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Raiders aiming high at nationals By Julie Nelson Ashland Daily Tidings The Southern Oregon University track and field team is sending eight runners and two relay teams to the NAIA national meet in Olathe, Kan., this week, and head coach Mike Jones believes they'll produce. "I know they are ready," Jones said of his team. "They are all peaking at the right time." Southern Oregon University senior Jeff Bentley will attempt to become the school's first NAIA track and field champion since Paul Steenkolk (discus) in 1998 and the first javelin champ since Dale Grant in 1977 when the NAIA national track and field meet gets underway Thursday, in Olathe, Kan. Medford Mail Tribune/Roy Musitelli The meet will be held Thursday through Saturday, with the javelin finals and women's 10,000 -meter run finals to be the featured events on opening day. Southern's best hope for a strong national performance rests in the hands of javelin hurler Jeff Bentley. The senior All-American heaved a 205-foot, 3-inch throw at the May 3 Cascade Conference meet to become the first four-time male event champion. He's also the No. 1-ranked javelin thrower in the nation. The Raiders earned four automatic and six provisional berths to nationals. To receive a provisional entrance a runner or relay team must rank among the top-16 nationally or receive one of the school's three "right of membership" entries. "They all have a real good shot," Jones said. "Everybody is where they need to be." Among the automatic contestants at nationals is junior All-American Megan Heuberger. The Raider is ranked 8th in the nation in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and garnered first-place honors in the conference. Fellow junior All-American Andrea Eide will team with Heuberger, Kendra McGrath, and Rachael Hinz to compete in the 4x100 meter relay. Brook Jaentsch will replace McGrath to form the Raider's 4x400-meter relay team. Jones believes Southern's success is based on a proven training system that prepares the team for nationals. "We decrease the quantity of training while we increase the quality." This, along with other strategies, helps the team to reach their full potential at the right time, Jones says. The SOU track and field program had a standout year in 2002. It sent 13 competitors to the national championships and produced an all-time program best six All Americans. A runner must finish in the top six nationally to earn that honor. The 2002 men's squad finished 25th in the nation while the SOU women placed 19th. "We lost some key athletes last year," Jones said. "We will make the best of what we have. If Jeff wins the javelin and others step up, we could have a good team score." Other athletes traveling to the national meet are Liana Bernard in the 10,000-meter run, Brynn Cogdill and Travis Floeck in the 800, Jon Hill in the long jump, Hadley Roe in the women's 800 and Joe Sheire in the 400-meter hurdles. This year's NAIA national competition will be held may 22-24. Following is a roundup of SOU's national qualifiers: Jeff Bentley-Javelin (Sr., Chiloquin) o The two-time NAIA All-American attempts to become the school's first NAIA track and field champion since Paul Steenkolk (discus) in 1998, first national javelin champ since Dale Grant in 1977, and 13th overall event winner dating back to 1965. o His season-and career-best 213-foot, 7-inch heave is the country's best this season by over three inches, and it is the school's longest since 1978. Liana Bernard-10,000 (Sr., Maui, Hawaii) o The queen bee of the Raider cross country team the past two years ranks ninth among 26 entries in her quest to become the school's first 10,000-meter All-American. Her top season time of 37 minutes, 43.61 seconds is SOU's fourth-fastest ever. Brynn Cogdill-800 (Fr., Estacada) o The recent Portland State transfer posted season-bests in the 800 three times over the past month leading up to a 2:18.63 in Seattle on May 10 that is the school's fourth-fastest ever and 17th-best in the country this year. Travis Floeck-800 (Jr., Canyonville) o Floeck, a cross country runner and key cog on the long relays, made the most of a rare opportunity to concentrate on a single race in Seattle on May 10 and responded with a collegiate-best 1:53.72 800-meter clip that is the NAIA's 15th fastest of the season. Floeck is attempting to become SOU's second 800-meter All-American (Joey Pollard, 1992). Megan Heuberger-400 Hurdles/Relays (Jr., Yamhill) o Heuberger, who placed fifth at the 2002 NAIA meet in the intermediate hurdles with a 1:03.29 and served as the third link on the All-American 4x400 relay team, has a chance to become only the fourth Raider female track athlete to earn All-American status three times. Jon Hill-Long Jump (Fr., Portland) o Hill won a Cascade Conference title and turned in the school's fifth-longest long jump during the season (22-11 1/4), which gives the former Jesuit High star a chance to become the school's first male freshman All-American. Hill, however, ranks only 20th among 25 contestants entered in the national meet. Brook Jaentsch-High Jump/Relays (So., Gasquet, Calif.) o Jaentsch, whose father was an all-star basketball player at SOU in the 1970s, earned an automatic berth to nationals with a 5-4 high jump on April 5, which is fourth on the school's all-time performance list and is tied for 10th in NAIA circles this year. Southern hasn't had a women's high jump All-American since 1989. Hadley Roe-800 (Fr., Florence) o Roe moved into 800-meter All-American contention by shaving over four seconds off her previous top season time with a 2:17.07 on May 10. The former Siuslaw High all-state performer, who now owns SOU's third-best 800 clip in the women's program's 20-year history, ranks 11th among 19 NAIA meet entries and is in position to become the school's first All-American in the event. Joe Sheire-400 Hurdles (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) o Shiere, a Cascade Conference high hurdles champion and a two-time national qualifier, caps his four-year Raider career at the NAIA meet, where he ranks 21st among 26 aspiring All-Americans in the 400-meter hurdles. Regardless of outcome, Sheire will end his collegiate career with at least SOU's fourth-fastest IH clip in Raider lore (54.13). Women's Relay Teams o Two of the four participants from Southern's first-ever All-American relay team - Heuberger and junior Andrea Eide - join freshman Rachel Hinze and sophomore Kendra McGrath in the school's drive for another top-six finish. This year's top time (49.05) is only two hundredths of a second off the sixth-place pace of the 2002 quartet that included superstar Tiwana Merritt. o Southern's 4x400 relay team of Eide, Heuberger, Jaentsch and Hinze snuck into the 15-squad national field by clocking a 3:59.26 in the final meet of the season. 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 -