Outlaws host district track meet this week

Sisters, winners of the Sky-Em dual meet championship for both boys and girls, hosts the Sky-Em District Championships Thursday, May 12 and Saturday, May 14 with state qualifications on the line.

The top two finishers in each event, along with any athletes who meet or exceed the automatic qualifying standard, will advance to the state meet in Eugene, May 20-21.

After last week's Wally Ciochetti Invitational, held at Cottage Grove, the Outlaws appear to have contenders on the track and in the field. Taylor Steele continued his pursuit to place at the top of the distance events by state meet time, finishing second in the 1,500 (4:11) and fifth in the 3,000 (9:15) against many of the expected contenders among 4A.

Freshman Brandon Pollard lowered his best in the 1,500 (4:18) to position himself for the second spot behind Steele at district. He came back with a whopping personal best of 9:34 in the 3,000 to complete an impressive double.

Steele joined Easton Curtis, Mason Calmettes, and Devon Prescott in the 4x400-meter relay, which posted a time of 3:35, making the squad a force to be reckoned with for a state berth.

Earlier in the meet, Curtis once again flirted with dipping under the 2:00 mark for 800 meters, finishing third in 2:00.7. The boys' team placed fourth in the 19-team field with 57 points, behind North Bend (87), Philomath (71), and Cottage Grove (69).

The girls fared quite well, finishing second with 103.5 points behind Philomath, which put up 114.5 points. The Warriors are considered a favorite for a trophy at State, so finishing so close to them gave Coach Nik Goertzen reason to smile.

"The girls and boys really competed hard, which was a good thing as we head into district," he said. "It was really fun to watch so many athletes on their 'A' game, and for the girls to give Philomath a run for their money."

Zoe Falk lowered her best in the 1,500 to 5:06 in finishing fourth behind two seniors and a 5A runner from Marist. She ran near her best in taking third in the 800 (2:27.7), placed fifth in the long jump (14 feet 11.75 inches) and did her part in the 4x400 relay team that placed second to Philomath for the third time this year.

Falk was joined in that foursome by Natalie Ambrose, Jodie Reoch, and Hayley Palmer. The team finished in 4:10, five seconds behind Philomath. Ambrose won the long jump (15 feet 9 inches), placed sixth in the 200 (27.24), and ran a leg on the 4x100-meter relay, which placed sixth (51.85) with teammates Falk, Bailey Bremer, and Jodie Reoch.

Sara Small dealt with poor weather conditions in the pole vault and finished up in first place, clearing just 9 feet 6 inches, well below her best of 11 feet. Hurdler Chelsea Reifschneider followed her third-place finish in the 100 hurdles (17.11) with a big win in the 300 hurdles (48.59). Alicia Haken popped a jump of 5 feet 2 inches to win the high jump and came through with points for the team in the triple jump, where she placed fourth with a mark of 30 feet 7 inches, and in the pole vault, where she placed third by clearing 8 feet 6 inches. She also ran a personal best in the 100 hurdles of 17.18 to take fifth, just behind Reifschneider.

Team captain Hayley Palmer turned in season bests in the 200 (27.28) and the 100 (13.48), which bodes well for her return to the state meet in the 200 and the relays. Goertzen expects his team to put it all on the line for district.

"We hope that every kid performs his or her best here in front of our home crowd, and that we can have great representation at Hayward Field next week."

Day one of the district meet begins on Thursday at 11 a.m. with field events. Preliminaries will be run in all running events 800 meters and below. The only running final will be the 3,000 meters for both boys and girls. The meet will conclude with Saturday's finals, which again begin with field events at 11 a.m. Admission will be charged at the gate.