News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
In the first Outlaw Invite cross-country meet held Saturday, September 28, senior Zoe Falk sprang from the starting line like a deer on the first day of hunting season and never looked back on her way to a decisive victory over Sky-Em league rival Breanna Wright of Cottage Grove.
Falk cruised through the home course in 19:44, a full 40 seconds ahead of Wright, for her fastest time of the 2013 campaign, leading the Outlaws to an easy team win which included all seven runners placing within the top 11 finishers overall.
Sisters won the meet with 31 points to outpace McNary (63), Ridgeview (89), Lakeview (94) and Cottage Grove (97).
In a beautiful exhibition of depth and pack running, the rest of the Outlaws girls clustered within just over a minute of one another, led by sophomore Macadia Calavan who placed sixth in 21:08. Aria Blumm came through five seconds back (21:13), followed in order by Mary Stewart (21:30), Madison Boettner (21:51), Natalie Marshall (22:04) and McKenzie Banks (22:15).
The top three junior varsity girls for Sisters, Megan Calarco (22:14), Sophie Borders (22:48) and Betsy Ausman (23:14) would have all placed in the top 14 as well.
"This depth on the girls' side is a coaches' dream," said Josh Nordell. "They make each other stronger, and I think we are becoming a force to be reckoned with at the 4A level."
Other coaches are taking notice as the Outlaws were ranked fifth in last week's coaches' poll and are likely to move up with Blumm back in the lineup after missing the first two meets of the season.
The boys, who are also ranked in the top 10 of the coaches' poll, fared equally well despite the absence of team leader Brandon Pollard who was held out of the meet with soreness in his Achilles' tendon.
Dyut Fetrow stepped up for the team, finishing second to Springfield's Daniel Padilla, who won the race in 17:12. Fetrow came through in 17:25, just ahead of teammate Devon Calvin (17:30).
Shea Krevi (17:50) and Ian Baldessari (17:52) placed eighth and ninth respectively and Gabriel Rice placed 13th (18:14) to lock up the team win with 35 points, 11 points ahead of Springfield. Ridgeview placed third with 60 and McNary took fourth with 73.
Caleb Johnson placed 24th (19:29) and Jamesyn Mendez wound up 33rd in his first varsity encounter in 20:18.
Earlier in the week, the Outlaws took part in the Harrier's Challenge, hosted by Cottage Grove High School in which Sisters took second place in both the boys and girls team races behind 6A powerhouse Crater and ahead of all the other Sky-Em teams as well as nine other teams.
The course, affectionately known as "The Dam Run" because the course includes a very steep section up the side of the dam at Schwartz Park on Dorena Lake.
"Simply put, our teams are very competitive," said Nordell. "They handled the difficult course well along with the adversity of losing Brandon Pollard during the race when he pulled out due to his injury."
The Outlaws will experience an entirely different level of competition at the Oxford Classic scheduled for Friday, October 4, at Drake Park in Bend. The meet includes an elite race along with an invitational race, with teams coming from all divisions from 1A to 6A as well as four teams from Idaho.
The meet begins at noon and there is no charge for admission. Carpooling is recommended due to limited parking near Drake Park.
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