Sisters cross-country teams continue to grow

The Outlaws boys and girls cross-country teams continued their steady growth over the past two weeks with two meets against strong 3A/2A/1A competition.

Thursday, October 3, the squad competed at the Regis/Stayton Invitational where the boys placed second and the girls third among sixteen teams represented. 4A Stayton won both team titles.

Photo by Charlie Kanzig

Freshman Zachary Kemp digs in during a tough race at Regis.

George Roberts continued his strong season with a fifth place finish on the hilly course, clocking 17:39.4. Freshman Zachary Kemp had a breakout race to place second for the Outlaws and ninth overall in 18:26, just ahead of John Berg who took 11th in 18:35. Ben Hayner came through as the fourth scorer for the Outlaws in 24th place (19:02) and Jude Parzybok completed the scoring in 43rd place (19:46) among 127 finishers.

Stayton scored 49 points for the win, followed by Sisters with 80, Vernonia 116, and Harrisburg 133.

"I thought we had a good showing and really competed, despite missing Spencer Tisdel who clearly would have placed in top ten," said coach Charlie Kanzig.

For the girls Brooke Duey (20:59) placed fourth and Josie Ryan (21:09) fifth to lead the Outlaws. Mae Roth (24:18) ran strong for 25th place (24:18) and first year runners Althea Crabtree (24:40) and Helena Welty (25:09) finished 31st and 39th among 80 competitors.

Six days earlier the Outlaws faced some of the best 3A/2A/1A runners in the state and held their own despite being a bit short handed at the Champs Invite held Friday, September 27, at Cheadle Lake Park near Lebanon.

The boys team faced what are considered three of the top four 3A teams in Oregon at the meet in Banks, Valley Catholic, and Siuslaw. The Banks Braves pulled off the win with 65 points, placing four runners in the top thirteen to dominate the field. Valley Catholic finished second with 87 points, and Siuslaw, competing without their top runner, finished third with 105.

The Outlaws placed seventh with 223 points among 28 complete teams. Roberts (17:24) and Tisdel (17:29) placed 18th and 20th among a field of 231 finishers.

Other scorers for the team included Berg (18:39), Hayner (19:09), and Parzybok (19:41). Kemp, slowed for a bit due to a slight injury, competed in the junior varsity race and placed fourth.

"We wanted Zach (Kemp) to have the chance to race up near the front and he competed very well," said Kanzig.

Duey (21:03.2) and Ryan (21:03.6) ran side by side through most of the race and finished 15th and 16th to lead the girls' team to ninth place among 19 teams.

Roth had her fastest time of the year (23:42) as did freshman Welty (24:19). Crabtree (25:13), Kiara Martin (25:19) and Annalycia Erdekian (25:38) completed the top seven. The girls' team is still running without freshman Brianna Fuller due to injury.

"Clearly we look forward to having Brianna back with us down the road, but in the meantime the girls are continuing to develop and gel," said Kanzig.

Siuslaw won the team race with 104 points over Central Linn (127) and Coquille (132). Sisters scored 211 for ninth place.