The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Despite the weather challenges of April, the Sisters High track and field athletes are continuing to show improvement as the season moves into championship month.

A handful of Outlaws qualified for the Meet of Champions, hosted by Cascade and Sweet Home on Saturday, April 23, and a number came away with lifetime bests under the first good weather of the season.

The Meet of Champions invites athletes from 1A-4A ranks based on qualifying season performances and provides athletes an experience of a championship-style meet.

Gracie Vohs had a banner day on her way to winning the pole vault (9 feet), clearing a lifetime best in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches) to place second, and helped her teammates to strong finishes in both relays.

The 4x100-meter quartet of Vohs, Nevaeh McAfee, Lilly Sundstrom, and Ila Reid got the baton around the oval in a second-best 53.65 for fourth place and, to conclude the meet, Vohs, Reid, McAfee, and sister Delaney McAfee lopped off nearly 10 seconds in the 4x400 relay to place third in 4:21.92.

Nevaeh McAfee placed a very strong fifth place in a personal best for 100 meters (13.41) and Kiara Martin cleared 8 feet, 4 inches in the pole vault for a personal record of her own on her way to fourth place. Lilly Sundstrom placed fourth

in the long jump with a mark of 15 feet, 1.5 inches.

Ella Bartlett (5:22) and Sasha Stolasz (5:31) competed in the 1500, finishing seventh and 12th respectively.

The boys squad was missing a few stars due to schedule conflicts and illness, but the high-quality competition brought out a flurry of personal bests. Taine Martin had a season best in the high jump at 5 feet, 10 inches for fifth place.

Freshman Spencer Tisdel cleared 9 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault for the first time and also had a personal best in high jump with

a mark of 5 feet 4 inches. Senior Erik Ryan found an unknown gear in the 800 meters to blaze to an

eight-second personal best with a time of 2:12.47.

Earlier in the week, the entire team traveled to Crook County for a five-way meet with the Cowboys,

Mitchell/Spray, Culver, and Redmond.

Winners for the Outlaws girls included Ella Bartlett in the 1,500 (5:35) and 800 (2:45) Sasha Stolasz in the 3,000 (12:21.95), Gracie Vohs in the pole vault (8 feet, 6 inches), and Lilly Sundstrom in the long jump 14 feet, 10.25 inches.

Sundstrom also ran personal best in the 100 hurdles (19.12) and the 300 hurdles (52.62)

Nevaeh McAfee clocked a personal best in the 200 (27.86), where she placed second.

Wins for the boys came from Taine Martin in the pole vault (11 feet, 6 inches) which was his best ever, and Kaleb Briggs in the 800 (2:14.61). Martin also placed second in the 110 hurdles (18.92) and the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches), while Briggs picked up second in the 1500 with a personal best of 4:43.39, and freshman John Berg lowered his best in the 400 to 57.37 to also place second. Carson Brown (47.35) and Berg (49.18)

finished 2-3 in the 300 hurdles, both in personal record times. Spencer Tisdel hopped, skipped, and jumped to a personal best in the triple jump with a measurement of 37 feet, 7.75 inches.

Crook County won the girls’ team title and Redmond edged Crook County on the boys’ side. Sisters placed third for both.

Coaches for the Outlaws said they look forward to a full week of training before traveling to Stayton High School for the Stayton Invitational, which features 25 teams from the 2A/3A/4A ranks on Saturday, April 30.

“A little good weather and some uninterrupted training days is just what we need right now,” said Head Coach Cailen McNair.