Outlaws primed for district track and field

A beautiful spring evening at the Wally Ciochetti Twilight Invitational provided the Sisters Outlaws' track and field teams with a perfect setting for tuning up for this week's Sky-Em District Championships.

Cottage Grove hosted the 15-team event that featured 4A teams from all over state and produced some of the top marks of the season.

The Outlaws girls' team set the standard for excellence, totaling 111 points to win the team title by nearly 30 points over perennial power Henley.  

The win left Sisters undefeated against 4A competition and primed for continued success at the district meet, in which the Outlaws are heavily favored to repeat as champions.

Sisters picked up one individual win in the pole vault as Sara Small cleared 11 feet in nearly dark conditions, and Chelsea Reifschneider won the 300-meter hurdles (48.14), but their teammates sprinkled in lots of points throughout the other events to produce the final tally.

Zoe Falk scored in three individual events, placing third in the long jump (15 feet 11 inches), third in the 1,500 (5:03.29), and second in the 800 (2:21.16). Natalie Ambrose, ranked second among 4A runners in the 400, battled the state leader Kristine Dunn to the finish, placing second in 59.3 and came back in a very fast heat of the 200 to place sixth in 27.03.

Frances Payne lowered her season best finishing fourth in the 1,500, just behind Falk (5:03.68) and doubled back with a season best in the 3,000 (11:13.27) while placing second.

Alicia Haken (5 feet) and Bailey Bremer (4 feet 10 inches) placed third and fourth respectively in the high jump, and the pair placed third (32 feet 10.75 inches) and seventh (31 feet 11 inches) in the triple jump as well.

Small, Reifschneider, Ambrose and Bremer took fifth in the 400-meter relay, while the foursome of Ambrose, Reifschneider, Bremer and Falk lowered its season best in winning the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:05.51.

"Many of our marks are among the top four in the state among 4A girls, so now we turn our attention to getting into as many events as possible in the state meet," said Head Coach Charlie Kanzig. "We have some high goals for the district meet, where the top two in each event move on to the state meet."

The boys' team continues to hold its own, according to Kanzig, but injuries to key members of the team, including pole vaulter/sprinter Andrew Snyder and distance runner Brandon Pollard, have been quite a blow to the team.

Among the top placers for the boys' team were Captain Easton Curtis, who finished second in the 400 (51.49) and fifth in a tight 800 (200.75). Three jumpers each placed fifth as Jake McAllister cleared 5 feet 8 inches in the high jump, Jacob Richerson leapt 39 feet 7 inches in the triple jump, and Keegan Bloss cleared 12 feet for first time in outdoor competition.

Kanzig believes the boys will be very competitive at the upcoming district meet, where there is no clear team favorite, despite some of the setbacks and relative youth of the team.

"We have seen tremendous growth in the individuals on the boys' team and I expect them to be at their best on Thursday and Saturday in Sweet Home," he said.