Records fall at Outlaws home track meet

Two school records highlighted the annual Sisters Rotary Track and Field Invitational held Saturday, April 5.

Cory McCaffrey smashed his own school record in the long jump, soaring 23-feet-4-inches, which is the second best jump of the 2008 season at any level.

"He had an incredible series of jumps, capping it with the longest of all," said head coach Bob Johnson. McCaffrey broke his own record set last year at 21-feet-11.25-inches.

Justine Head placed third in a very competitive javelin competition and came through with a school record of her own at 112-feet-5-inches. The former record by Tara Hermens set last year was 109-feet-6-inches.

"I thought that the meet went real well, thanks to our great volunteers, including a lot of parents," said Johnson

The meet drew 14 teams, from 1A through 6A levels.

"The competition was very good," said Johnson. "Even the small schools had some amazing individuals, like the Gilchrist boy who cleared 13-feet-6-inches in the pole vault."

Sisters placed second among girls teams, just four points behind Molalla, while the boys team finished third to champion West Linn and runner-up Crook County.

Other highlights included Parker Bennett's win in the 3,000 meters (9:40) and McKenzie Williams' victory in the 400 meters in 1:01.91.

"Parker is so mentally tough. It's a pleasure to watch him compete, and McKenzie is running as fast as she did at the end of last season.

Johnson noted the improvement of two freshmen as Hayley Palmer notched her best time of the season in the 800 meters, 2:41, which was a 15-second improvement. In the same way Taylor Steele ran 4:44.9 for 1,500 meters and came back with a 10:50 for 3,000.

"That's a great double for a ninth grader," said Johnson.

The boys 1,600-meter relay team of McCaffrey, Lee Elder, Max Gruettner, and Cory Holt clobbered the rest of the field in 3:34.22 and will only continue to improve, according to Johnson.

"We've had to train through these early meets to be ready for district five weeks from now, but these guys, along with the rest of the team, have handled the hard work very well and remain very competitive," he said.

The team travels to Junction City to face the Tigers and Marist on Thursday and will trek to the Elmira Relays on Saturday

Complete results of the meet are available at http://www.athletic.net.