Oregon 2010 Track & Field Championships 6A, 5A, 4A Hayward Field, University of Oregon 5/28/2010 to 5/29/2010

RESULTS LEO PHOTOS STEVE KLOTZ PHOTOS 'GET PRINTS FROM KLOTZ <http://klotzimages.com/f858293357>`_

Oregon runners finally caught a break from Mother nature on Saturday with reasonable warmth finally and even sunny skies later in the day & a number of runners took advantage of it but none more than Kellie Schueler of Summit. Kellie securely chiseled her name in the annals of state history by winning the 100 (12.25), the 200M (24.86) & the 400M (55.17) making a sweep of the sprint titles for the fourth straight year. She was hampered by a strained hamstring that had her limping so much, that many thought that she could not run in the 4 by 400M relay, but there she was on the anchor leg, when Summit needed her, and she brought the baton home again in first for the fourth straight year. Her final tally at State shows 12 individual titles plus a share of four titles as part of a relay. It is a record that can not be broken unless they change the rules to allow a runner to enter more events. When you consider that Kellie placed 4th in last fall’s 5A State Cross Country meet, it is also hard to argue her versatility as well.

Schueler has been so dominant that it seems appropriate to note two girls, who were overshadowed by Kellie but are quality athletes in their own right. Angelica Rodriguez of Hermiston is the first of those runners and her second place time of 55.63 in the 400M would have been good enough for first in all other divisions. Angelica also placed 2nd behind Kellie last year in that event. Besides the 400M Angelica placed 4th in the 200 (25.42 – she was 5th last year), 6th in the 100M (12.62 – she was 7th last year) and was third in the 4 by 400M relay at anchor for Hermiston. Versatility is also her trademark, as she placed 2nd in State in 5A last fall in her first year of XC behind Megan Fristoe of Summit. Melissa Baller of Glencoe is the other runner, who deserves special mention with her placements of second in the 200M (24.96), 100M (12.36) & third in the 400M 57.63). She also anchored her team to second place in the 4 by 400M relay. Fortunately for Melissa, she will return next year and hopefully her star will shine.

Sam Crouser was the most dominant athlete for the guys with victories in the javelin (224-09), the discus (194-03) & the shot put (60-07). Although off his best heave in the javelin he was far ahead (60)of the second-place finisher. Other performances of note were made by JJ Juilfs of Sheldon, who vaulted 17-00.75 on Friday to win the 6A title and Sammy Clark of North Bend, who defended her State 4A vault title with a State Record 12-05.00. Mary Barnett of Hermiston won the State 5A shot (41-3) & discus (133-10). It was her second title in the discus. Iris Anderson of South Eugene claimed titles in the 5A triple jump (37-01.75) & the long jump (17-05.25). Seth Munson of Westview ran a fine 48.47 in the 400M to claim the 6A title edging Jordan Bergstrom of Clackamas, who ran 48.69.

Dakotah Keys of Sweet Home claimed the 4A Pole Vault title on Friday with 15-00 and then had a very busy day on Saturday. His schedule was hardly too much for him, however, as he added three more State crowns. He won the high jump with 6-03 and then added the long jump with 22-07. No slouch as a runner either he then ran to victory in the 110 Meter high hurdles with a time of 14.54. Arthur Delaney of Barlow established two new State records in the sprints. He won the 100M with a time of 10.42 and the 200M with a time of 21.28. The previous records were held by Jordan Kent.

In the team races Summit continued to dominate the 5A girls’ division, which it has never lost sent its inception. It defeated Hermiston 65 to 58. The Crater guys won the 5A title with 86 points to Marshfield’s 63. Jesuit won the 6A girls’ crown again with 76 points to Southridge’s 43 & Sandy’s 41. Tigard claimed the 6A male crown with 50 points to Barlow’s 47 & North Medford’s 40. Philomath’s 77 ½ points was good enough to top Marist’s 53 & Sweet Home’s 48, while Sweet Home won the boys’ 4A championship 58 to 43 over Ontario.

The Distance Races

Drew Jordan won the State XC title, as a junior and then followed with a strong spring, although overshadowed by Elijah Greer & Nathan Mathabane. As a senior he claimed his second crown in XC, yet he still seemed to come into the State meet as just one of a number of aspirants. If that was indeed the case the last two days have been vindication for, say what you want, he did what he needed to do to secure victory. On Friday he claimed his first 3000 Meter title by running 8:40.37. The brilliant freshman Kevin Kavanaugh of Beaverton placed 2nd ahead of Franklin junior Ian Burgess (8:44.92 to 8:45.78). Matt Melancon of Sheldon & Willie of Jesuit earned 4th & 5th. Jordan noted on Saturday that he was a bit tired after Friday’s effort and he was aided by a relatively slow early pace, which saw Ben Demaree of Jesuit hold a slight lead through splits of 67 & 2:12. At that point Kit Kingstad of Beaverton, Nick Roberts of Forest Grove & Ian Burgess of Franklin followed closely behind & it appeared to be anyone’s race. Jordan made his move with a little more than a lap to go, split at 3 laps of 3:15.8, but from there on he lived up to his name and drew away from the pack. His time of 3:58.72 saw him claim victory by over a second from Kit Kingstad, who may be the most improved distance runner in the state this spring. Mars Jacobson is another very improved runner of late & he showed it by edging Ian Burgess for third. Ryan Perry of South Medford finished fifth.

