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Cavemen overcome early jolt to defend crown Six 800-meter runners qualify for state meet By DON HUNT CENTRAL POINT -- The Grants Pass High boys track team got off to a nightmarish start at the Southern Oregon Conference district meet Saturday. The Cavemen were heavy favorites to win the first running event of the day -- the 4 x 100-meter relay -- but Brandon Hamada had the baton knocked from his grasp just as he was about to hand off to anchor runner Nick Amaranthus. The relay team was disqualified, leaving the Cavemen in a temporary state of shock and depriving them of an expected 10 points. But they regrouped behind the stellar efforts of sprinter Parker Lane and hurdler Mike Thomson to win their second straight district title. On a warm, sun-baked, wind-free day at Crater High, the Cavemen rolled up 139 points. Klamath Union was a distant second with 107 points, followed by Roseburg (102), North Medford (90), Ashland (78), Crater (70), South Medford (58) and Eagle Point (16). "We were hanging our heads right after that happened," Grants Pass coach Roger Stewart said of the relay mishap. "I got our seniors together and said, `Hey, the whining's over, let's find a way to make up those 10 points and get on with it.' "And that's what we did. We had some tremendous performances today. It's just too bad we didn't get our short relay team to state because we had the third-best time. But that's the nature of the beast -- it's a risky event." Lane won the 100 in 11.14 seconds, added the 200 in an impressive 22.23 and ran a blistering 48.9 split on the Cavemen's 4 x 400 relay that finished third. Lane won the 100 despite having his blocks fly backwards as the starting gun went off, causing both of his hands to hit the track at the beginning of the race. "Lane had a great day," Stewart said of his junior sprinter. "He went in as the favorite last year in the 100 and 200 and didn't win either one. Today, he was unbelievably focused -- he felt like he had something to prove." Thomson, meanwhile, won the 110 high hurdles in 14.76 and finished second to North Medford's Nick Dunn in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Jake Zeliff added a victory in the triple jump, soaring to a lifetime best of 45-1. Zeliff, with a win in the long jump on Thursday, a third in the discus and a fifth in the shot put, wound up scoring 30 points for the Cavemen. The meet featured several extraordinary marks and some extremely competitive races. Early in the day, Klamath Union's Ian Dobson and South Medford's Perry Custance waged a furious duel in the 1,500. They were neck-and-neck with 100 meters to go before Dobson, who is considered one of the premier high school middle distance runners in the country, inched ahead to triumph in 3:58.5. Custance was timed in 3:58.72. "I was able to hold him off but it wasn't easy -- the last 100 meters was a dead sprint," Dobson said. "You always know it's going to be a dogfight with Perry." As expected, the race of the day was the 800, where the most loaded field in SOC history took the track. Klamath Union's Evan Garich (1:54.84) edged out teammate Lauren Jesperson (1:55.15) and Custance (1:55.75) for the win. Those three, along with Grants Pass' Brian Palmer (1:56.41), Ashland's Kas Lane (1:57.11) and Crater's Trevor Palmer (1:57.54), met the state qualifying time of 1:58.3 and punched their tickets to next week's Class 4A meet in Eugene. South Medford's Shaun Olson (1:58.45) just missed. Despite it's fourth-place finish as a team, North Medford also had a good day. For starters, shot-putter Scott Myers had four throws over 55 feet, including his winning toss of 55-6. "I'm right where I need to be going into the state meet," said Myers, whose best throw of 57-4 leads the state. "I'm real close to popping a real big one. I've got a few minor adjustments