Lane Community College hosted the Special 6A District Meet and the quality of a fair number of events should make numerous athletes and coaches around the state take notice. The quality was especially evidence by the fact that a number of athletes achieved the State qualifying standards despite not being in the top two finishers. A case in point was the girls’ 800 Meter run, which on paper featured three of the top runners in the state in the event. The race certainly did not disappoint either, as Louise Mulvey of Sheldon led a quartet of runners through the first lap in 68 seconds. In spite of the pace she was closely pursued by Paige Kouba of South Eugene, Lauren Morgan of South Medford & Louise Mulvey of Sheldon. Kouba picked up the pace heading into the final turn, which caused Mulvey to fall back a bit but Laura Morgan took the lead in mid-turn and led the way into the home stretch of the race. Kouba put in another surge once they headed down the straight & it seemed, as if it would be the winning move, yet Morgan dug deep and, as she said “had the heart” to hold off her challenger. Her winning time was 2:15.06 is the top time in the state this year, yet she barely nipped Paige Kouba, whose time of 2:15.21 now ranks second. Louise Mulvey finished in an excellent time of 2:15.36, which puts her fourth on the State list just behind Paige Rice of St. Mary’s Academy. More important is the fact that the automatic qualifying time for State is 2:17.90, so she is easily into the meet next week at Hayward. Jasmine Andrews placed fourth in 2:20: a time, which would win most races of the distance.
Stetson Smith of North Medford ran “like it could be my last race” and set a brisk pace of 55.4 seconds. He held a distinct lead early but with around 250 meters to go Daniel Bellisimo of South Eugene put in a surge to narrow the gap & he was followed in turn by Ryan Perry of South Medford. Nearing the end of the turn Bellisimo moved off Stetson’s shoulder & the thought was that the leader may have gone out too fast. That thought quickly ended, when Stetson went into overdrive & drew away down the stretch with authority. The winning time was 1:53.98 – the third best time of the season. Ryan Perry closed well to overhaul Bellisimo down the stretch, as he finished in 1:55.32. His time places him sixth in the state thus far &Bellisimo placed third with 1:57.41, as he held off Nick Shanklin-Rice of South Medford, who finished fourth.
Jack Galpin of Crater is one of the state’s top 400 meter runners and he claimed the district title with a time of 50.12, which surprisingly was a bit off his preliminary race time. Still he was impressive, as he led all the way to take the race over Tre’Vann Robinson of Sheldon, who was clocked in 50.46. Galpin also garner the 200 title with his time of 21.78 defeating Dalton Cervantes (22.21) of Grants Pass & Robinson (22.72). Kelly Aldiss of Roseburg was victorious in both the girls’ 400M (57.58) and the 200 Meters (25.68). Aliyah Gallup of Thurston placed second in both events with times of 59.09 &26.14 respectively. Emily Carlson of North Medford was just behind Gallup in third with her time of 26.31, while Tierra Barrett of South Eugene ran 59.58 to take third in the 400 Meter Run. Carlson did have the honor of earning a berth at State in the 100 meter Dash by coming home second with a time of 12.71 behind Hannah Russo of Roseburg, who was timed in 12.44. Dalton Cervantes led the guys in the 100M with his time of 10.97 to top Mitch Horning of Sheldon. Horning was credited with second, although Major Oni of South Eugene was given the same time.
The girls’ 1500 Meters was another race that was much anticipated but Erin Clark pulled away from her SE team mate Paige Kouba to win in a time of 4:40.04 to 4:43.33. Sarah Hastings of Crater earned third in the event in 4:46 & Kara Rawlings of Grants Pass placed 4th with 4:47. Clark, incidentally, had triumphed in the 3K on Wednesday, a race run on a rather miserable day in the cold & ran, with a time of 10:10. Sarah Hastings secured her attendance at State by placing second in the 3K with 10:19. Finishing third & fourth were Gracie Totenson (10:38) of Crater & Kara Rawlings (10:42) of Grants Pass. The guys’ 3K on Wednesday came down to a stretch duel between max Runia of Crater and Matt Melancon of Sheldon (8:47.38 – 8:47.69). On Friday the pair was expected to duel once again and they did not disappoint. Runia stated after the race that he has been trying to concentrate on running earlier, rather than waiting to kick, so he was up near the pace out early. The real racing, however, began with a little more than a lap to go, when Runia picked up the pace. He did not assume that the pace would drop his Sheldon rival and sure enough with 250 meters to go, Matt pulled up on his should. Runia, thinking “I got to go” put in a surge, which he thought would put away Melancon but with “one-hundred to go he pulled up on me again.” Ando so once again the battle was joined with the pair sprinting for home. At the finish there was little to choose between the duo but Runia had the edge and was timed in 4:02.27, while Melancon had 4:02.52. Kyle Ruhlin of Thurston placed third with 4:05 and Joe Holvey took fourth in 4:10. Max & Matt will renew their rivalry in Eugene and will be joined by a few others of note, but it seems wise for the officials at Hayward to make sure that their finish cameras are working properly.
