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Ashland passes test Mail Tribune / Andrew Kemp Grizzly girls claim their second straight Chieftain Invitational By TIM TROWER ROGUE RIVER - Runners were being put to the test everywhere - even before the start of the Chieftain Invitational cross country meet Saturday. Rogue River's Lauren Fety, for instance, was among a sizable group who first tackled the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then raced to Valley of the Rogue State Park for the prestigious meet. The senior and her freshman sister, Allegra, finished 3-4 in the girls' 5,000-meter event as Rogue River ran second to Ashland. Ashland was not without its test. Top runner Kendall Clark returned to action, trying out her tender shinsplints after a couple of relatively sedentary weeks, and held up well. She came in behind teammates Therese McCaffrey and Gretchen Buettner as the Grizzlies scored 78 points to Rogue River's 105. Melis Garner of Roseburg, who would pass a test of her own, was the individual girls winner. In the boys' race, Eureka's Dale Kitt won the individual crown and Roseburg captured the team title, but one major test did not materialize - head-to-head Class 3A competition between No. 1-ranked Phoenix, which was weakened by illness and injury, and No. 4 Molalla. Phoenix's Nathan May, however, like Clark, tested out a tender ankle tendon and placed fifth despite exercising caution. The Ashland girls ran with a purpose, beating out the Chieftains here for the second straight year. "I told the girls to get a little more aggressive today than they usually are," said coach Bob Julian Jr. "I wanted them to try to get a little farther up at the beginning, take a risk and start out a little faster, get out of their comfort area." McCaffrey, in particular, heeded the coach's words and established a season-best time of 20:29.48, placing eighth. Buettner wasn't far behind in 11th place in 20:52.34, and Clark came in 15th in 21:07.92. "They didn't focus on packing with their own teammates," said Julian. "I'd love to see the pack return but be up there farther. That's the reason we won. Our third through fifth runners weren't too far behind. They took their cue and said, hey, these are the girls we usually run with, so let's get going." Also for Ashland, Brianna Lescher was 24th and Rihana Patterson 25th. Lauren Fety got going early, taking the SAT with many other students, including fellow competitors. "There were a whole bunch of us who couldn't wait to get out of there," she said. "It's not the most fun thing to do, but you have to do it." Lauren Fety was timed in 19:36.90; Allegra Fety in 19:38.84. "This is the first year I've been able to run with her," said Lauren Fety, "and it's so much fun. I have the team to run with in practice and my sister to run with on the course." Crater's girls, led by 10th-place Kendal Nelson and 12th-place Sam Kezer, placed fourth. Among the other top individuals were St. Mary's Leah Sawyer, who was seventh, and Sarah Dalton of North Medford, who was ninth. Garner's goal was to break 19 minutes for the first time in her career, and despite oppressively warm weather, she accomplished it, clocking 18:56.06. The top returning runner in the Southern Oregon Conference pronounced herself ready for the district meet in two weeks after eclipsing her previous best of 19:11.3, set last year at the SOC meet. "This kind of shows me what I'm capable of doing," she said. "It shows I'm actually capable of going under 19 at district." District was on the mind of Julian inasmuch as his Ashland boys team was concerned. It ran reasonably well but was swamped by Roseburg. There had been little indication this fall that the Grizzlies would be challenged for the No. 2 district placing at state, he said, until the Indians beat them by 14 points here. "Roseburg ran shockingly well," said Julian. "They haven't really done anything this season, but today they just pulled it out of nowhere." The Indians finished seventh at state a year ago and appear to be rounding into similar form. "In two weeks," said Julian of district, "it's going to be a battle." Ashland's Chris Faudree had his best race of the year, running a season-best 16:39.57 and overtaking a number of competitors over the course of the race to finish 19th. Asha Stout-Wolf, who was 13th, and Andy Wright, who was 14th, also ran well for the Grizz. May, sticking to his plan of running hard the first and third miles and relaxing on the second, clocked 16:31.00. "My goal wasn't to win," said May, who was second here a year ago and ran for the first time in a couple of weeks. "I just wanted to get back in the game." Had he been healthy, he said, "I feel I could have been up there with the leaders and possibly could have won it." The Pirates were hit by the flu, said coach Bruce Timmerman, and were without two varsity runners. Some of their top runners held back and paced slower teammates. Like their girl counterparts, the Crater boys had a strong showing, placing fourth. Trevor Palmer was seventh in 16:34.63 and Jeremy Firestone 15th in 16:53.10. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.