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Sprinters give North Medford the edge MT file photo North Medford�s Jennifer Abbott, front left, and Denali Tice, front right, lead a talented core of sprinters for the Black Tornado. Eagle Point�s Jenna Bilden, far left, could also be in the running. By Don Hunt It was only fitting that it was the North Medford High sprinters who brought the Black Tornado�s track and field program so far so fast a year ago. The North Medford girls went from worst to first at the Southern Oregon Conference district meet under then first-year head coach Mark Hodges. What made the dash to a district championship even more impressive was that it was accomplished in large part by three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. "Pups," as Hodges often called them. But the joy ride in the fast lane screeched to a halt at the Class 4A state meet when the Tornado�s 4 x 100-meter relay team � which was ranked No. 1 and served as the team�s best hope for a blue-ribbon finish � dropped the baton. The mishap ruined any chance for a top-four finish at state and the trophy that goes with it. "The girls have been talking about that in practice," Hodges says. "They weren�t at all happy with what happened, and they�re determined to get back there and make amends. They�ve got some unfinished business to take care of." The North girls won the district meet by just 7� points over Ashland last spring, and only 15 points separated the top four teams. Hodges anticipates another spirited battle in the SOC, but with enough speed to challenge a cheetah, the Tornado remains the team to beat. Defending district 200-meter champion Denali Tice, 100 and 200 runner-up Jennifer Abbott, 400 runner-up Rosanna Medina and do-everything Emily Dunn are all back to put more dents in the school record book. Tice, Abbott and Dunn were all members of the Tornado�s 4 x 100 relay that sped around the track in 48.84 seconds to break an 18-year-old district record. What has the North girls even more excited is the addition of freshman standout Brittany Hodges � the coach�s daughter. The younger Hodges ran the 200 in 25.7 and the 400 in a jaw-dropping 58.1 last year as an eighth-grader. And she wasted no time in making her presence felt this spring when ran a school-record time of 58.3 in the 400 during a dual meet against Eagle Point on Thursday. Hodges, who won a junior Olympic regional meet and went on to finish eighth at nationals last summer, has been battling a nagging hip injury but showed no ill effects from it Thursday. The Tornado will also be loaded in the long jump, where Dunn (16-7�), Medina (15-10�) and Kendra Mitchell (15-4�) all placed at district last season, and in the triple jump, where Dunn (34-7) and Tice (34-4) were among the best. Sophomore hurdler Sara Rountree, who finished fifth in the 100-meter event last year at district, and sophomore shot-putter Crystal Worthington, who was fifth, should also contribute big points. "We�ve got a lot of girls back, and they�re all working hard to improve their speed," Hodges says. "But we�re not going to sneak up on anybody this year. Everyone will be out to get us." Count Ashland in that group. The Grizzlies will showcase two of the state�s best track athletes in distance ace Paris Edwards and hurdler Megan Cotton. Edwards, a senior, is determined to finish her career triumphantly after flaming out at last spring�s state track meet and last fall�s state cross country meet, where she collapsed at the finish line following a dismal performance. "I can see the fire in her eyes once again," Ashland coach Bob Julian says. "She�s very determined to establish herself as the top (high school female) runner in the Northwest." Edwards ran the 1,500 in 4:49 at an indoor meet in Portland in February, a time that ranks her ninth nationally. "This is the best I�ve ever seen her train," Julian says. Cotton, meanwhile, returns as the defending district champion in the 100 hurdles. She finished fifth in that event at the state meet. Julian believes the Grizzlies could have been a state championship contender had Jackie Woods, last season�s state champion in the shot put, opted to come out. Woods earned a basketball scholarship to Loyola-Marymount and is focusing her attention on that sport. South Medford has its smallest turnout in coach Bill Rowan�s 10 years at the school � only 25 girls are out �but the Panthers possess several district-champion quality competitors. Junior Whitney Grant returns as the district champ in the long jump (17-1�) and sophomore Teri Silva is back as the first-place finisher in the high jump (5-3). The Panthers also have one of the district�s top 800-meter runners in sophomore Noi Hilgendorf (2:20.06), and they have a couple of budding stars in sophomore sprinter Natasha Wright and sophomore middle-distance runner Heidi Meador, who both missed last season with injuries. But South suffered a couple of big blows when Heather Frigaard, who took second in both hurdles events last season at district, broke her leg playing soccer and middle-distance runner Emily Perttu, a three-year letter winner and a member of the school�s state champion 4 x 400 relay team in 1998, failed to come out. "This is the smallest girls turnout I�ve ever had," Rowan says, "but we do have some quality kids. Klamath Union welcomes back three of the state�s top runners in Sara Schaaf, Sam Gilbert and Liz Lindgren. Lindgren won the state cross country championship last fall while Schaaf won the state championship in the 400 (56.91) at last year�s state track meet. Gilbert finished second in the 100 (12.49) and the 300 hurdles (45.08). Roseburg has one of its better turnouts in several years and boasts of a returning district champion in triple jumper Jennifer Lint (36-10). The Indians also have a top-caliber discus thrower and shot putter in Taylor Jones. Crater�s top performer is expected to be defending district discus champion Carissa Nafie (126-3). Eagle Point has one of the SOC�s top pole vaulters in sophomore Aubrey Harrington, who cleared 9 feet on Thursday, and two of the district�s best shot putters in Alissa Lee and Katie Anderson. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.