league has cleared five feet and it’s just a matter of time before one or both of the Outlaw girls cracks that barrier according to head coach Ross Kennedy. Ulmer placed fifth Friday night at 4 feet 10 inches and finished second in the triple jump (32 feet 9 inches) and third in the long jump (14 feet 10.5 inches) as well.

Ulmer is rated second in the league in the triple jump, just ahead of teammates Neilson and freshman upstart Aubrey Cretsinger. Any of the three has a legitimate shot at going to state in the event. Ulmer should also be in a fight in the long jump as only 4 inches separate her from the league leader.

The two-day district meet gets underway Friday at 3 p.m. with preliminaries in all running events of 800 meters or less and finals in the 3,000 meters and select field events.

Saturday includes finals in all running events through 1,500 meters and the remaining field events. Field events begin at noon and running events are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.