Quality was in evidence in the hurdles as well and in the 110 Meters for young men Korey Smith of Roseburg came across the line first with a time of 14.60. Joe McUne of North Medford edged Brandon Hooper of South Medford & both were credited with 15.10. The good news was that the State standard is 15.17, so all three runners will head to State. Brandon Hooper came back to claim the 300 Hurdles with 39.85 & Korey Smith garnered second with 40.09. For the girls it was Madison Cavens of Roseburg, who triumphed in the shorter race (15.06) over North Medford’s Amber Black (15.48) of North Medford. Elise Nelson of Roseburg was a close third with 16.11. Nelson received the laurels in the longer race by running 45.73 to top Madison Cavens (46.60, who edged her team mate Elise Nelson (46.62).
The field events provided some fine marks as well, especially in the Javelin, where Javan Gray of Thurston threw 191-02. Despite his throw both Selmar Hutchins III of Roseburg (188-10) & Oliver Boggs (177-04), also from Roseburg, were close behind. Gray also won the Shot Put, when he went 56-04. Jacob Foutz of Sheldon placed second in that discipline with 50-00. The Discus competition was quite tight with Will Kunkle of North Medford leading the way with 158-06. Jacob Foutz (157-02) of Sheldon & Javan Gray (151-03) finished second & third with Gray narrowly missing the automatic qualifier of 152-00. Defending State champion started the defense of his title in the Pole Vault on Wednesday but the event was halted midway through the competition. On Friday he won the event on misses as he and Brandon Hooper both cleared 16-00. Zach Crambit of Thurston soared 15-00 for third and Alex Tardieu of Grants Pass placed fourth with 14-3 but both athletes will also will be on hand in Eugene given the auto mark is 14-03. Ken Newcome of Roseburg & Brandon Hooper went 1 – 2 in the High Jump with marks of 6-04 & 6-03 but Cody Codin, who also leaped 6-03, placed third on misses. Newcome also won the Triple Jump with 46-02.50 finishing ahead of Dontee Norman-Provost of Sheldon (44-09.25). Dalton Cervantes scored his second title in the Long Jump with 21-10.50. The completion for second was quite close but Jeremy Scotow (20-11) of North Medford, Micah Audiss (20-08.25) & Korey Smith (20-07). Both Audiss & Smith competed for Roseburg.
The girls’ Shot put saw Kallie Calhoun of South Eugene triumph with 39-09.75 & Amy Froelich (37-08.00) of Sheldon was second. Kim Gomez was victorious in the Javelin throwing 136-03, while Adriann Martin of Roseburg earned second with 121-10. New Medford’s Gomez also earned a berth in Eugene in the Discus (107-00) after finishing behind Rachel Picknell of Roseburg, who won with 110-11. Hannah Leatham of Sheldon claimed the Pole Vault with 10-03 & was followed by Marialice Rowland of South Eugene, who went 9-00. In the High Jump the best mark was that of Erika Shigley of Roseburg (5-03). Katie Evans of South Eugene & Hannah Leatham both cleared 5-02.00 but Evans had fewer misses. Kristen Clark of Sheldon & Jenna Sandling of Roseburg traded places in the Long Jump & Triple Jump with Clark winning the LJ in 17-04 to 17-03.75 for Sandling and then Sandling going 38-01.25 to win the Triple to Clark’s 37-01.75. Aliyah Gallup of Thurston was a very close third in the Long Jump with her leap of 16-11.25.
Also of note is the 4 by 400 Meter Relay of Roseburg, which won with a time of 3:58.47. The team of Madison Cavens, Jenna Sandling, Amber Black & Kelly Audiss recorded one of the fastest times in the State this season. We look forward to seeing everyone in Eugene – best of fortune.
