Middle schoolers shine on the track

Sisters Middle School hosted the Central Oregon Small Schools District Meet Wednesday, May 16 and came away with most of the hardware as three of the four trophies stayed right here at home.

The meet, which featured teams from Culver, Gilchrist, La Pine, St. Francis, Terrebonne, Three Rivers, Trinity Lutheran and Tumalo, climaxed a season that included a strong turnout of athletes and some new school records.

The district meet splits teams by grade level. Sisters captured first place team trophies for seventh grade boys, seventh grade girls and eighth grade boys.

Jared Nelson led the way for the eighth grade boys as a triple winner, including a school record 11-feet-6-inches in the pole vault. He also won the high jump (5-feet-2-inches) and the 200 (25.2) and finished second in the discus with a toss of 90-feet-9-inches.

The middle distance runners padded the score as a group as Taylor Steele (2:31.4), Michael Williams (2:31.8) and Devon Prescott (2:32.2) swept the top three places in the 800. Steele contributed a second place in the 1,500 (5:13.7) and got support from Seth Flanders (5:24.9) and Prescott (5:28.8), who placed third and fourth respectively. Williams also picked up second in the 400 at 1:01.7.

John Green took first place in the shot put with a mark of 38-feet-2 inches, and Jordan Rudinsky (17.9) and Chad Cummings (18.5) went 2-3 in the 110 high hurdles. The seventh grade boys were led by Easton Curtis who cruised to first place in the 1,500 (5:24.7) and the 800 (2:33.4).

Timmy Hernandez came through with some big points as well, as he placed second in the high jump (5 feet 4 inches) and third in the 100 meters (13.2).

Placing first on the eighth grade girls side included Olivia Miller in the 100 meters (13.96) and the long jump (13-feet-7.25-inches), Sarah Main in the 400 (1:10.7), Janelle Johnson in the 100 hurdles (18.53) and Kirsten Clarke in the 800 (2:53.3).

In addition, the 4-by-200-meter relay team of Hayley Palmer, Kristain Van Gorder, Kelly Cole and Ali Wimer took first place. Other top placers included Kelly Cole who finished second in the long jump (13-feet-7-inches), Tia Berg who was the runner up in the pole vault (seven feet) and Kristain Van Gorder who took third in the high jump (4-feet-3-inches).

Probably the most outstanding performance of the day came in the seventh grade girls 800 meters as Michelle Young trounced the field in 2:51.0 after winning the 1,500 meters (5:51) and the 400 (1:09.4) earlier. Also among seventh grade girls, Zoe McAllister earned a blue ribbon in the 100 hurdles (18.25), as did Samantha Kaiser in the discus (70-feet-1-inch) and Chelsea Reifschneider in the pole vault (6-feet-6 inches).

The 4-by-100-meter relay team of Lauren Chauncey, Samantha Kaiser, Chloe Stein and Jenny Houk placed first as did the 4-by-200-meter relay of Elise Herron, Lauren Rudinsky, Zoe McAllister and Michelle Young. Second place finishes went to Jenny Houk in the 100 (13.9), Kristina Johns in the 1,500 (5:58.4), Lauren Chauncey in the discus (67-feet-8-inches) and Samantha Williamson in the pole vault (6-feet-6 inches). The track team is coached by Midge Rose and Barbara Haynes. Volunteer coaches include Kris Kristovich, Carlos Garcia and Melvin Herberger.