Seniors shine at Gladstone meet

It was a great day to be an Outlaws senior at the Dick Baker Track and Field Invitational, as some of the Sisters 12th graders had career bests.

Parker Bennett destroyed the school record for 3,000 meters, running alone at the head of the pack to win in 8:49.92, breaking Daniel Kemp's 1996 record of 8:55. Bennett's mark is the fifth best among all high school runners in Oregon thus far.

Bennett now owns the top marks in school history for 1,500, 3,000, and 5,000 meters.

Another senior had an unbelievable day considering the combination of events that she won. Annie Mutchler soared to a personal best in the long jump of 17 feet, 7.25 inches, which was well over a foot further than she had ever jumped and currently stands as the top jump among 4A girls by nearly a foot and ranks her fifth best among all girls in Oregon. Mutchler also won the 100 (13.06), the high jump (five feet) and ran on the winning 400-meter relay with teammates Courteney Satko, Jodie Reoch, and Cindy Steele (50.48)

"It was Annie's day," Coach Bob Johnson said. "She is now the number three all-time long jumper on the Sisters list behind former state champions Amy Cretsinger and Courtney Ellis. Mutchler was named the most valuable female athlete of the meet after leading the Sisters girls to the team title over Astoria, La Grande, Molalla, North Bend, Seaside, Cottage Grove and Cleveland. Final team scores were not reported.

Senior Satko had another stellar meet as well, jumping in the 800 meters for only the second time this season and winning in 2:24.85 over the current 4A leader, Katie Romanko of North Bend. Satko now ranks fifth among 4A runners overall at the distance. Satko also anchored the 1,600-meter relay made up of Karah Herr, Chelsea Reifschneider, and Cindy Steele, which finished a very close second to Molalla in 4:09.09.

Another senior, Emi Conrads, ran a lifetime best to take second in the 1,500 meters in 5:12.76, then came back with a solid 3,000-meter race where she placed third in 11:33.86, just two seconds out of first place.

Other top performers among the girls team included Sara Small, who finished second to the defending state champion Sammie Clark of North Bend who set a personal record of 12 feet 6 inches to Small's 11 feet 4 inches.

"There's nothing like going up against the defending state champion, and Sara handled the situation very well," said Johnson. "Jim Anderson is doing a heckuva job with the vaulters again this year."

Another sophomore, Jodie Reoch, got nipped in the 200 meters at 27.35 seconds as runner-up. She placed fourth in the 100 at 13.33 seconds as well. Her classmate Chelsea Reifschneider blasted to a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles in 47.97.

Jared Nelson cleared 14 feet for the second time in two days to place second in the pole vault and placed fifth in the 100-meter dash in 11.71.

Drew Harrison grabbed a second place as well, in the 800 (2:02.11), which was his personal best. Sophomore Taylor Steele placed fourth in the race in 2:03.95 after winning the 1,500 earlier in the day in 4:17.96. Jeff Wilder showed that he is coming in to form after a rough start this season to place third in the 400 (52.89), fifth in the 300 hurdles (43.01) and second in the 1,600-meter relay (3:35.32) with teammates Harrison, Steele, and Jeremiah Stahn.

On Thursday, Sisters swept to first place for both boys and girls teams against Sky-Em foes Elmira, La Pine, and Junction City, which gave a few other athletes a chance to shine, including Mason Calmettes, who won the 1,500 in 4:51 under cold, windy conditions.

Chad Cummings dusted the field in the 110 hurdles in 17.24 seconds, John Green won the shot put (40 feet 5 inches) and David Cowan anchored the 1,600-meter relay team to a come-from-behind victory to end the meet.

"The league meets really give us a chance to let the top varsity athletes have a chance to mix things up a bit and pushes the rest of the team to put points on the board for us, which they did very well," said Johnson.

The Outlaws face the final Sky-Em meet of the season on Thursday against Marist, Pleasant Hill, and La Pine. Parker Bennett and Taylor Steele will miss the meet and run instead on Friday at Jesuit in Portland after being invited to run the 1,500 meters among a cast of the best middle-distance runners in Oregon and southwest

Washington.