Track teams open league action

Getting back to competition after a long spring break did not faze the Outlaws. They opened the Sky-Em season with strong early season performances at a four-way meet that included league rivals Sweet Home and Elmira, as well as 3A Creswell in a contest held Thursday, April 7, at Elmira.

"It was good to have our first meet in three weeks," said Head Coach Jeff Larson. "The wonderful weather and solid level of competition brought out the best in the Outlaws."

The girls took top honors among the four teams, amassing 108 points, proving that they are the favorites to defend their District team title. Elmira finished a distant second with 62.5 points, followed by Sweet Home (52.5) and Creswell (38).

Sisters won seven of the 10 running events behind the efforts of the sprinters and hurdlers. The Outlaws got off to a fast start, winning the 400-meter relay (Macadia Calavan, Mandi Calavan, Michaela Miller and Erynn Ricker) in 51.87.

Ricker crossed first in the 100 (13.2), followed closely by Mandi Calavan (13.6). Mandi came back to win the 200 later in the meet in 27.92. The Outlaws swept the 100 hurdles as Sabrina Reifschneider broke the tape in 17.09 to edge Michaela Miller (17.19) and freshman Kendra Sitz (17.73).

Miller turned the tables in the 300 hurdles, clipping Reifschneider 49.64 to 49.74.

The 1,600-meter relay team of the Calavan sisters, Sitz, and Rylee Weber had no trouble dispatching the rest of the competition with a winning time of 4:21.88, a full five seconds ahead of the runners-up.

Larson knows that relay time will just keep getting faster and faster as the season continues.

"Our depth is going to makes us very strong in all the sprinting events as the season progresses," he said.

The distance racers will continue to develop as well, according to Larson. Freshman Alexa Stewart earned her first varsity win in the 800 with a time of 2:43.73. Her freshman teammates Tate Ricker and Molly Winter finished third and fifth respectively.

Megan Calarco picked up a second-place finish in the 3,000 meters in 13:03.

The jumping events turned out to be successful for Sisters. The Outlaws swept the pole vault as Tessa O'Hern and Erynn Ricker each cleared 9 feet, Nicole Kersavage got over the bar at 8 feet for third place and Michaela Miller won the triple jump in her very first attempt at the event in competition with a mark of 32 feet 1.5 inches.

The Outlaws did not fare as well in the throwing events other than the javelin, in which Julianne Meeter finished second (107 feet even) and Nina Horner fourth (92 feet 7 inches).

The boys team showed that they are much improved over the 2015 campaign as the scratched out a second-place team finish that likely surprised their league rivals. Elmira won the meet with 93.5 points, followed by Sisters (80.5), Sweet Home (74), and Creswell (16).

The meet could have gone either way, according to Larson.

"We had some surprises as well as some spots where we know we will do better in the future," he said.

A disqualification for the Outlaws in the 400 relay turned out to be costly.

"Let's just say there was a lot of contact in that race, which cost us the chance to make a clean exchange," said Larson.