If improvement is to be a theme then Julia Fonk of Franklin must be considered. Coming into the race Annamarie Maag, the defending champion from Jesuit was the favorite and, if anyone was going to beat her the most likely suspect appeared to be Lake Oswego’s valiant Tate Murray. Andrea Dettman of Centennial led the way through the first 200 meters with Murray & Maag close behind and Julia just a bit behind them. The first 400M was reached in 76.4 with Murray slightly ahead of Maag. Annamarie took over the titular lead as they reached the 800M in 2:33. At that point Payton Schutte of Jesuit held third behind Maag & Murray & was just ahead of Fonk. With slightly more than a lap to go Julia moved into contention and the next split was 3:15.8. Coming into the turn with a bit more than 300M to go, Fonk made a move to pass on the inside and opened up a almost immediate seven meter lead over Maag & Murray. It is hard to say whether the latter two runners were too focused on each other but the race was effectively over at that point, Fonk increased her lead. Maag finally pulled away from Murray with 200 meters to go but had far too much of a gap to close with too little distance to go. Julia, who has grown confident in her ability to kick at the end of a race, was not challenged even as Annamarie attempted to close in the stretch. Fonk’s winning time of 4:36.54 was nearly three seconds better than Maag’s and another second better than Murray’s. Payton Schutte held on for 4th in front of the fast-closing Lauren Morgan of South Medford, while Kelly O’ Neill of Lakeridge & Emily Wheeler of Tualatin earned the next two medals. Julia Fonk is a young lady, who has worked hard over the last few years, and it was nice to see her go out on top.

In Annamarie Maag’s defense, she was coming off a 3K the previous day in which she defended her State title. Tate, Kelly, Payton & Emily were also in that race on a day in which the weather was far less agreeable. In that 3K Annamarie led virtually all the way, save a brief early stage in the initial 200M of the race when Andrea Dettman held sway. Maag was in the lead by the 200 meter mark and was followed closely by Tate Murray. The first lap went in 1:21 and by the 800M, reached in 2:40.7, saw the quartet of Maag, Tate, Payton Schutte & Dettman take control. Behind them Erin McLaughlin of Milwaukie moved into fifth after three laps followed by freshman Kelly O’ Neill of Lakeridge. The 1600 mark saw Maag roll by in 5:21.6. Maag took control over the final two laps, while Tate Murray gamely tried to hold on to the leader to no avail and Annamarie was the only runner to break ten minutes for the race finishing in 9:57.97. Tate placed second in 10:04.42 and Kelly O’ Neill put on a bold late surge to claim third. Payton Schutte finished right behind her in 4th and Erin McLaughlin, who really should have been included in the 1500 meter event as well, earned fifth. Emily Wheeler came home by herself in sixth ahead of Andrea Dettman. Emily Weber, who has been forced to overcome a number of problems, scored an heart-warming 8th place medal for South Salem. South Eugene runners Amelia Helmick & Erin Clark rounded out the top ten and Laura Matzke of Forest Grove took 11th.

The 5A 3K race saw a large pack of runners in contention early with Summer Cano of Century & Morgan Anderson of Silverton leading the way. Kellie Foley of Crook County, regrouping after a broken foot suffered in XC, followed close behind, while Megan Fristoe of Summit loomed right behind her. The split times were reached in 1:14.3, 2:39.6 & 4:05.01. With three laps to go Cano, Foley & Fristoe appeared to be in charge, while Morgan & Jessica Vig of Crater were still in a position to have something to say about the outcome. The leaders remained together through a split of 7:03 but Megan Fristoe began to take charge, as she hit the next split in 8:29.2. Fristoe continued to extend her lead during the remainder of the race closing out in a time of 10:23.08. Morgan Anderson closed well to take 2nd in 10:28.10 and Jessica Vig caught a distraught Kellie Foley to score a third place medal. Camelia Mayfield of Ashland claimed 5th ahead of Meredith Wells of Crescent Valley & Summer Cano earned 7th. Glencoe’s Kaytlin Fischer garnered the last medal with a time of 10:59.14. For Fristoe it was an impressive win for a young lady who is gaining confidence and an imposing kick, yet she is still only a sophomore.

