Wednesday, November 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
A place to Outlaws race to seventh straight District title
donate that
Halloween
candy
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
Is your house overrun with
Halloween candy after the
holiday? Here is your chance
to reduce the amount of sug-
ary treats and help our troops
and veterans at the same time.
The Sisters Parent-Teacher
Community is hosting their
fourth annual Halloween
Candy Drive from November
1-6. Students, parents, and
community members can
bring in extra candy to
the front office of Sisters
Elementary School or drop it
at one of two “drop” locations
in Sisters: Deri’s Hair Salon,
222 W. Black Crater Ave.; and
Miss Sew It All, 372 W. Hood
Ave.
Candy will be distributed
to Operation Gratitude, a non-
profit who creates gift boxes
and ships them to deployed
soldiers, veterans and first
responders.
“Last year our Halloween
Candy drive produced over
130 pounds of treats for the
troops,” said coordinator Erin
Borla. “I think we can beat
that record this year!”
Students and families can
also create cards and letters
to troops and their families.
Please do not purchase addi-
tional candy to donate —
toothbrushes and toothpaste
are always appreciated. All
candy and letter donations
need to be dropped off by
November 6 at 2:30 p.m.
For more informa-
tion, contact Erin Borla at
541-480-5994.
The Sisters Outlaws girls
bid adieu to the Sky-Em
Conference with their sev-
enth consecutive District
cross-country title on
Thursday, September 26 at
Lane Community College
behind the top nine finishes
by all five scorers.
Anna Bartlett, the defend-
ing individual champion,
faced the toughest field of
girls in many years and fin-
ished fourth despite running
the best time of her career
by nearly 20 seconds with a
mark of 19:37.
Kaitlin Cook, a sopho-
more from Elmira, nipped
Junction City’s frosh phenom
Anika Thompson 19:11.7
to 19:11.9. Andrea Griffin
of Elmira finished third in
19:27.
Ella Cole ran alone in fifth
place for nearly the entire
race and also established a
career best with a time of
20:56. Her teammates Tate
Ricker (21:43), Amy Hills
(21:52), and Engracia Diez
(22:00) came through sixth,
eighth, and ninth places to
firmly secure the Outlaws’
win with 30 points.
Brooke Robillard placed
14th in 22:47 and Iris Diez
finished 25th in 24:22 as the
sixth and seventh runners for
the team.
Elmira placed second
with 47 points to also qualify
for the OSAA State Cross
Country Championships
set for all classifications
Saturday, November 4, at
Lane Community College.
Junction City placed third
with 75 points, Sutherlin
fourth with 85, and Cottage
Grove fifth with 109. Sweet
Home did not field a com-
plete team.
PHOTO BY CHARLIE KANZIG
Ella Cole makes a run for it in Sisters Outlaws cross-country action.
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
The Lady Outlaws took their seventh consecutive District title with a
strong performance last weekend.
“We expected to win,
but didn’t anticipate such a
crowd of fast runners in the
front pack,” said Coach Josh
Nordell. “Elmira’s girls cer-
tainly came ready to run and
Junction City’s freshman was
totally impressive.”
Sisters has been a mem-
ber of the Sky-Em League
since 2006, but will be join-
ing a new conference next
season, the Oregon West,
that includes Sweet Home,
Stayton, Philomath, Newport
and Woodburn.
Since 2006, the Sisters
girls’ team has missed the
state meet only one time and
has consistently placed in
the top six in the team stand-
ings, including a number of
team trophies. The Outlaws
snagged the fourth-place tro-
phy last year in a very tight
battle, just four points behind
Philomath and four points
ahead of Scappoose.
The 4A girls race, sched-
uled for 11:15 a.m. Saturday,
will include the fourteen 4A
teams that qualified from the
seven districts in Oregon. In
addition to Sisters, qualify-
ing teams include Estacada,
Crook County, Klamath
Union, Henley, Tillamook,
Scappoose, Elmira, Siuslaw,
South Umpqua, Philomath,
Stayton, La Grande and
Baker.
Tillamook, last year’s
champion, is considered the
favorite again this year, while
the other three trophy spots
appear up for grabs. Sisters
ended the regular season tied
for fifth in the coaches’ poll,
with Estacada and La Grande;
while Scappoose, Siuslaw,
and Philomath occupied spots
two, three, and four, and the
Cheesemakers held onto the
top position.
“The beauty of the state
meet is that polls and early
season results don’t really
matter,” said Nordell. “What
matters is who shows up
healthy and ready to race.
It should be a very exciting
team race.”