Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 27, 2004 Four Grizzlies off to face the state's best By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Four Ashland High tracksters - three girls and a lone boy - will appear at the storied Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus on Friday and Saturday for the Class 4A state championships. Ashland High jumper Erika Boehnke leaps in the long jump competition during an Southern Oregon Conference dual meet earlier this season. Boehnke is one of four Grizzlies who will compete in the 4A state championships this weekened. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland's most accomplished male athlete, junior David Morgan, will race in the 3,000-meter run. With an all-time best and school record mark of 8 minutes, 35 seconds in the two-mile jaunt, Morgan is gunning for a top-five finish at the state level. "A good goal for David is to get on the medal stand," said Grizz head coach Bob Julian Jr. "If he really pops off a good one, he could get as high as third. That would take a really big effort, probably sub-8:30." Morgan, who is seeded at No. 10 with the 8:48 he ran at the Southern Oregon Conference Championships last week, pushed into the very top of the race with his personal best. "I believe he's beaten everybody in the field besides Galen Rupp from Central Catholic [one of the top prep distance runners in the nation] and then the guy from Beaverton [Stuart Eagon] who's really high up in the nation," Julian said. "After that, David's just right there with everybody." The top seed entering the event, which will be run on Friday afternoon, is Eagon (8:34). "He'll be nervous, but he likes the edge of being nervous," Julian said. "The exciting thing about David is he's such a big meet runner - the bigger it is the better he'll do. He always steps it up when the pressure's really on." With the three girls Ashland will take to state, the Grizzlies have all the elements of a good drama. Senior Erika Boehnke is the sentimental favorite. Boehnke competed at the state meet as a freshman in the high jump and hasn't returned since. Her season peaked - for the time being - with a district championship in the triple jump that earned her that elusive state berth. "It was neat to have her, her senior year, win an event and make it there," Julian said "She's a great girl, really positive and friendly, so it'll be fun to take her up there." Boehnke ties for the No. 8 ranking at 35-9 going into the state meet. Aside from the event leader, senior Sarajane Rosenburg of Pendleton, Boehnke is within a foot of every jumper in front of here and less than two feet from the Ashland High school record of 37-4. "She's going to be a contender to get into finals and get a place," Julian said. "She seems to be improving all of the time." The sure bet the Grizzlies are taking to the state meet must be sophomore Natalie Hemphill in the 800 meters. Hemphill, the SOC runner-up in the event, ranks No. 5 at 2:18.73 entering the event, but once the race starts all bets are off. Coach Julian anticipates the prelim in the event could be as fast, or faster than the final. "Things will get tougher because some of those runners didn't run their best at district," Julian said. "Our big objective, Natalie's goal is to get into the finals, which she is really capable of doing. It will be a challenge." Hemphill qualified for the state cross country meet on an individual basis in the fall and placed fifth in the 800 at last year's SOC championship meet, but has never experienced the state track and field showdown. "This is her first year up at state, but we're really confident," Julian said. "She's been doing some great workouts lately, showing a lot of heart and strength. She'll be going for it." The surprise among the Grizz delegation to the state meet will be sophomore Hannah Clark in the high jump. Clark cleared 5-foot-1 and 5-2 on her final attempts at the SOC championships to earn a trip to the state meet and the victory in the event. The marks tie her for fifth with three other competitors entering the state meet. "Hannah was our big pleasant surprise at the district meet,"Julian said. "What she did wasn't really shocking because we know she's a good athlete, but to win the conference, that was a big deal." Clark clears 5-0 regularly in practice at this point and, with enough height, will place well at the state meet. "We're all pretty excited," Julian said. "This is the first year in awhile where we've taken a group to state where we all had a chance to place. This year we have people who will all be competitive with the field and three of the four will be back." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams