Boys track squad coming into form

The track is finally clear of snow and the Outlaws boys track team got its first real taste of competition in meets last week.

The Outlaws hosted Oregon West foes Sweet Home and Cascade, along with 2A Culver on Wednesday, April 10, under somewhat chilly conditions in the squad’s first true head-to-head competition of the season after only competing in the Crook County Relays to start the season before spring break.

The team then traveled to La Pine for the annual La Pine Invitational which included mostly 2A and 3A teams along with some junior varsity runners.

Early-season meets serve largely as a check on conditioning and neither coaches nor athletes expect outstanding marks, but Coach Jeff Larson noted some highlights from both meets at the week’s conclusion.

At the home meet the sprint crew of Brody Anderson, Ben Johnson, Korbin Sharp and Hayden Sharp showed some spark, kicking off the running events with a big win in the 400-meter relay with a decent early season time of 44.33. Only Mazama High at 44.32 has run a faster time among 4A schools.

Three Outlaws sprinters swept the 100 a few minutes later with Brody Anderson (11.54) leading the way by nipping Ben Johnson (11.55) in a near dead heat. Korbin Sharp finished third at 11.86.

Hayden Sharp dominated the field in the 400 with a fine early-season time of 52.89, fourth best among 4A runners this season.

Anderson repeated with a win in the 200 (23.80), followed by Hayden Sharp (24.29).

The distance runners did their part as well, with John Peckham leading the charge in the 1,500 with a personal best of 4:27, while his teammates Will Thorsett (4:36), Sam May (4:46) and Josh Liddell (4:49) swept the next three spots.

Later in the meet, May and Peckham battled two Sweet Home runners in the 800 and finished third and fourth with times of 2:12.69 and 2:13.88 respectively.

Skyler Larson ran a personal best in the 300 hurdles (43.44) and finished as the runner-up.

No Outlaws competed in the 3,000.

Hudson Jones had a banner day in the throws grabbing a win in the shot put with a personal best of 39 feet 1 inch. He took second in the discus at 111 feet 7 inches, another personal best.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a thrower giving us points like that,” said Larson. “He will be into the 40s for that shot put soon.”

Garrett Kersavage raked in some points as well by winning the high jump (5 feet 6 inches), the pole vault (11 feet 6 inches) and the triple jump (39 feet 9 inches).

The long jumpers recorded strong early-season marks as well, as Hayden Sharp (20 feet even) and Ben Johnson (19 feet 11.25 inches) placed second and third. Both were personal bests. Tristan Calkins of Sweet Home notched a state best in winning the event, soaring 22 feet 3 inches.

At La Pine, Sisters faced off against 10 other schools, mostly from the 1A, 2A, and 3A ranks and came away with a couple of wins and a number of personal bests for the team. The squad was a bit short-handed due to conflicts with the ACT and the Mr. SHS Pageant, but still competed well according to Larson.

“They’re coming along,” he said. “This week helped us learn a lot after going so long without a meet, not to mention regular practice due to the snow.”

Highlights included Ben Johnson’s win in the 100 in personal best of 11.32 just 30 minutes after getting another blue ribbon with his teammates Hayden Sharp, Brody Anderson and Dalton Gonzales in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 45.07.

Anderson stormed to the win in the 400 with a best of 53.40 and Garrett Kersavage came away with Outlaws’ final win by clearing 12 feet in the pole vault.

Personal bests abounded for the distance crew, starting with the 1,500 where John Peckham lowered his time to 4:24.62 to take second place. Will Thorsett lowered his PR in the 3,000 to 9:42.4 as he also nabbed the runner-up spot.

The Outlaws tallied 128.5 points to finish second in the team standings behind Mountain View, which took the crown with 195 points.

The team will stay local again this week with a short trip to Bend for the Summit Invitational on Saturday.