Outlaws brave chilly weather for track meet

Sisters hosted its only high school track and field meet of the season Wednesday, March 30, a 10-team affair held in cool, windy conditions with temperatures in the low 40s, and which finished under the lights.

The meet included teams from Summit, Grant Union, Culver, Pleasant Hill, Sherman County, Santiam, La Pine, Madras, and Burns.

According to head coach Cailen McNair, coming out of spring break the team is still in the midst of foundational conditioning and technique development. “It’s early days in the season, but I am pleased with the effort and progress I am seeing with the kids,” he said.

Highlights from the meet included a sweep of the top three places in the girls’ pole vault as Grace Vohs (9 feet 1 inch), Kiara Martin (8 feet) and Mae Roth (7 feet 6 inches) all achieved personal bests. Vohs’ mark makes her the early season leader among 4A vaulters.

Hollie Lewis had a strong day with wins in the high jump at 5 feet, which is the fourth-best mark in the 4A class, and the 100 hurdles (18.44), along with second place in the long jump (15 feet 8 inches).

Lewis and Vohs were also on the second-place 4x400-meter relay, along with Lilly Sundstrom and Ila Reid (4:33.58). Sundstrom soared to a personal best in the long jump, where she placed second with a mark of 15 feet 4 inches) and also set an all-time best in the 300 hurdles where she placed third in 57.11. Reid, in her first-ever triple jump competition, hopped, skipped and jumped to a mark of 31-feet-9-inches, which is among the top four in the 4A rankings.

Taine Martin cleared a personal best of 10 feet 6 inches to win the pole vault, and Carson Brown uncorked a personal best by eight feet to place second in the javelin with a toss of 145 feet 10 inches, to highlight the boys results. Brown ranks second among 4A spear-chuckers with his mark.

Martin also placed second in the high jump (5 feet 8 inches) and Brown took third (50.57) in the 300 hurdles. Hayden Roth (10:09.02) placed third in the Twilight 3,000, which took place after sunset in the four-hour-long meet.

The meet also featured athletes from the Unified Sports program, including Soren Smith who took second in the 100 meter dash.

The Outlaws will have a much-needed week and a half of training before returning to action at the Philomath Invitational on April 14, which includes 4A foes Cascade, Cottage Grove, Newport, Siuslaw, Stayton, and Sweet Home, along with the host Warriors.

“The Philomath meet will include some of the best 4A athletes in Oregon, so we are really looking forward to it,” said McNair.