Track teams victorious at home meet

The Sisters Outlaws track and field teams topped the 14 team field at their own invitational. Both the boys' and girls' squads took first place at the Rotary Invitational held Saturday, April 7, at Reed Stadium.

The boys, behind the heroics of Cory McCaffrey, Stefan Redfield and Eli Callan and Kelly Crowther - who won the decisive 1,600-meter relay - tied with Mountain View with 89 points for first place.

McCaffrey out-gutted Mountain View's anchor in a thrilling finish in the long relay to put the Outlaws into a tie for the trophy. Had it gone the other way, Sisters would have been second in the team race. He and his teammates Callan, Redfield, and Crowther finished in 3:35.6.

"There were great performances all day long," said head coach Bob Johnson. "The kids competed with a lot of heart."

McCaffrey started the day with a near-school record long jump lead of 21-feet-6-inches, just 1.5 inches short of his own best. Considering the rainy conditions all morning, it was an amazing feat, according to his jump coach Alex Cretsinger.

In the first running event of the day, McCaffery was back in action with his teammates Travis Myrick, Eli Callan, and Carroll Gryder, who took second place in the 400-meter relay in 44.3, the fastest 4A time in the state this year.

Within an hour it was McCaffrey again, this time finishing a close second in the 400 meters in 51.9 seconds.

Redfield placed second in the 1500 in his season-best time of 4:20.8, and came back with a fourth-place ribbon in the 800 at 2:07.1. Freshman Drew Harrison roared his way into the varsity point scheme, finishing sixth in 2:09.5.

Callan came through with a very fast second-place finish in the 300 hurdles (42.1 seconds) and Crowther pulled in fourth (43.7) to put some big points on the board. Crowther also scored a point for the team in the 100 (11.6), just behind Myrick (11.54) who was seventh.

In the throws, Jeff Sampson put the shot 42 feet 9.5 inches for second place and winged the discus 120 feet 3 inches for seventh.

Dom DeLeone led three Outlaw scorers in the pole vault with a fifth-place finish at 11 feet 6 inches. Ben Mansker tied for sixth (11 feet) and Nick Head tied for seventh (10 feet 6 inches).

As it turned out every point counted, so when Parker Bennett, another freshman, broke through with a sixth-place finish in the 3000 (10:01.5) and Lucas Glick picked up a point for eighth place in the 1500 (4:27.8), both personal bests, there was extra reason to cheer.

The boys finished with 89 points, along with 5A Mountain View. West Linn finished third with 80 and perennial powerhouse Molalla was fourth with 74.5 points among the 14 teams competing.

"I would describe the effort these kids showed as nothing short of stellar," said volunteer coach Melvin Herberger.

The girls' race was almost as close, as the Outlaws pieced together points in nearly every event, many by freshman, to finish with 106 total, edging Mountain View with 103.5 points. Molalla got edged out with 103 points for third and Redmond ended up fourth with 70 points.

"It's amazing that with no individual winners that we could score so many points, but that is a tribute to our depth," said Johnson.

The girls throwing squad got the first points on the board for the Lady Outlaws. Tara Hermens uncorked her best series of throws in her career, including a personal best of 107 feet 7 inches in the javelin to place third. She picked up a seventh place in the discus as well at 83 feet even.

Cammy Jacobson muscled the shot put 29 feet 8 inches to take third place, while Brittany Birkeland, a freshman, placed seventh at 28 feet 3.75 inches. Jacobson earned a third-place ribbon in the pole vault (8 feet), just ahead of teammate Lani Ulmer (8 feet) who finished fifth.

The jumpers helped out as well as Aubrey Cretsinger placed fifth in the long jump (14 feet 6 inches) and fourth in the triple jump (31 feet 2 inches). Kelsey Neilson placed third in the triple (31 feet 9 inches) and seventh in the high jump (4 feet 10 inches), and Neeka Rhodes picked up a point for eighth place in the triple jump at 30 feet 1.5 inches.

McKenzie Williams, Kelsey Neilson, Annie Mutchler, and Brandi Palmer got the running events going with a fourth-place finish in the 400 relay (52.4). Emi Conrads, a freshman (5:18.6), and her sister Ryanne (5:36.8) placed fourth and seventh respectively in the 1500 and Williams came back with a third-place finish in the 400 (1:02.4), giving the Outlaws some early points. Freshman Jessica Head placed fifth in the 400 (1:04.6) as well.

Another frosh, Susan Ruettgers, aided the team with fourth place in the 100 hurdles (18.25) just ahead of sophomore Brook Rosauer (18.8) who was sixth.

In the 800, which featured at least six state qualifiers from last season, Emi Conrads placed sixth (2:29.4). Yet another ninth grader, Courtney Satko (28.5), breezed in just behind Brandi Palmer (28.3) in the 200 as the pair finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Not to be outdone by their classmates, Karah Herr and Hannah Boles showed that the youngsters are for real by placing second and sixth respectively in the 300 hurdles in 51.6 and 54.7 respectively.

Ryanne Conrad contributed a seventh-place finish in the 3000 in 12:30.5.

Just as with the boys, the meet wasn't decided until the final event, but MacKenzie Williams pulled away in the anchor leg of the 1600 relay to seal the title for Sisters in 4:17.2, ahead of second place Molalla. Had Molalla prevailed in the race, first place would have been theirs. Jessica Head, Emi Conrads, and Brandi Palmer joined Williams in the win.

"It doesn't get any better than that," said Bob Johnson.