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Wednesday, August 5, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Pollard nabs silver medal at games
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Brandon Pollard, a 2014
Sisters High graduate and
incoming sophomore at
Gonzaga University, captured
the silver medal in the 1,500
meters at the Junior Pan-Am
Games on Saturday, August 1,
in Edmonton, Alberta.
His U.S. teammate Blake
Haney edged Pollard by
.02 seconds to win the race.
Haney, a sophomore-to-
be at Oregon, placed third
in the 1,500 at the NCAA
Championships in June.
Haney was timed in 3:56.49
to Pollard’s 3:56.51
the whole experience
definitely helped me trust
my racing ability, and
I feel that I can compete
in any racing scenario.
— Brandon Pollard
Pollard’s performance caps
a very successful freshman
season in which he established
a school record at Gonzaga in
the 800 (1:49.88) and moved
up to fourth on the all-time
1,500-meter list (3:48.85).
The Pan American games,
established in 1980, include
athletes from the countries
of the Americas and are held
every four years in the year
before the summer Olympics.
Ten runners toed the line
in the final. The pace stayed
quite slow for much of the
race, according to Pollard.
“We went through the
first lap in about 68 and came
through 800 in 2:13 and I felt
good as we picked it up a
little,” he said. “With around
500 to go I was in second
tucked right on the outside of
a fast kid from Mexico and
told myself ‘I got it’ thinking
I had an actual shot at winning
the race.”
Pollard refrained from bolt-
ing at the bell lap, but held his
position until Haney passed
him along with a Canadian
runner, with 200 meters to go.
“At that point I just took
off and ran for dear life and
took the lead into the last 100
meters and held off everyone
but Blake,” he said.
Pollard could not have
been closer to the gold medal,
but is not beating himself up
over it.
“It’s hard to comprehend
that just .02 seconds can sepa-
rate a silver medal from a
gold medal, but I am truly just
happy I got to compete for the
U.S.,” he said.
Going into the meet Pollard
knew there would be plenty of
souvenirs from the trip, but
the one thing he really wanted
to bring back was a medal. In
addition to the medal, Pollard
feels he brought back an extra
dose of confidence and moti-
vation as well.
“The whole experience
definitely helped me trust
my racing ability, and I feel
that I can compete in any rac-
ing scenario. I’m excited for
next season because running
against guys like Haney (who
has a PR of 3:40 in the 1,500)
gives me hope that I can com-
pete at that level.”
having this experience
of running at the Pan Am
games ... has been a great
way to end the season.
— Brandon Pollard
Pollard will return to wear-
ing a Gonzaga jersey under
the tutelage of Coach Pat
Tyson, who ran for Oregon in
the early ’70s as a teammate
and friend of the legendary
Steve Prefontaine.
“I’m excited to get back
into a ’Zags jersey and see
what I can do in the future
under Tyson’s plan,” he said.
“Having this experience of
running at the Pan Am Games
at the end of my freshman
year has been a great way to
end the season.”
Pollard is the son of
Shannon and Don Pollard of
Sisters.
G SER V IC
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Nonprofit pledges
donations to library
The Friends of the
Sisters Library (FOSL) has
been raising funds through
book sales and other activi-
ties to support the library
for years. In the wake of a
spat between a sister orga-
nization and the Deschutes
Public Library System,
FOSL President Leanne
Smith offered assurances
that FOSL will continue to
donate only to library-related
causes.
Friends of the Sisters
Library (FOSL) is one of
five nonprofits that support
branch libraries in Central
Oregon communities as well
as the library system as a
whole.
The Friends of the
Redmond Branch Library
got crossways with the
library system the nonprofit
serves, due to planned dona-
tions to non-library agen-
cies that serve the Redmond
community.
The Bulletin reported last
month that The Deschutes
Public Library system threat-
ened legal action against
the Friends of the Redmond
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Branch Library after the
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FOSL president Smith
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that “the four other Friends
of the Library (FOL) groups
(operate) without this dissen-
sion, each supporting both
their own branch library
plus the Library District as a
whole. We, the presidents of
these four nonprofits, want
to assure all of our donors
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we have no intention of dis-
tributing our funds to any
nonlibrary cause. Our sup-
port of the library system in
Deschutes County has been
intact since the original FOL
incorporated in 1980, and
our cooperation with the
current District grows each
year.”
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