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Mortal Martin still magnificent Panther girls nab SOC title By DON HUNT GRANTS PASS -- An exhausted Janette Martin stood under a tent at Russ Werner Field, attempting to escape a searing heat that pounded down on the runners at the Southern Oregon Conference district track meet. Martin had just beaten North Medford's Jennifer Abbott by the thinnest of margins in the 200-meter dash, and earlier Saturday she had finished third in the 100, tasting defeat for the first time this season in an individual race. "I feel like I'm kind of just going through the motions," said Martin, a look of anguish etched on her face. "I had a terrible start in the 100 and tied up the whole way, and then in the 200 I ran the corner really bad. "I don't have any excuses, but I've had better days." A mediocre day for Martin would rate as a great day for most sprinters, however. She proved to be a mere mortal by losing one race, but Martin set district and school records in the 400 (56.48) and ran another 56-second split in the 1,600 relay, rallying the Panthers to second place in that event. And as she has done for three straight years, Martin acted as a catalyst in propelling the Panthers to the team championship. The South Medford girls finished with 149 points to defend their title. Roseburg finished second with 121, followed by Klamath Union (107), Ashland (93), Crater (58), Grants Pass (55), North Medford (51), and Eagle Point (26). "Jeanette got off to a rocky start by her standards when she got beat in the 100, but she still had a great day," South Medford coach Bill Rowan said. "She has helped our school win three district championships, one state championship and two state trophies, and she still has one more state meet to go. "When you get to her status and lose a race everyone wants to know what went wrong. Let's talk about the things that went right.'' All told, the defending state champion Panthers qualified nine competitors in 10 events for next week's Class 4A state meet at Eugene's Hayward Field. "We had a lot of kids step up," Rowan said. South Medford got off to a splendid start Saturday when Kristin Russell tied her personal best and broke the district record in the pole vault with a jump of 11-4. Russell then attempted to clear a state record 11-9 and was over the bar on her second attempt, only to come down on it. "That vault felt good," Russell said. "I know I can get the (state) record. It's just a matter of being more aggressive on the bottom end and working on my turn. "I'll be ready for the state meet." The Panthers' other victory Saturday came from sophomore Sarah Duarte, who pulled a mild upset by winning the 100-meter hurdles in 16.62. Duarte ran a near-perfect race until hitting the final hurdle and nearly tumbling to the track. "I was really scared that I was going down," Duarte said. "My trail leg was starting to feel heavy and I hit that last hurdle pretty hard. But it feels great to win." In other events Saturday: Ashland's Paris Edwards was a double winner, claiming the 1,500 in 4:47.67 and later using a blazing kick to burst past Klamath Union's Brady Lukkari and take the 800 in 2:18.18. Lukkari was clocked in 2:18.67. South Medford's Emily Perttu inched past GP's Ashly Smith to finish third in 2:23.85 and, because Edwards decided to drop the 800 for the state meet, Perttu punched her own ticket to state. "Emily knew the situation going into the race and gave it everything she had," Rowan said. "That was a gutty effort." Ashland's Deborah Lee sailed to a lifetime best of 37-0 to win the triple jump, surpassing her previous best mark by 1 feet. With a partisan crowd cheering her on, Kaci Williams of Grants Pass charged past Ashland's Jackie Woods on her final throw to win the shot put. Williams threw 41-11, Woods 41-4. Roseburg's Crystal Stephens won a tightly-contested high jump. Stephens, South Medford's Stacey Lambert, Eagle Point's Misty Bernhardt and Ashland's Rosa Curry-Nordyke all went 5-1, but Stephens had the fewest misses. Lambert and Bernhardt had the same number of misses and had to jump off to determine the No. 2 berth to state. Lambert got the nod with a leap of 5-2. Almost lost in the shuffle was North Medford's Abbott, who finished second to Martin in the 200 and second to Klamath Union's Sam Gilbert in the 100 to earn a trip to state in each event. Abbott lost each race by a scant 2/100ths of a second. "Today was the first time I've been able to relax in a big meet," said Abbott, a sophomore who also anchored the Black Tornado's 400-meter relay to second place. "Before each race, I went off by myself for five minutes and told myself to settle down." Abbott seemingly had the 200 won but Martin found an extra gear over the final 50 meters and out-leaned her at the tape. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.