Boys fourth at district track meet

Two seniors and a sophomore will represent Sisters High School at the OSAA Track and Field Championships after qualifying at the 3A Special District 4 Championships held May 18-19 at Siuslaw High School in Florence.

The top two finishers, along with athletes that meet qualifying standards, move on to the state meet. In addition, one “wild card” entry is added for each event based on the best third-place mark among all district meets.

Corbin Fredland continued his remarkable first-ever track season by winning the 300 meter hurdles in a time of 42.58.

“For a first-year track athlete to come out and be competitive is one thing, but to end up as the district champion is nothing short of amazing,” said hurdle coach Dennis Dempsey.

Fredland also placed fifth in the long jump (18 feet-

2.75 inches) as one of three Outlaws to score in the event. Kyle Pilarski (18 feet-2 inches) and Teegan Schwartz (17 feet-4.75 inches) placed sixth and eighth respectively.

Taine Martin earned a return trip to State with his third-place finish in the pole vault at 11 feet-10 inches, which met the qualifying standard. A total of six boys in the meet achieved the standard and all are ranked in the top eleven among 3A athletes entered in the state meet. Kyle Hughes of Siuslaw is the 3A state leader with a best of 14 feet-11.25 inches.

Standards are based on the average fourth-place finishes at State in the previous four years.

A surprise came late Sunday when sophomore Spencer Tisdel was named a wild card entrant in the pole vault. He cleared 10 feet-10 inches at District and placed seventh, but earned the wild card as a “next best” after the qualifiers from the other five districts were determined.

In addition to the pole vault, Martin cleared 5 feet- 6 inches to place fifth in the high jump and took sixth in the 110 hurdles in 19.2 seconds.

For another senior, Hayden Roth, illness thwarted the goal of making it to State. Hayden Roth placed fourth in both the 3,000 (9:38) and the 1,500 (4:33.27) after being sick in the days leading up to the meet. Roth was ranked eighth in the state and had run under the qualifying standard earlier in the season, but it was not to be.

“I did my best and left everything on the track,” said Roth.

Tisdel led a trio of scorers in the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet-6 inches. Frosh Reid Woodson placed sixth (37 feet-8 inches) and Nic Dye was just a quarter of an inch behind to finish seventh.

Junior Kyle Pilarski scored in both the 100 (12.02) and 200 (24.68, where he finished sixth and eighth. Jack Turpen hit a personal record in the prelims of the 110 hurdles (19.46) to make the final where he placed eighth.

Logan Ryba placed sixth in the discus (103 feet-7 inches) and freshman Charlie Moen hit a new personal record in the javelin of 116 feet 6-inches to place eighth.

The host Vikings amassed 249 points to overwhelm the rest of the teams for the title. Elmira finished second (146), followed by La Pine (75), Sisters (69.5), Pleasant Hill (41.5), Sutherlin (33), Creswell (30), and Glide (15).

“I’m really proud of our boys team and how they finished out the season,” said first-year head Coach Jonathan Kelly. “We had quite a few more freshmen and sophomores than upperclassmen, but they steadily improved. I was expecting us to place sixth or seventh based on our seed times, but the boys really stepped up and competed, finishing fourth as a team in one of the most competitive special districts in Oregon. We had eighteen athletes/relay teams finish in 4th-8th places so they really eked out points wherever they could, and I only expect the team to improve from here as the boys mature and get more experience.”

All tickets for the state meet are available only online at http://www.osaa.org/shop/tickets.