Outlaws girls claim district track title, boys third

The Sisters Outlaws girls track and field team won 11 of 17 events to defend its Sky-Em District title at Sutherlin High School last Thursday and Saturday - but it wasn't a cakewalk.

The Outlaws also had second-place finishes in three events on their way to holding off Cottage Grove 175 to 170. The top two finishers in each event qualified for the OSAA State Championships set for May 19-20 at historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

Anna Bartlett got things going with a narrow victory in the 3,000-meter final on Thursday. She bided her time and nipped Sabrina James of Cottage Grove in a personal record time of 11:30.3.

Freshman phenom Ryliereece Morgan picked up two wins the same day, taking the high jump at 4 feet 10 inches and the long jump in 16 feet 3.5 inches. Julianne Meeter came up just five inches short of a win in the javelin after leading the prelims. She finished second with 115 feet 2 inches.

Saturday brought an onslaught of wins for the girls, beginning with the 4x100-meter relay team of Morgan, Mandi Calavan, Sabrina Reifschneider and Erynn Ricker, which won by nearly two full seconds in 50.82.

Anna Bartlett came through with a huge personal best in the next race, the 1,500 meters, to win in 5:05.06 and Ricker kept the winning ways alive in capturing the 100-meter dash in 12.90 seconds, while Calavan and Reece placed third (13.02) and fifth (13.17) respectively.

Ricker also picked up a blue ribbon in the pole vault with a clearance of 9 feet. Freshman Jade Anaya soared to her best jump ever to finish second and qualify for state with a 32-foot-4-inch effort in the triple jump.

The next running win came in the 100 hurdles as Reifschneider blitzed the field with a time of 16.31 seconds. Tate Ricker dug deep in the next race for a personal best in the 800 meters on her way to third place (2:32.23) and Mandi Calavan followed with a win in the 200 meters (27.70).

The 300-meter hurdles featured a tremendous surprise for the Outlaws as Amy Hills ran a huge personal record (49.98) to finish second behind Reifschneider (48.30).

"As far as unexpected points are concerned, Amy came up big for us in that race," said Head Coach Jeff Larson.

The girls clinched the team trophy by capturing the final running event of the day, the 4x400-meter relay, in a season best time of 4:16.17. The quartet included Mandi Calavan, Brook Robillard, Tate Ricker and Sabrina Reifschneider.

"Saturday was a magical afternoon for the team. The kids really got on a roll," said Larson. "It just began to snowball."

In addition to the team trophy presentation at the awards ceremony, two Outlaws claimed Athlete of the Meet honors. Ryliereece Morgan was named the Field Athlete of the Meet and Sabrina Reifschneider earned Female Track Athlete of the Meet honors.

Among girls teams, Elmira finished third (116), followed by Junction City (79), Sutherlin (57.5) and Sweet Home (56.5)

The boys team placed a respectable third as a team and will also be sending a contingent to the state meet.

Keegan Greaney, who was named boys' Track Athlete of the Meet, won both hurdles races and ran a leg on the victorious 4x400-meter relay. He blazed to a personal record in the 100 hurdles (15.84) and dominated the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.40. He joined Korbin Sharp, Sam Garbrecht, and Keaton Green for a thrilling win in 3:30.95 to cap the meet.

Green pulled off a bit of a coup in the 800 meters, finishing an unexpected second in a tactical race with a time of 2:05.36. Jordan Pollard also had a stellar meet and will represent the Outlaws after winning both the 3,000 meters on Thursday (9:40.7) and the 1,500 on Saturday (4:16.24).

Sam Lewis, who got a long-awaited new pole delivered the week of the meet, cleared 12 feet 8 inches on his way to second place and a ticket to state.

Speaking about the boys team Larson said, "I was extremely pleased with their efforts. It wasn't too long ago that we struggled to score 40 points at the district meet. The boys team has come a long way in just three years."

Cottage Grove won the meet with 162 points to edge Junction City (157). Sisters placed third (115.5), Elmira fourth (91), Sweet Home fifth (86.5), and Sutherlin sixth (38).

The OSAA Track and Field Championships include all classifications beginning on Thursday. As a 4A school, competition begins for the Outlaws on Friday, May 19 and concludes Saturday, May 20.