Track season opens

A year after losing the entire spring track season to the shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sisters Outlaws track and field team returned to the oval for the “Breaking the Ice” meet hosted by Crook County High School on Thursday, April 15.

Head Coach Jeff Larson is approaching the season somewhat differently than normal, given how long athletes have been away from the sport, and the fact that the season is just over six weeks long.

“Our goals for the season are to have fun, provide competitive opportunities for our seniors since this is their last shot at high school track and field, and to lay a foundation which returning track athletes in 2022 can build upon,” he said. “My hope is to reintroduce the sport to our student-athletes.”

With just two weeks of training under their belts, Larson had no expectations for phenomenal marks, but came away from the meet very pleased at the athletes’ efforts and simply having the opportunity to be back in action.

“It was great to have the chance to compete in the spring sunshine,” said Larson. The Crook County Cowboys are always gracious hosts. We competed hard, to the best of our ability after only eight practices. Despite our limited time on the track, we still had nearly 20 personal records. Amazing!”

Top performances on the girls side included wins by Anya Shockley (5 feet) in the high jump, Shelby Larson in the pole vault (9 feet) and Annie Cohen in the 400 meters (1:15.5).

A number of Outlaws came through as runners-up, including Hollie Lewis in the long jump (16 feet 3 inches), Lexie Miller in the shot put (29 feet 8.5 inches), Lewis in the high jump (4 feet 8 inches), Gracie Vohs in the pole vault (8 feet 6 inches).

The boys team had victories by 2019 state champion Brody Anderson in the 400 (54.52), Carson Brown in the javelin (140 feet 2 inches), Taine Martin in the high jump (5 feet 6 inches) and pole vault (10 feet), and Hayden Sharp in the long jump 19 feet 7 inches and 110 hurdles (18.13).

Larson remains optimistic about the Outlaws’ track program despite the impact of the pandemic.

“The program lost a lot of momentum last year from the shutdown,” he said. “I’m thrilled to see over 50 middle schoolers out on the track each day at practice, so even though our high school numbers are light, I think the future is bright when I see the wonderful middle school kids learning events and having fun.”

Larson is assisted by Jim Anderson, Eden Miller, Ross Kennedy, Sarah Thorsett, and Dennis Dempsey.

Looking ahead, the team will have some of the middle and long distance runners from the cross country team back after taking the first meet off to regroup after the April 10 state cross country meet.

Next up for the Outlaws is a four-way meet hosted by Summit High School that includes 1A schools Paisley and Gilchrist.