Mid-season track is often a time for some of the best training of the year. Which, Coach Josh Nordell notes, can be tricky when you're also participating in two meets a week.

Which is why the team sort of mixed things up last week, giving some of the younger athletes a chance to shine at a league meet at La Pine Thursday and then having a little fun in the Elmira Relays on Saturday.

Thursday's meet against Sweet Home and the Hawks turned out to be more of a junior varsity competition for all three teams, as coaches largely entered less experienced athletes in the meet.

This turned into a boon for Jared Jefferies, who got the taste of victory in the 400 meters, clocking his best time at 1:04.51 seconds. The only other event-winner for the Outlaws boys came from Ian Baldessari, a varsity scorer who came to work on his hurdle and pole vault technique. He won the 110 hurdles in 17.86 seconds and finished fourth in the pole vault at 10 feet even. Jacob Glatz cleared 5-6 to place second in the high jump.

The girls team took along a few more varsity-level athletes than the boys. Freshman Katie Aryanfard won the 100 meters (14.08) and led a 2-3-4 finish for the Outlaws in the 200, finishing in 28.97, just ahead of Emily Corrigan (29.16) and Dallas Knoop (29.35).

Michaela Miller and Sabrina Reifschneider, two varsity-level hurdlers, took part in the meet and scored for Sisters. The pair finished 1-2 in the 300 hurdles in 51. 44 and 51.72 respectively, after earlier nabbing second and third in the 100 hurdles. Miller also placed first in the javelin with a career-best of 103-7.

The varsity 400-meter relay team of Miller, Aryanfard, Macadia Calavan and Natalie Ambrose used the meet to perfect their hand-offs and snagged the win in the process.

Cierra Mann inched closer to the 100-foot barrier in the discus, placing second in the event with a personal best of 99-1, while Madison Boettner took a break from distance running to win the high jump by clearing 4-8.

"It was a good meet to practice technique in the skill events," said Nordell.

The eight-team Elmira Relays on Saturday allowed the Outlaws to get into the team spirit, as all running events were conducted in relay fashion.

The meet suited the Outlaw girls quite well in the running events as Sisters won three relays and finished second in the team behind perennial power Philomath in the team standings 120 to 93.

The 4x100 relay of Calavan, Aryanfard, Miller, and Ambrose posted a time of 52.07, while later Zoe Falk joined Calavan, Miller and Ambrose to win the 4x400 relay in a season best of 4:09.92.

Falk, Calavan, Katelyn Meeter and Aria Blumm destroyed the field in the 4x800 in 10:16.35, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Philomath.

Ambrose, Aryanfard, Dallas Knoop, and Meeter teamed up to place second in the sprint medley (100/100/200/400) just one second behind Philomath.

Sabrina Reifschneider lowered her personal best in the 100 hurdles to 18.25.

Top individuals in the field events included Falk and Miller going 1-2 in the long jump at 15-9 and 15-1 respectively. Tessa O'Hern finished second in the pole vault with a mark of 8-6 and Cierra Mann was the runner-up in the discus with a toss of 92-5.

The boys team, though missing star Brandon Pollard who is working through a foot injury, held their own in a number of events and finished fifth among the eight teams.

The team of Gabe Willits, Sam Garbrecht, Keenan O'Hern and Jamesynn Mendez managed third place in the 4x100-meter relay (48.83), as did the distance medley squad of Dyut Fetrow, Caleb Johnson, Gabe Rice, and Jadon Bachtold in 12:02.5.

The Outlaws picked up another third in the shuttle hurdles behind the efforts of Keegan Greaney, Ian Baldessari, Jake McAllister and Seth Larson.

McAllister picked a win in the high jump (6 feet) and placed second in the long jump (19-8.25).

The host Falcons won the boys' team title with 129 points to outdistance runner-up (100). The Outlaws scored 71 for fifth.

Finishing up April and heading into May means that the competition - and hopefully the weather - will heat up, according to Nordell.

Jerry Baldock

Dallas Knoop competes in long jump at La Pine.

"We have the Summit Invitational and the Centennial meet both on Saturday, so we will be sending kids to where they will get the best competition for their needs," he said. "We should start seeing a lot of personal records coming through in the next few weeks."