Document text
Bentley's win rare bright spot for SOU at districts By Rick Cottle For The Tidings ASHLAND - What does the four-time Cascade Conference javelin champion do in the aftermath of an unprecedented performance? He changes out of his javelin shoes, trots over to the hammer ring and collects some more team points. Southern Oregon University senior Bentley proved to be one of the few bright spots for the SOU men's and women's track teams at the rain-soaked conference championships Saturday at Raider Stadium. Both the men's and women's teams were looking for their fourth straight titles, but neither succeeded. The men placed second in the five-team affair, scoring 172 points to winner Eastern Oregon's 251. "I thought going into the meet, if certain things happened, it would be close," said SOU head coach Mike Jones. "We gave it our best shot, we just came up short." Oregon Tech sewed up the women's contest with 210 points. Northwest College was second with 193 and SOU third with 154.5. As for claiming his spot in conference history by becoming the first athlete to win four titles in the same event, Bentley was matter-of-fact. "Yeah, it feels good to win it," said Bentley. "But I would have liked to have done better in the other events." Bentley captured the javelin on his first throw with a heave of 205 feet, 3 inches. Former Ashland High standout Nick Bakke, of Oregon Tech, who threw only twice because of a tender shoulder, was second at 192-11½ . Bakke, who also won the shot put at 47-1 1/2, was the Pac-10 Conference champion for Oregon last year before transferring to OIT. Prior to the javelin, Bentley finished seventh in the shot put (41-10). Afterward, he earned points with a sixth in hammer (133-9) and a second in the discus (140-7). "I enjoy doing the other events," said Bentley. "This was my last chance to do the extra stuff, and I get to pick up points for the team." On the track, the Raiders started and ended the day on high notes by taking the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays. Jon Hill, a freshman from Jesuit High, anchored winning short relay team, which included Kelala Poumpey, Ken Hiler, Keith Lawson, and claimed the conference crown in the long jump with an effort of 22-0. "Keith set me up perfectly," Hill said of the relay. "He kept it close and, as the anchor, with the fate of the other three guys in my hands, it's my responsibility to win it." The Raider 4x400 squad became the conference champs for the fourth straight year when they held off an early challenge by Eastern Oregon. After Hiler ran a strong opening leg, Danny Hanes took the lead on the back stretch, only to see Eastern Oregon's Pat Egelus slip ahead at the turn. "He (Egelus) boxed me in on the turn," said Hanes. "But I've run this race enough to know not to panic and try to pass on the turn. I just wanted to stay with him through the turn." Out of the turn, Hanes slowed enough to escape, went around Egelus and handed to Travis Floeck with a five-yard lead. Floeck extended the lead to 10 yards, and Jeremy Klegseth maintained it for the win in a time of 3:24.24. In the women's meet, All-American Megan Heuberger defended her conference title in the 400 intermediate with time of 1:04.55, matching her season best. "I just ran my race, which is to concentrate on the first 200 meters," said Heuberger. "After that, it's all endurance." Another Raider All-American, Andrea Eide, took the 200 in a personal-best time of 26.51. She was also second in the 100 at 12.82. Eide led off the women's 4x400 relay team of Rachel Hinze, Brook Jaentsch and Heuberger, which turned in a winning time of 4:06.48. SOU's Conchita Bautista won the hammer with a throw of 130-0. AHS Track & Field At Grants Pass, Ashland High senior Jeff Olsen won the 1,500-meter run and took second in the 800 at the Grants Pass Rotary Invitational Saturday at Russ Werner Field. David Richardson also competed for the Grizzlies, finishing fourth in the 3,000. The performances of the Grizzlies' two distance runners garnered 23 points for Ashland, good enough for 10th place in the final team standings. Olsen crossed the finish line in the 1,500 in 4 minutes, 5.8 seconds, less than a second ahead of second-place runner Luke Martindale (4:06.32) of Siuslaw. Olsen's second-place 800 effort took just 2:00.63, about two seconds behind winner and Southern Oregon Conference rival Adam Wadsworth (1:58.48) of Roseburg. Richardson finished the 3,000 in 9:08.60. Rain outs The Ashland High baseball team, softball team and boys and girls tennis teams each had events rained out Saturday, providing both relief and disappointment. The Grizz baseball team (4-4 Southern Oregon Conference) was relieved because South Medford (4-4 SOC) had seized a 9-1 lead in the third inning of Game 1 before rain forced the game to be called. It will be re-started 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the same site - Medford's Miles Field. The Ashland softball team was let down by the rain after a steady shower forced a re-do of a 0-0, eight-inning pitchers' dual vs. league juggernaut South Medford. The Grizzlies are 1-7 in SOC play, seventh place in the standings, while South Medford is leading the conference at 7-1. That doubleheader will re-started 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at North Mountain Park. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -