Outlaws track team out of the blocks

Wet, cold weather last Wednesday at Junction City did not dampen the competitive spirit of the Outlaws track team. Both the boys and girls opened the season with wins in the four-team contest.

The girls totally overwhelmed Harrisburg, Junction City, and La Pine, scoring more points than those three schools combined. The Outlaws amassed 139 points, to 49 for Harrisburg, 47 for Junction City, and just 11 for La Pine.

Leading the way was the sprint corps of Nathalie Ambrose, Zoe Falk, Hayley Palmer and Jodie Reoch, who swept the 200 in that order, with the freshman Ambrose clocking 27.99 seconds for the win. She also claimed the 100 (13.71) and ran on the second-place 4x100 relay team.

Palmer won the 400 (1:10.75), followed closely by Breanna Perry and Hannah Harrer, while Reoch placed third in the 100 and also ran on the 4x100 relay.

Reoch, Falk, and Ambrose pulled in a cartful of points in the long jump, with Reoch edging Falk and Ambrose with a jump of 15 feet 6 inches. Falk finished second at 15 feet 4 inches and Ambrose fourth at 15 feet 3 inches.

The Outlaws swept the top four in the 800 meters as well, with Falk taking the top spot in 2:47, followed by Katie Stewart, Tia Berg and Marcy Calavan. Stewart took second in the 1,500 (5:39) with teammates Fabiola Schellworth and Calavan placing third and fourth respectively.

Alicia Haken and Bailey Bremer both cleared 4 feet 8 inches in the high jump, with Haken nabbing first place based on fewer misses. Sara Small led three Outlaws in a sweep of the pole vault, clearing 10 feet. Olivia Chandler placed second (8 feet 6 inches) and Haken third (7 feet 6 inches). Haken also won the triple jump, sailing 30 feet 9 inches for the victory.

"The marks will improve as we get deeper into the season," said head coach Nik Goertzen. "I am pleased with the effort throughout the girls team."

The boys also won by a comfortable margin with 89 points, well ahead of Harrisburg (64 points), La Pine (62 points), and Junction City (36 points).

The middle distance runners carried the team with top places in the 800 and 1,500, as well as in manning the 4x400-meter relay.

Taylor Steele (4:29), Brandon Pollard, Mason Calmettes and Landon Prescott finished 1-2-3-5 in the 1,500, which gave the Outlaws a flurry of points in the second running event of the day. Steele came back with a win in the 800 (2:12.84), followed by Easton Curtis in third, Pollard (fourth), Mason Calmettes (fifth), Seth Urquhart (sixth) and Prescott (seventh).

The team of Urquhart, Pollard, Calmettes and Jake Miller won the 4x400-meter relay as well.

Chad Cummings came through with wins in the 110-meter hurdles (17.29) and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (45.98). Cummings also took third in the high jump, clearing five feet six inches.

Other winners for the Outlaws included John Green in the discus (117 feet 5 inches) and shot put (42 feet 1 inch) as well as Jared Nelson in the pole vault (11 feet 6 inches). Andrew Snyder finished second, clearing 11 feet even.

Sisters returns to action Saturday, April 2 for the annual Sisters Rotary Invitational, which will include teams from Redmond, West Linn, Summit, Cascade, Crook County, La Pine, Madras, Burns, Lakeview, Bonanza, Culver and Gilchrist.