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Wednesday, September 7, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Teams seek to defend titles
By Charlie kanzig
Correspondent
Tradition is powerful, and
the Outlaws cross-country
team has plenty of it to uphold
entering the 2016 campaign.
Both the boys and girls teams
have won the district titles
more often than not over
the past decade-and-a-half,
including last year.
For the girls, repeating
looks pretty likely, while the
boys, like last year, will have
a battle on their hands come
late October, when the state-
qualifying Sky-Em District
meet will be held.
The girls team returns the
core of the squad that won
the District title last year and
went on to snag the second-
place trophy at State. It was
the third time in school his-
tory that the team had been
the runner-up, and it may be
too early to tell if the Outlaws
can capture the top spot for
the first time.
Top returners for the
Outlaws include senior Sophie
Borders, who led Sisters in
every meet last year. She won
the District title and placed
12th at State. Junior teammate
Anna Bartlett’s summer train-
ing already appears to be pay-
ing off, as she is ahead of her
pace from last year in which
she placed third at District
and 20th at State. She ran
solo at last Friday’s Mountain
View XC Run-off, finishing
ninth overall in 21:28.
Other varsity runners
returning include sophomore
Amy Hills and juniors Serena
Salisbury and Engracia
Diez. Senior Zidane Galant-
LaPorte, along with new
team members Tate Ricker
and Molly Winter also look
ready to contribute at the var-
sity level, according to Coach
Josh Nordell.
“We’re just getting started,
so it’s anybody’s guess who
will rise up,” he said.
Last year’s state cham-
pion, Siuslaw, has not yet run
a race this season, but always
seems to be in the hunt,
according to Nordell. Other
teams that return top runners
include Phoenix, Molalla and
Philomath, all of which, like
the Outlaws, have tradition-
ally strong teams.
For the boys it’s the pass-
ing of the guard as the team
that squeaked out a dramatic
one-point win at District last
year graduated four of the
top seven runners. The team
finished seventh last year at
State. Seaside is the heavy
favorite to repeat as State
champions as they return six
of their top seven runners.
Other top teams may include
Phoenix, Tillamook, Valley
Catholic and Newport.
Junior Jordan Pollard
started the season with a deci-
sive victory in the Jere Breese
Memorial race in Prineville on
August 27 and will be looking
to pull along returning var-
sity runners Cole Pade and
Will Werts, along with var-
sity hopefuls freshman Josh
Liddell, sophomores Jack
Berg and Jackson Bowe, as
well as junior Peyton Myhre
and others.
photo by charlie kanziG
the lady outlaws are fielding a strong cross country squad this year.
“Everyone is working
hard, so it will be exciting to
see how the boys and the girls
develop as the season pro-
gresses,” said Nordell.
The Outlaws host a meet
this Friday afternoon, which
is a change from past years
when the meet was held
on Saturday. The meet has
incorporated the theme of the
Sisters Folk Festival and will
include some live music at the
finish, if all goes as planned,
according to Nordell. Six
teams will join the Outlaws
on the fields and trails behind
Sisters High School. The meet
begins at 4 p.m. There is no
charge for fans.
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