Wednesday, October 21, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
For cross-country it all comes down to District
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
After a regular season
of meets stretching from
Seaside to Drake Park, the
Outlaws cross-country team
faces the state qualifying
Sky-Em District meet set for
Wednesday, October 21, at
Lane Community College.
Unlike other team sports
that compete in a league
schedule that determines
state playoffs, cross-country
teams’ futures come down to
one race to determine who
goes on to compete for state-
level glory among the six
teams in the league.
As defending Sky-Em
District Champions the past
four seasons for both boys
and girls, many of the Sisters
runners have been in this
position before. The girls are
overwhelming favorites to
repeat as champions while
the boys face an experienced
Elmira team that matches
up very closely with the
Outlaws.
Junior Sophie Borders,
who placed fourth at last
year’s district meet, has held
the top position all season
for the Outlaws, who have
been ranked among the top
four teams in the state for
the past six weeks, and is the
pre-race individual favorite.
Teammate Anna Bartlett has
the third-fastest time in the
league and continues to look
stronger and stronger as the
season progresses, according
to Coach Josh Nordell.
A tight contingent of other
Outlaws is what gives Sisters
a strong upper hand; the team
holds six of the fastest 10
times in the entire league.
Those runners include senior
Megan Calaraco, senior
Macadia Calavan, sophomore
Serena Salisbury and senior
Mary Stewart. Three other
runners, Amy Hills, Engracia
Diez, and Shayla Curtis rank
in the top 20 runners among
Sky-Em women.
Junction City is expected
photo by Jerry Baldock
Jordan Pollard battles for position at the Central Oregon Relays.
photo by Jerry Baldock
Outlaw cross-country team competed in costume at the Central Oregon Relays.
to be the runner-up. The top
two teams at the District Meet
qualify for State, which is
scheduled for all classifica-
tions on Saturday, October
31, also at Lane Community
College.
For the boys, senior
T.J. Hooks, the runner-up
at last year’s District Meet
and 11th at State, has estab-
lished himself as the favorite
among individual runners,
but expects a pair of Falcons
to be riding his tail. Hooks
established a personal best
at the George Fox Classic
on October 10 with a time of
16:22. Elmira’s top two run-
ners have both dipped up 17
minutes, but have never really
threatened Hooks in head-to-
head competition.
Jordan Pollard, a sopho-
more, has steadily remained
as the team’s number-two
runner and looks to help
bust up the Falcon’s quest.
He ran 17:15 at George Fox
and looks stronger than ever,
according to Nordell.
The real focal point for
Sisters will be the next three
scorers. Izaak Kanzig has
begun to return to form after
his two-year absence in South
Korea. Kanzig ran 17:14
as a freshman and appears
ready to break into the 17s
again before the season ends.
Sophomore Cole Pade con-
tinues to run within about 20
seconds of Kanzig each race
as both have dropped their
times along the way. Senior
Patrick Krevi will be a key
as well and also looks ready
after setting a personal record
at George Fox with a time of
18:57.
It’s Elmira’s depth — and
likely their hunger to unseat
the Outlaws — that will be
the challenge for Sisters. In
addition, a much-improved
Junction City team could
make things very interest-
ing depending on how its top
runners finish. The Tigers’
top four runners may mix
right in with the core scorers
for Elmira and Sisters, which
could result in a tighter three-
way race than earlier season
predictions.
A wild-card for Sisters
is senior Dyut Fetrow, who
placed third at last year’s dis-
trict meet, but has been beset
by injuries all season and has
only recently been running
steadily.
“On paper, Elmira looks
like the favorite to win, but
there is much more to the
dynamic of championship
races than meets the eye,”
Nordell said. “This is why we
run the meets.”
Action gets underway at
Lane Community College at
2 p.m. with the varsity girls
race. The varsity boys will
run at 2:30 p.m. followed by
the combined junior varsity
race at 3 p.m. There is no
admission fee for spectators.