Daniel Winn was probably the key recruit, when Olivia Bender Poblacion (now running at Oregon State) began to resurrect the Cleveland program a few years ago and it seems only fitting that Winn end his high school career with a State title. On Friday he won the 5A race for 3K in a time of 9:03.35 to defeat Max Runia & two-time State 5A XC champion Josh Elliott of Crater, who both ran 9:04 & change. In that race Andrew Booth of Wilsonville & Travis Neuman, yet another of the state’s promising freshman guys, claimed 4th & 5th. Saturday Winn was to take part in probably the single most competitive & entertaining of the distance races as Mack Olsen of Century took the early lead and led the pack through a 63 second 400M. Winn trailed only a bit behind as Mark Sheridan of Churchill moved into third. They reached 800M in 2:12.1 with Olsen & Winn still holding court but Max Zemstov of Woodburn surged into third. Through the third lap Max Runia & Josh Elliott of Crater moved into contention, as Olsen & Winn hovered near the front only to be replaced by Michael Shogren of West Albany took over the lead. Winn moved once again just prior to the bell lap and assumed the lead. The 1200 meter split was 3:15.8 with the Cleveland runner in the lead but Josh Elliott closed to just off his shoulder prior to the last turn. Surprisingly Elliott made a very bold move and with head and arms waving from side-to-side moved into almost a full sprint. He passed Winn and opened up a gap, as Winn wondered to himself, if he could stay with the leader. Still, as he headed into the final straight, he opened up his stride and found something left to surge back into the lead. It was a great race with little separating the lead pair but Winn had prevailed 4:01.39 to 4:01.67. Michael Shogrenheldon for third(4:04.46) and Andrew Booth closed to take fourth (4:05.31). Max Runia finished just behind as Mark Olsen followed him closely to barely edge Travis Neuman off Summit.

The 6A girls’ 800M was a spirited affair as well with Lauren Lloyd of Hood River Valley, Paige Kouba of South Eugene & Julia Fonk racing out to an early lead. They continued together through the first lap but Fonk, who was doubling back after the 1500, fell behind with 300 meters to go. Down the back stretch Kouba & Lloyd both sped up the pace but with a little more than 200 meters to go Lloyd went into over-drive to fly home in a time of 2:10.95 & take a State crown. Kouba, but a sophomore, sped home alone in a fine 2:12.33. Behind the pair McKayla Fricker of Canby closed fast to briefly catch Julia Fonk but could not quite hold her off at the line, as Fonk ran 2:13.59 & Fricker ran 2:13.62. Kristen Coffman of Tualatin earned 5th in a time of 2:15.61. One gets an idea of the quality of the field, when noting that the top five runners all better last year’s winning time of 2:16.32 set by Chloe Steinbeck of 2:16.32, who now runs for the University of Oregon.

With 2008 & ’09 champion Alyssa O’ Connor of Summit competing this spring for Cornell University the door was open for a new runner& through that door strode Catherine Theobald of Bend, who won in a time of 2:16.95. Brigid Behrens (2:18.20) of Corvallis & Hilary Harris (2:18.28) of Glencoe took 2nd & 3rd. Rachel Johnson of North Eugene caught Jessica Imbrie of Sherwood to earn a 4th place medal Jessica, just a freshman who had played soccer in the fall, had claimed her first State title earlier in the 1500 with a time of 4:45.65. Alisha Luna of Klamath Union (4:48.19) & Kelly Foley of Crook County (4:49.20) placed 2nd & 3rd ahead of Amanda Dalton of of Crater. Megan Fristoe contributed more points for Summit with her fifth place (4:50.6) effort and Brigid Behrens was sixth.

Allie Siebole of Marist won two State titles over the weekend. On Friday she trailed Ally Manley of Brookings for most of the race before over-powering her in the last lap 10:29.97 to 10:38.00. On Saturday she claimed the 800 Meter title by besting Raelyn Robinson of Siuslaw 2:16.81 to 2:18.54. Barry McLaren of Philomath & Courtney Satko of Sisters in that event. Earlier in the day Raelyn Robinson ran 4:47.46 to defeat Katie Romanko of North Bend, who ran 4:51.69. Ashley Kinney of Cascade narrowly missed 2nd as she ran 4:51.71, while Sierra Brown of Hidden Valley finished 4th in 4:52.42. Laura Jackson of La Pine took 5th.

Jed Tolbert added a 3000 Meter title to his fall cross country title with a time of 8:44.13 to defeat Jacob Berkner of Siuslaw by almost six seconds. On Saturday he collected another State championship with an authoritative last lap to win the 1500M in a time of 4:05.31. Taylor Steele of Sisters edged Josh Seekatz of Philomath 4:08.06 to 4:08.22. Jacob Berkner of Siuslaw was barely behind them in 4th with a time of 4:08.48. Brad Pettyman of Estacada was less than a second behind him in fifth.