Sisters hosts district track meet this week

Sisters High School will host the 3A Special District 3 Championships this week on Thursday and Friday, May 9-10.

The meet serves not only to determine the team champions for the district, but as the qualifier for the OSAA Track and Field Championships set for the following week at Hayward Field. The top two finishers in each event will qualify for state, along with one state-wide wild card entry in each event. Additional athletes may advance to state by meeting automatic qualifying standards.

Teams competing at the meet include Creswell, Elmira, Glide, La Pine, Pleasant Hill, Siuslaw, Sutherlin, along with the host Outlaws.

Despite the team’s last regular season meet at Summit being canceled Saturday, May 4, the athletes are ready to go, according to head coach Jonathan Kelly.

The Outlaw girls are in good position to defend the district title won in 2023 with a well-balanced squad that is expected to score well in fourteen of the seventeen events. A much-improved boys’ team looks to improve on its fourth place finish last year.

Returnees to the girls’ team along with a cast of younger athletes give the Outlaws the depth needed to not only win the title, but qualify a healthy number for the state meet.

Senior Gracie Vohs returns in the high jump as the top seed, ranks second in the 400 meters, and plays a key role in the ever-improving 4x400-meter relay team. Vohs won the state title in the 400 last year and anchored the winning relay team as well.

Ella Bartlett holds the top time in the 3,000 meters and is ranked second in the 1,500. Another senior, Lilly Sundstrom ranks in the top three in both hurdle races. Mae Roth leads the league in the pole vault, and her teammates Kathryn Buller and Althea Crabtree are ranked second and third respectively.

A flock of freshmen are expected to put plenty of points on the board. Audrey Corcoran has the best time in the district at 200 meters and is seeded a close second in the 100 behind Ryan Thomas of Pleasant Hill. Corcoran will also run on the 4 x 400 team and is the top-ranked long jumper.

In addition to her pole vaulting prowess, Crabtree also ranks among the top hurdlers and is tied for the second best mark in the high jump. Shanitah Few is ranked a close fourth in the high jump.

The boys’ top entries include John Berg in the 400 meters in which he is seeded second, Reid Woodson in the triple jump (second), George Roberts in the 1500 (third), Spencer Tisdel in 800 (fourth) and pole vault (fifth), and Tony Gonzalez in the shot put (fourth).

Siuslaw is favored to retain the district title on the boys side

The district meet runs over two days following the same schedule as the state meet. The first day of the meet will feature just one final in the running events with the 3000, while prelims will be run in everything else other than the 1500. The top eight finishers in preliminary running events qualify for finals. The top eight finishers in each event score on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale.

Field events are set to begin at 1:00 on Thursday, with running events getting underway at 1:30. On Friday, field events begin at 11:00 and running events at 12:10. Admission will be charged at the gate since this is a championship level meet. Results will also be available live on the athletic.net website and app.