Wednesday, May 10, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Track teams zero in
on District
Commentary...
Of a certain age…
By Sue Stafford
Columnist
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
The Wally Ciochetti
Invitational at Cottage
Grove on Friday, May 5,
gave the Outlaws track and
field team one last chance to
tune up before this week’s
two-day Sky-Em District
Championships, scheduled
Thursday and Saturday at
Sutherlin High School.
Sabrina Reifschneider
came away with two individ-
ual wins, including a career
best in the 300-meter hurdles
in a time of 47.51. Her per-
formance pushed her rank-
ing in the event up to second
place among 4A girls. Desirae
DeRosiers of Molalla leads
the rankings with a very fine
time of 45.78. Earlier in the
meet Reifschneider won the
100 hurdles 16.25 and ran
a leg on the victorious 400-
meter relay with Ryliereece
Morgan, Erynn Ricker, and
Mandy Calavan. That four-
some now ranks sixth among
4A teams, with a mark of
50.94.
Morgan came up with a
runner-up finish in the long
jump with a leap of 15 feet
8 inches and Calavan ran a
season best in the 200 meters
(27.20). Anna Bartlett had a
busy night on her two per-
sonal bests. She finished third
in the 1,500 meters (5:18.22)
and fourth in the 3,000
(11:46.49).
Freshman Jade Anaya
increased her personal record
to 31 feet 8 inches to place
sixth in the triple jump.
“This is a great meet with
deep talent, and I felt [that]
many of the girls really met
the challenge,” said Head
Coach Jeff Larson.
Highlights for the boys
team included Keegan
Greaney’s second-place fin-
ish in the 300 hurdles, where
he went head-to-head with
Hunter Comyford of North
Valley, who placed second
in last year’s State Meet.
Comyford crossed the line
in a 4A best of 39.64, while
Greaney finished in 40.61.
The pair holds the top two
times among 4A boys this
season.
Keaton Green continued
his rapid ascent in the 800
meters, where he lowered his
best time to 2:05.61, which
earned seventh place.
The only other scorers for
the Outlaws came in the final
event of the evening when
Korbin Sharp, Jose Luquin,
Keaton Green and Greaney
put together a third-place fin-
ish in 3:36.43.
Looking forward to the
District meet, Sisters has
quite a number of athletes
who will be contending for
top two finishes, which earn
berths to the OSAA State
Championships the follow-
ing week. The Outlaws sport
league-leaders in nine of the
17 events and have many
others in the top four, which
makes them favorites to
defend their team title as well.
Seniors Sam Garbrecht,
Keegan Greaney, and Sam
Lewis appear to be in the best
position for state berths, but
others have potential to move
up as well, including both
relay teams.
“One thing’s for sure at
District,” said Larson, “every
single event is exciting.”
Forty-two years after
his parents came west on
the Oregon Trail, and 50
years before my birth, my
paternal grandfather, then a
young adventurer 20 years
of age, spent part of the
summer and fall of 1894
tramping along the spine of
the Central Oregon Cascade
mountains from Diamond
Peak to the North Sister, in
the company of Judge John
Waldo, Oregon’s version of
naturalist and conservation-
ist John Muir. Entries from
his trail diary describe his
time in “my neighborhood.”
Tuesday, September 25
We were camped for
the night at an elevation of
about 7500 ft. on the north
eastern side of the “Three
Sisters” with but a single
fir tree and an old stump
for shelter. Otherwise every
thing was lava with not a
sign of vegetation.
Wednesday, September
26
We decended the moun-
tains all day, and crossed
a great many streams, the
Judge and I on foot as both
our saddlehorses were gone.
After traveling about fifteen
miles we came into a beau-
tiful level country covered
with a pine forest. There
was plenty of good grass
and water, so we camped on
a small creek called “Trout
Creek”, having left the
storm and rougher part of
the Cascades behind us.
Thursday, September 27
Left camp at 11.30 A.M.
and traveled through beauti-
ful pine forests. At 1.30 P.M.
we came to the first wagon
road we had seen since leav-
ing old lady Rigdon’s. Here
Potter left on horseback for
“Camp Polk” six miles dis-
tant for a few supplies and
the mail that Mrs. Waldo
was to send from home. The
Judge & I kept on due north,
with the pack train, until we
struck the Lebanon road,
where we turned west. Here
we saw the first house since
Rigdon’s. This place was
called Graham’s Ranch.
One hundred and ten
years later, a long-held
dream became reality when
I moved from Seattle to
Sisters to live in the shadow
of the very mountains my
grandfather had explored as
a young man.
From the moment my
dream surfaced to become
reality, one step flowed eas-
ily into the next, from the
sale of my home in Kirkland
in one day, to finding my
home on the creek in Sisters.
The people who bought my
home in February were
in no hurry to move and
allowed me to remain until
May when my new home
in Sisters would be avail-
able. The planned improve-
ments were scheduled to
take three weeks and there
was not one delay. When I
moved in on May 25, 2004,
my new home was ready and
waiting.
“But what are you going
to do when you get there?”
my disbelieving friends que-
ried when I announced I was
leaving Seattle after 33 years
and returning to the state of
my birth.
“I don’t know,” was my
reply. “I’ll find out when I
get there.”
My leap of faith, the
result of following my heart,
has indeed been rewarded
with meaningful employ-
ment in a variety of settings,
from Redmond Hospice to
the Sisters Folk Festival to
freelance writing for The
Nugget and The Bulletin.
Each of these jobs came
to me rather than my seek-
ing them out. Everything in
which I have been engaged
has drawn on my storehouse
of life experiences, allowing
me to use my various tal-
ents in new and rewarding
endeavors.
Since arriving in Sisters,
my life has felt ordained
by a force outside myself.
The ease and joy of the last
13 years have been confir-
mation that following my
dream was meant to be. Call
it predestination, synchron-
icity, magic, blind luck, or
informed decision-making
– it was the right thing to do
and the rewards have been
many.
When I look up at those
magnificent snow-covered
peaks west of my home, I
imagine my grandfather as a
young man discovering the
magic of this special place
and feel his spirit here with
me.
The Look & Feel of Wood, Only Tougher
Take Her to
the Metolius to
Relax and Eat
Mother’s Day
— Luncheon —
Sunday, May 14 • Noon
Treat her to a 4-course meal — $35.
And, we’ve got a special menu
f for
orr t the little ones.
Aff ordable Improvement. Practical Flair.
Value -conscious homeowners choose TimberTech because
ause
it’s low maintenance, extremely durable & warrantied. .
Reservations are required
1.800.797.6331
www.lakecreeklodge.com
9
Hours: M-F 8 to 5, Sat. 8 to 4:30, Closed Sundays
440 N. Pine St. • 541-549-8141 • www.hoyts.net