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Wednesday, November 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws runners impress at District
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
One year after its worst
showing in nearly two
decades, the Sisters Outlaws
boys cross-country team made
a complete comeback, with
an emphatic victory at the
Sky-Em District Meet held at
Lane Community College in
Eugene Thursday, October 26.
The cool foggy day did
nothing to dampen the fire
of the young Outlaws squad
as Jordan Pollard and Ethan
Hosang went out to the lead
with Sweet Home’s Tanner
Sayers right from the line.
They dictated the pace. The
rest of the Outlaws scorers
bided their time in the pack,
doing what they have done
all year with even pacing and
tough finishes while letting
the over-eager runners from
Cottage Grove and Elmira
burn themselves up in the first
half. The result was a double-
digit victory, predicted by
Coach Josh Nordell before
the meet.
Sisters won the meet with
40 points, 13 ahead of Cottage
Grove (53), who edged Elmira
(55) for the second state berth
by just two points. Sweet
Home finished fourth (95),
Junction City fifth (96) and
Sutherlin sixth (172).
“These guys have a lot of
toughness, but they are also
savvy,” he said. “They run
smart and push hard when it
counts.”
Pollard pulled away to
win his second consecutive
individual crown in 16:23,
five seconds ahead of Sayers.
Hosang pushed through to a
personal best in third place in
16:33.
“We’re pretty sure Sayers
was taken a little by surprise
to see Ethan pushing the pace
and even running out front
in the first two miles of the
race,” said Nordell. “He ran
an awesome race.”
Pollard appeared to be
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completely in control, run-
ning in training shoes due to
a sore heel. For comparison,
Pollard ran 16:53 a year ago
on the same course, indicating
he is surely stronger than ever.
He remains one of the favor-
ites in next week’s state meet,
along with John Kavulich of
Scappoose, the state runner-
up in 2016, and Robby Vos of
Phoenix, who finished third
behind Kavulich.
Pollard had an off day at
last year’s state meet where he
finished 22nd, but came back
in track to medal in both the
1,500 and 3,000 (along with
Kavulich and Vos) and has put
together a stellar season thus
far, according to Nordell.
“Jordan has grown in so
many ways,” said Nordell.
“He has put in the work,
become a leader of the team
and proven himself to be a
force to be reckoned with.”
All of Pollard’s young var-
sity teammates ran personal
bests to complete the team’s
dominant victory.
John Peckham came
through with a monster per-
sonal best to finish eighth in
17:09, while fellow frosh Will
Thorsett also pushed to a life-
time best to place thirteenth in
17:37. Josh Liddell ran a tre-
mendous race and overcame a
sudden bout of nausea in the
final 200 meters to finish 15th
in 17:52..
“It’s sort of impressive to
lose your breakfast and still
run your best time,” said
Nordell. “I’m telling you,
these boys are tough.”
Yet another freshman,
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Ethan Hosang and Jordan Pollard pushed hard in a triumphant victory.
PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG
The Outlaws boys team took the District title last weekend.
Vicente Rebolledo, came
through in the sixth spot in
18:26 and Jack Berg finished
seventh for the team in 18:41.
“Our goal was to have
all seven of our guys beat
Cottage Grove’s fifth scorer
and we came within two
seconds of doing that,” said
Nordell.
Among 4A boys’ teams,
Sisters is considered among
the top six to vie for one of
the four state trophies accord-
ing to the latest coaches’ poll.
Valley Catholic won last
year and returns as the favor-
ite despite having a nearly
new line-up. Other contend-
ers include Siuslaw, Crook
County, Tillamook, and
Stayton.
“These guys have been so
impressive and so much fun to
coach,” said Nordell. “I mean,
how do you go from fifth in
your league one year to one of
the top teams in the state the
next? Of course, the answer
is through discipline, cama-
raderie, and the willingness
to do difficult, high-quality
training.”
Freshman Sam May made
his mark at the meet. He ran
an inspired race to finish
second in the junior varsity
race in 19:19, nearly a min-
ute and a half faster than his
previous best, to earn a spot
as the alternate to the varsity
team for the state meet.
“We have a pretty special
group of young runners,” said
Nordell.
The Outlaws will toe the
line at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday,
November 4, at Lane
Community College against
13 other 4A teams and a smat-
tering of individual qualifiers.
Teams that earned a ticket
to the meet include Siuslaw,
Crook County, Tillamook,
Valley Catholic, Stayton,
Newport, Cottage Grove,
Marshfield, Estacada, Hidden
Valley, Klamath Union,
Baker, and Ontario.
“On paper the top teams
look very similar,” said
Nordell. “It’s going to be a
really good competition for
the teams and the individuals.
We hope a lot of Outlaw fans
will be able to come and cheer
us on.”
Tickets for the meet are $8
for adults and $5 for students.
Complete information for the
meet is available at www.
osaa.org.
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