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Fumbled pass haunts Tornado relay Bobbled baton ruins hopes of state-best unit By DON HUNT EUGENE � As the members of his 4 x 100-meter relay team wept all around him, North Medford High track coach Mark Hodges shrugged and smiled. "Pups," Hodges said. "These girls are still pups." Moments earlier, the Black Tornado�s dream of a state championship in the short relay was shattered by a dropped baton. Leadoff runner Keri Cain and No. 2 runner Emily Dunn failed to complete their exchange and the metal baton went flying to the Hayward Field track. Benson won the race and used it as a springboard to dominate the Class 4A state girls meet Saturday with 65 points. Klamath Union and Lake Oswego tied for second with 34 points, and Clackamas was fourth with 31. In the 4A boys meet, Gladstone�s Jereme Richardson personally accounted for 34 points and the Gladiators amassed 44 in all to hold off South Eugene and Churchill, which each scored 42. Jesuit finished fourth with 35. The North Medford girls came into the meet with the state�s fastest time in the 4 x 100 relay (48.84). And Cain got off to a blazing start on the opening leg. What happened on the first exchange is a mystery. "I was trying to give her the baton, but I couldn�t find her hand," said Cain, the lone senior among the four. "I kept searching but it wasn�t there, and then the baton hit the track. "Her and I have had some problems with our exchange before, but nothing like this." Said Dunn: "The timing between us was good. I heard her yell �stick� and reached back to grab it. I felt it for a split second, but then it was gone. I don�t know what happened." Hodges said the mishap could serve as a motivator for next season. Three members of the relay team � freshman Dunn, sophomore Denali Tice and junior Jennifer Abbott � return. "They�re not going to forget about this," Hodges said. "It�s a shame because I know we had what it took to win this race. But we�ll be back." Tice came back later in the day to finish fourth in the 200 and Abbott was sixth. But the Tornado girls wound up with just 10 points, less than half the total they were projected to score. "We�re not making any excuses," Hodges said. "We�ll lick our wounds and come back stronger next year." The Klamath Union girls had a better showing than expected. Sara Schaaf pulled a mild upset to win the 400 in a lifetime best of 56.91 and came back to take sixth in the 800 in another personal record (2:16.96). Sam Gilbert also had a good day with seconds in the 100 (12.72) and 300 hurdles (45.01). South Medford�s Sarah Eyman put in a strong bid for an individual title but wound up third in the 1,500. Eyman shadowed eventual winner Laura Harmon of Jesuit most of the way but couldn�t match Harmon�s surge on the final lap and was also passed by Lake Oswego�s Michelle Phoney with 200 meters to go. Harmon hit the tape in 4:39.67, Phoney in 4:43.57 and Eyman in 4:45.1. "She (Harmon) got away from me on the last lap � she�s an incredible runner," Eyman said. "Trying to stay with her blew my kick away and didn�t leave me any energy to hold off that other girl (Phoney). But I went out there to win � not to take second. I�m happy with how I competed." Eyman�s teammate Heather Frigaard placed in both hurdle events, taking seventh in the 100s and eighth in the 300s. Ashland�s Megan Cotton was fifth in the former. In other events involving girls from the Southern Oregon Conference, Roseburg�s Jennifer Lint sailed to a lifetime best of 36-10 to take second in the triple jump, and Crater�s Carissa Nafie was seventh in the discus at 110-6. North Medford�s Scott Myers, meanwhile, had another bittersweet day. Twenty-four hours after finishing second in the discus, the big junior bagged second in the shot put. West Linn�s Rob Mamula triumphed with a credible � but beatable � effort of 56-2. Myers, who entered the meet with the state�s top throw at 57-4, managed 55-9 Saturday. "I was hoping for a big throw because I had one right at 60 feet in warmups," Myers said. "But some reason during the competition I couldn�t get my leg drive going like I needed to. "It would have been great to win, but this is something I can build on for next year." The Tornado�s Nick Dunn, who had a frustrating qualifying round Friday when he failed to advance to the finals of the 400 and the 300 hurdles, ended his high school career with a bang. The senior ran a blistering 48.9 split on the 4 x 400 relay to rally North Medford into fourth place. The Tornado was in sixth when Dunn got the baton. "That kid was devastated yesterday (Friday)," Hodges said. "But he wasn�t going to walk out of here feeling sorry for himself." One of the day�s best races was the boys 1,500, where Canby�s Eric Logsdon overwhelmed Klamath Union�s Ian Dobson for the second straight day. Logsdon, who buried Dobson in the 3,000 on Friday, did likewise in the 1,500 Saturday. Logsdon flirted with the meet record of 3:50.8 before crossing the finish line in 3:51.39. Dobson was second in 3:53.5, while South Medford�s Perry Custance was fourth in 3:59.09. Klamath Union�s Evan Garich completed a brilliant senior season by winning the 800 in 1:55.59. Freshman teammate Lauren Jesperson was fifth in 1:56.69 and Custance was sixth in 1:58.08. Mike Thomson of Grants Pass finished fourth in the 110 hurdles (14.95) and sixth in the 300 intermediates (39.58). Richardson, the Gladstone phenom, won the 110 hurdles (14.43) and the 300 hurdles (37.0) while finishing second in the long jump (23-10) and third in the triple jump (45-11). 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