Outlaws run near the top at Cottage Grove

Sisters runners joined 18 other teams in the assault on the dam at Dorena Lake last week. They ran near the top of the pack as the girls team placed fourth and the boys team fifth at the Harrier's Challenge, hosted by Cottage Grove High School, on Thursday, October 1.

The scenic course included a steep climb nearly parallel with the face of the dam at the mid-point of the race, providing everyone with a thigh-burning experience.

Emi Conrads paced the girls team, placing in the top 10 with a time around 22:00. The results for the top 15 runners were garbled when the second-place finisher fainted at the finish line, causing some chaos for the officials.

Hayley Palmer (23:43) and Taylor Walker (24:04) stuck together through most of the course, finishing 22nd and 23rd respectively. The final two scorers for Sisters were Tia Berg (25:19) and Fabiola Schellworth (25:37), who were running their first varsity races of the year.

The Outlaws were without Katie Stewart and Jordan Richerson, who were both resting minor injuries.

Seth Schneider took charge as the leader of the Outlaws boys in the absence of number-one runner Parker Bennett, who took the day off, placing a very impressive fourth in 17:47 on the rugged course.

Taylor Steele, running under the weather, finished second for the Outlaws in 19:07, well back from his normal level of performance. Mason Calmettes (19:31), Easton Curtis (19:46) and Seth Flanders (19:52) formed a tight pack as the final scorers for Sisters. Nick Luz (20:25) and Erik Lund (21:29) rounded out the varsity squad for Sisters.

Zander Albertson got a taste of running with the lead pack in the junior varsity segment of the meet, finishing fourth in 20:31 to lead his team to second place among twelve teams. Brooklyn Walker (27:25) and Janelle Hjelmstad (27:51) took the top places for the Outlaws girls junior varsity team.

Coach Charlie Kanzig observed after the race that both the boys and girls teams are taking shape as the season marks the halfway point.

"We will really begin racing now that we're into October, and I look forward to some substantially faster times in the upcoming weeks," he said.

The Outlaws travel to the XCity Classic in Salem on Wednesday, October 7 for a new meet at Bush Park, and changed plans to include a meet at Philomath on Saturday, October 10.

"We switched the meet on Saturday from Drake Park so that we could face nearly all of the best 4A teams in Oregon at Philomath," he said. "With Parker as the top-ranked individual among 4A boys, and Taylor in the top six or so, along with the teams starting to gel, I want us to get a preview of what the state meet will look like."