Track teams victorious at Madras

The girls dominated and the boys won a squeaker at the seven-team Madras Invitational held Saturday, April 30, at Madras High School.

With pleasant temperature, a blue sky and just a little wind the Outlaws ended April looking like they are coming into championship meet form, according to Coach Jeff Larson.

"We had so many career and season bests, it was crazy," he said.

Crazier still was the final score on the boys side. The Outlaws piled up 167.5 points, but tiny Hosanna Christian matched Sisters blow for blow, coming up just half-a-point shy to finish second with 167 points.

Individual winners for the boys' team included Izaak Kanzig in the 800 meters (2:06.35), Jadon Bachtold in the 1,500 (4:29.5), Keegan Greaney in the 110 hurdles (16.61) and the 300 hurdles (42.06), and Colton Mannhalter in the long jump (20 feet 1 inch).

The foursome of Cody Martin, Jacob Allen, Colton Mannhalter and Sam Garbrecht ran a season best in winning the 4 x 100-meter relay in 44.87, while Bachtold, Mannhalter, Greaney and Garbrecht ended the meet with a spectacular 4 x 400-meter time of 3:32.33, which is the fourth best time among 4A teams this

season.

"Before the race they said they wanted to average 53s and that's just what they did," said Larson.

The girls had a much easier time stacking up points on their way to a landslide victory by nearly 200 points with 285 total. Hosanna Christian finished second with 92, followed by Madras (85), Culver (67), and Irrigon (48).

Michaela Miller and Erynn Ricker each won three individual events to lead the Outlaws onslaught.

Ricker won the 100 in her best time ever at 12.91 seconds. She also won the pole vault (9 feet) and the long jump (15 feet 2.5 inches).

Miller won both hurdles races (16.77 and 48.79) and soared to her career best in the triple jump at 34 feet 2 inches.

The pair joined Katie Aryanfard and Mandi Calavan to win the 4 x 100-meter relay (51.75) to make it a complete gold-medal day.

Other winners included Tate Ricker's come-from- behind victory in the 1,500 (5:32.05) and the 4 x 400 relay team of Calavan, Alexa Stewart, Amy Hills and Marissa Young (4:37.68).

But it was the multitude of second, third, and fourth places that helped the Outlaws rack up their mountain of points, according to Larson.

"The girls really pushed themselves and each other," he said. "We had two or three girls in the top four of every running race other than the 3,000, and we took the top four spots in the triple jump, long jump, and pole vault! It was a lot of fun."

Things get a bit more serious in the weeks ahead as the Outlaws travel to Cottage Grove on Friday, May 6, for the Wally Ciochetti Invitational, which features 15 other 4A teams and one 5A team, making the field in every event deep, which is fantastic preparation for the district and state meets later in the month, according to Larson.

"It's a great meet," he said.