Track girls third at State Meet

Two weeks ago it looked nearly certain that the Sisters girls' track team would earn one of the four trophies at the Oregon 4A State Championships, but an ankle injury to star 400-meter runner Natalie Ambrose cast certainty into serious doubt.

As things turned out, all seven state qualifiers for the Outlaws turned in stellar performances, including three school records and a number of personal bests to launch the team into third place overall, just behind second-place Molalla.

Frances Payne got things fired up with an inspiring 3,000 meters on Friday, in which she helped push the pace in the second half of the race on her way to sixth place in a school-record time of 10:47.89. Later that afternoon, Zoe Falk jumped 16 feet 7.25 inches to place sixth for the second year in a row, and Alisha Haken picked up 1.5 points in tying for seventh in the high jump with a mark of 4 feet 10 inches.

In Friday's preliminaries for running events, the Outlaws advanced in every event in which they had an entrant, which made Saturday very promising, according to head coach Charlie Kanzig.

Falk and Payne toed the line in the 1,500-meters in hopes of getting some more points for the Outlaws, and they did so in record fashion. Facing one of the most balanced, talented fields in recent years, the pair ran confidently and composed on the way to third and seventh place respectively among the fourteen finalists. Falk smashed the school record by nearly four seconds (4:48.96) and Payne produced her career best (5:01.9).

Sierra Brown of Hidden Valley won the race in 4:44.19.

"Frances was the highest overall placer among girls who doubled in the 3,000 and 1,500, which is indicative of her toughness and competitiveness," said Kanzig.

Falk proved her own level of toughness two hours later when she competed in the 800 meters, the race she won last year as a freshman. The field included Brown, Charlie Davidson of Scappoose, who finished second in the 1,500, and Emily Bever, the fastest qualifier from the preliminaries and the only top runner not doubling.

The pace was quick from the get-go and the top four contenders separated themselves heading into the second lap, where Bever's fresher legs allowed her to pull away to win in 2:15.7, leading all four girls under 2:20. Falk finished fourth in a school record of 2:18.23. Freshman teammate Aria Blumm placed eighth with a time of 2:27.52.

"We went into the meet having Zoe double in order to score more points, which she did, but she did sacrifice a chance to repeat as the state champion by doing so, which says a lot about her character," said Kanzig.

Chelsea Reifschneider made the most of her final state meet appearance, placing third in both the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles on her way to career bests in both races. She ran 15.86 in the prelims and 16.00 in the finals in the 100 hurdles and finished with a 47.13 effort in the 300 hurdles final.

"Chelsea is the consummate track athlete," said Kanzig. "She works diligently on her individual events and is the glue of the relay teams she is on. We're going to miss her terribly next year, but she has provided a fine model for other girls to follow."

One of those girls is Alisha Haken (16.68) who placed fifth in the 100 hurdles, giving the Outlaws some much needed points.

"Alisha really came through for us with those four points in the hurdles," said Kanzig. "She is going to be a force to reckon with as she perfects her steps next year."

Haken picked up another point in the triple jump with a mark of 32 feet 9.5 inches.

In the midst of all the running finals, Sara Small was working on defending her pole vault title, which she squeaked out by the narrowest of margins.

She cleared 11 feet 3 inches, as did freshman McKenna Streed of Gladstone, but Small won the event based on fewer misses in previous heights.

"I wanted to go higher, but it's still a state title," said Small, who will be competing at Wake Forest University in soccer and track next year.

When scores were announced just prior to the final event, the 1,600 relay, it appeared that the Outlaws were assured of a top-four team finish for a trophy. The team of Reifschneider, Bailey Bremer, Blumm and Falk secured the third-place trophy with a very close fifth-place finish in 4:08.8. Only 1.2 second separated second place from seventh place in the event.

"We are blessed with some very fine young women who gave it their best when it mattered the most," said Kanzig. "Prior to the meet, we didn't dwell on the trophy, but I think the girls all knew that it was within reach, so it's icing on the cake for them and for the coaches."

Gladstone claimed the team title with 65.5 points, followed by Molalla (55), Sisters (52.5), Newport (51), Hidden Valley (49), and La Grande (44) in the top six.

"It was tight and we preach that every point counts," said Kanzig. The Outlaws missed a trophy last year by just two points.

Sisters sent four boys to state as well, with mixed results. The two sophomore jumpers, Jake McAllister and Jacob Richerson struggled to meet their goals in the setting at Hayward Field.

McAllister, who reached a career best of 6 feet in the high jump a week earlier, failed to clear the opening height of 5 feet 10 inches, while Richerson landed well short of his best, finishing twelfth with a best triple jump of 38 feet, 5.25 inches.

"None of the 4A high jumpers, boys or girls, even came close to approaching their best marks, so I have to wonder if the apron's surface was faster than most tracks or what, but something was throwing kids off."

Of the 14 competitors, six did not make a height, according to Kanzig.

"They should have had the boys open at 5 feet 8 inches, but that's the way it goes sometimes. "

The two other Outlaw boys produced career-best marks in their races. Brandon Pollard, largely sidelined for two weeks with a foot injury, ran the third-fastest 1,500 in school history to place seventh with a time of 4:07.99, and Easton Curtis snapped a long-standing school record in the 800 with a fourth-place finish in 1:57.93 thanks to a nearly unbelievable rush to the finish in the last 70 meters, where he moved up from eighth place.

"Brandon is one gutsy kid, and Easton capped a fine career for us in the best way possible," said Kanzig. "Easton's goal was to place higher than last year and dip under 1:58, and he did both."

Kanzig acknowledged the amazing job done by his assistants for a great year in his first season as the head coach. "Carlos Garcia, Jim Anderson, and Kris Kristovich did outstanding work with our kids all season, and I think they are feeling pretty satisfied with the results."