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Wednesday, November 9, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws earn fourth-place trophy at state meet
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Sophie Borders saved her
best race for last on her way
to ninth place in a personal
record time at the OSAA
Cross Country Championships
held Saturday, November 5,
at Lane Community College,
leading the Outlaws to a
fourth-place finish. That
result earned the team another
trophy for the program’s
collection.
Borders and Anna Bartlett
ran close together through-
out the race, just as Coach
Josh Nordell had hoped they
would. Bartlett also ran a per-
sonal best, finishing 10th, giv-
ing both girls a place on the
podium.
Borders met her personal
goals of cracking 20 minutes
(19:59) and finishing in the
top 10, but the team fell a
little short of its hopes after
placing second at last year’s
meet. Bartlett’s time of 20:09
was over 40 seconds faster
than at last year’s meet.
“We knew it would be a
four-team race, but Tillamook
and La Grande, who placed
first and second, were very
tough up front and really
were the two top teams at the
meet,” said Nordell.
Tillamook won the meet
with 71 points to edge La
Grande (76), while Philomath
(123) edged the Outlaws (127)
for the third time this season.
“We were so evenly
matched with Philomath it
was crazy,” said Nordell.
The Outlaws had some
struggles in the race due to
sickness earlier in the week
that hit three runners.
“The girls were brave,
bold and strong and gave it
their all,” said Nordell. “They
represented Sisters amazingly
well and were a model of
poise.”
Tate Ricker (21:23) placed
29th, matching her second-
best time of the year despite
being congested to start the
week. Engracia Diez, typi-
cally the fifth runner for
Sisters, came through next in
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
In heavy rain, Outlaw girls cross country team finished fourth at the state championship.
46th place with her second-
best time ever (21:58) and
senior Zidane Galant-LaPorte
ran the fastest in her career
(22:32) to complete the scor-
ing for the Outlaws.
Molly Winter (23:11)
and Amy Hills (23:14) gave
it their best, according to
Nordell, despite not being
fully recovered from upper-
respiratory illness that they
battled all week.
“Having all seven runners
healthy at the same moment
the first week of November
is what every cross-country
coach dreams of, but that
wasn’t in the cards for us this
year.”
The race for trophies
turned out to be too close
for comfort for Sisters as
Scappoose finished fifth,
just four points behind the
Outlaws.
La Grande on the other
hand had a nearly flawless
day to give the number-one-
ranked Tillamook team all
it could handle. The Tigers’
entire team consists of just
six girls, and every single one
of them ran personal bests at
state, making them the big
surprise of the meet.
“They sort of came out of
nowhere, although we had our
eye on them,” said Nordell. “I
think we’ll invite them to our
home meet next year so we
can race against them before
the state meet.”
Celie Mans, a senior from
Siuslaw, won the 4A girls
title with a time of 18:55 after
being challenged through the
first two miles by freshman
Solace Bergeron of Tillamook
(19:07) and junior Linnaea
Kavulich of Scappoose
(19:11).
Jordan Pollard, the lone
entrant from the boys’ team,
placed 22nd in 17:18, which
was not the result he had
hoped for. After winning the
Sky-Em District meet, Pollard
had reason to believe he could
run with the top group, but his
dream race did not material-
ize, leaving him to look to his
senior year.
“Jordan has become a great
runner, and I think that great-
ness means giving it your all
even when you are not feel-
ing great,” said Nordell. “He
has already proven he can run
with the best, and I have no
doubt he will be a factor at the
2017 state meet.”
Michael Brown, a North
Bend senior, won the 4A
boys race in 16:13, while
John Kavulich of Scappoose
(16:17) and Robby Vos of
Phoenix (16:20), both juniors,
placed second and third
respectively.
Valley Catholic unseated
the defending champions
from Seaside in the team race
as they placed five runners
in the top 26 to score just 58
points. Seaside finished sec-
ond (79), Phoenix third (121),
and North Bend fourth (147).
“We had a great year,” said
Nordell. “These kids are of
the highest quality as people,
and I couldn’t be more proud
of them.”
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Sophie Borders and Anna Bartlett running strong in heavy rain finishing
9th & 10th at State Cross Country.
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