Cross country boys win at Elmira, girls fourth

With Benton Urquhart and Parker Bennett leading the way, the Sisters Outlaws cross country team "whupped up" on 19 other teams at the Elmira Invitational held Wednesday, October 15, at the Country Fair site in Veneta.

Urquhart ran his season best (16:27) and Bennett finished just behind him in a career best (16:28) to finish sixth and seventh respectively.

The rest of the Outlaws pack began pouring in shortly after, as Jared Henderson clocked 16:59, Drew Harrison (17:16), Mike Calavan (17:17), Seth Schneider (17:24) and Taylor Steele (17:34) all placed in the top 41 among 180 runners.

"The boys were impressive having all seven boys within just over a minute apart," said assistant coach Rima Givot, who had charge of the team for the day.

Urquhart continued his steady improvement and Bennett knocked 22 seconds from his previous best, indicating that the Outlaws are getting primed for the District and State championships.

"The boys are very focused, confident and healthy," said Coach Charlie Kanzig. "Most of the hard work is now done and it will be exciting to see what they can do in the next two weeks."

Sisters won the meet with 68 points over second-place Roseburg with 128, and third-place Pleasant Hill with 127.

The girls struggled a bit, finishing fourth with 150 points behind 6A Roseburg (91), but more importantly behind league rival Marist (122) and another 4A team, Central (134).

"From what I can see our girls weren't quite as ready to race the other teams," said Kanzig. "All of the Marist girls ran season bests, while we, for the most part, ran similar times to previous races."

Kanzig believes his team will be ready to face the challenge at District.

"There is no reason for the girls to feel solemn about their effort," he said. "Our district meet is very small, with only five complete teams on the girls' side so there will be no getting lost in the crowd."

After a slow start, Emi Conrads moved up to 14th place to score first for Sisters in 20:31. Kirsten Clarke lowered her season best to 21:07 to finish 21st. Hayley Palmer (22:06), Claire Kanzig (22:19) and Courtney Johnson (22:20) completed the scoring for Sisters.

Johnson ran her best time in two years since coming back from foot surgery.

"As our only senior on the girls' varsity team, we are all so happy to see Courtney progress so well," said Kanzig.

Nicolle Meadors (22:30) and Jordan Richerson (22:36) were on their heels as the Outlaws packed well, as they have all season.

"Our strength is in our depth and our proximity to one another," said Kanzig. "If we can get our third through seventh runners just a little closer to Kirsten Clarke we'll be in good shape at District."

The District Meet is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, at Lane Community College. The top two teams in the varsity races will advance to the State Meet slated for Saturday, November 1.