Track teams continue to shine

A non-scored Sky-Em meet at the site of the upcoming District Meet seemed to suit the Sisters Outlaws track and field teams well, as a number of team members picked up personal bests in the relatively relaxed five-way competition.

Blake Knirk heaved the javelin 142-feet-1-inch, for a personal best of nearly 10 feet and did the same in the discus (117-feet-2-inches) while fellow sophomore Jacob Richerson finally broke the 40-foot barrier in the triple jump with a mark of 40-feet-2-inches.

Another sophomore boy matched his career best in the high jump, as Jake McAllister cleared 5 feet 8 inches, and yet another, Brandon Pollard, set a new personal standard in the 800 with a time of 2:02.59.

"It's a good sign when our younger team members move up into the upper half of the league's competitors, which is where Blake, Jacob, and Jake now find themselves," said head coach Charlie Kanzig.

Shea Krevi (4:33.65) and Seth Urquhart (4:39.16) established personal bests in the 1,500 as the Outlaws swept the top three places in the races, while freshmen Angelo Frack (12:02) and Seth Roy (13:27) cut chunks of time from their bests in the 3,000.

Also included in the boys 800 were the winner Easton Curtis (2:02.04) and freshman Ty Sahlberg who sliced eleven seconds off his time to finish in 2:26.15, but the highlight was Zoe Falk, who was allowed to run in the race to provide her with better competition. Against the boys she ran a lifetime best 2:20.51, best among 4A runners so far this season.

Frances Payne placed first in the girls' heat in a season best of 2:29, the second best among Sky-Em runners behind Falk, while Aria Blumm turned in her best time ever in 2:32.98.

Chelsea Reifschneider also came through with a career best, in the 100 hurdles (16.18), and nearly did the same in the 300 hurdles (47.91).

The distance races produced even more top marks for the Outlaws. Katelyn Meeter cut another second from her best in the 1,500 meters (5:36.18) and Shelby Duncan chopped 25 seconds from her 3,000-meter time (13:04).

Natalie Marshall improved in her favorite event, the pole vault, clearing 7 feet 6 inches for the first time.

"It's a fun time of the season, especially when we get to compete in a low-pressure meet like this one because the athletes tend to relax a little and produce good marks," said Kanzig.

With a week before the Sky-Em District meet, the Outlaws will be divided in competition this week. Some of the squad will compete in the newly established Central Oregon District Meet at Mountain View Wednesday, while the rest of the team will compete Friday at the Wally Ciochetti Invitational at Cottage Grove High School.