I need to make technique-wise and I'm there." The Black Tornado also received a big day from Nick Dunn, who won the 400 in 49.69, the 300 hurdles in 39.09 and ran a 49.5 split in anchoring North Medford's 4 x 400 relay team to victory. Despite having two of its best sprinters -- Simon Driskell and Thomas O'Brien -- sidelined with injuries, North Medford sped to a 3:24.4 clocking in the long relay, the second-fastest time in the state. Matt Parrish, who himself has been injured for more than a month, got North off to a blazing start by running the opening leg in 50.4. "That time is phenomenal when you think about it," North Medford coach Mark Hodges said. "You take away our best 400 runner (Driskell) and you go with a kid (Parrish) who hasn't been able to train much in several weeks and we still run 3:24. That's exciting.'' Ashland's Cameron Voget launched the javelin 198-4 to beat his nearest pursuer by more than 26 feet. With Grants Pass out of the picture, the Grizzlies also won the 4 x 100 relay in a respectable 43.7. BOYS TEAM SCORES -- Grants Pass 139.5, Klamath Union 107, Roseburg 102, North Medford 90.5, Ashland 78, Crater 70, South Medford 58, Eagle Point 16. x-denotes state meet qualifiers SHOT PUT -- x-1, Scott Myers, NM, 55-6; x-2, Chris Dearmon, Cra, 54-1; 3, Scott Toney, Cra, 51-; 4, Justin Baehman, NM, 50-3; 5, Jake Zeliff, GP 50; 6, Robin Knebel, Ros, 49-11; 7, David Vevoda, Cra, 49-9; 8, Ryan Wafer, Ros, 47-6. JAVELIN -- x-1, Cameron Voget, Ash, 198-4; x-2, Evan Goulette, GP, 171-10; 3, Matt Ledbetter, Ros, 169-8; 4, Rob Johnson, Ros, 164-7; 5, Robin Knebel, Ros, 160-0; 6, James Mannenbach, EP, 155-4; 7, Kelly Johnson, Cra, 154-11; 8, Brian Mahoney, KU, 153-1. TRIPLE JUMP -- x-1, Jake Zeliff, GP, 45-1; x-2, Brad Coen, Ros, 43-8; 3, LJ Newsome, KU, 42-2; 4, Luke Lathon, GP, 42-0; 5, Ethan Wallenberg, SM, 41-11; 6, Dustin Brooks, NM, 41-4; 7, Matt Griffiths, SM, 40-11; 8, Jon Barton, Cra, 40-8. 110-METER HURDLES -- x-1, Mike Thomson, GP, 14.76; x-2, Ben Bryan, Ash, 15.23; 3, Nic Pappas, Ros, 15.29; 4, Luke Lathen, GP, 15.52; 5, Dan Gailis, KU, 15.53; 6, Zach Williams, Ash, 15.76; 7, Andrew Norum, Cra, 16.06; 8, Kris Sperry, Ros, 16.49. 300-METER HURDLES -- x-1, Nick Dunn, NM, 39.09; x-2, Mike Thomson, GP, 39.56; x-3, Dan Gailis, KU, 39.67; 4, Tom Martin, GP, 41.40; 5, Nick Pappas, Ros, 41.41; 6, Kris Sperry, Ros, 42.13; 7, Krister Balme, KU, 42.33; 8, Ben Bryan, Ash, 42.49. 100 METERS -- x-1, Parker Lane, GP, 11.14; x-2, Chris Phillips, Ash, 11.29; 3, Nick Amaranthus, GP, 11.33; 4, Jesse Jones, Ash, 11.41; 5, Alex Casey, KU, 11.44; 6, Eddie Blay, GP, 11.57; 7, Justin Baldoni, SM, 11.60; 8, Mike Moore, Cra, 11.72. 200 METERS -- x-1, Parker Lane, GP, 22.23; x-2, Chris Phillips, Ash, 22,61; 3, Alex Casey, KU, 22.81; 4, Jesse Jones, Ash, 22.92; 5, Nick Maranthus, GP, 22.98; 6, Eddie Blay, GP, 23.06; 7, Justin Baldoni, SM, 23.18; 8, Andres Reed, SM, 23.26. 400 METERS -- x-1, Nick Dunn, NM, 49.69; x-2, Alex Casey, KU, 51.05; 3, Andrew Ludlow, NM, 51.72; 4, Conway Bixby, Ros, 51.82; 5, Britton St. Onge, SM, 52.58; 6, Cody Holm, Cra, 52.81; 7, Jon Bilden, EP, 53.41; 8, Will Dolan, Ash, 55.22. 800 METERS -- x-1, Evan Garich, KU, 1:54.84; x-2, Lauren Jespersen, KU, 1:55.15; x-3, Perry Custance, SM, 1:55.75; x-4, Brian Parmer, GP, 1:56.41; x-5, Kass Lane, Ash, 1:57.11; x-6, Trevor Palmer, Cra, 1:57.54; 7, Shaun Olson, SM, 1:58.45; 8, Jon Osborne, KU, 2:01.88. 1,500 METERS -- x-1, Ian Dobson, KU, 3:58.50; x-2, Perry Custance, SM, 3:58.72; 3, Chris Roberts, Ros, 4:01.98; 4, Jacob Gomez, KU, 4:06.80; 5, Collin Janke, GP, 4:12.75; 6, Nick Niemeyer, NM, 4:17.72; 7, Phil Morton, KU, 4:18.96; 8, Kedrick Charlton, NM, 4:19.23. 4X100 RELAY -- x-1, Ashland 43.70; x-2, Roseburg 44.14; 3, South Medford 44.17; 4, North Medford 44.61; 5, Crater 45.11; 6, Eagle Point 45.55; 7, Klamath Union 45.75; 8, Grants Pass DQ. 4X400 RELAY -- x-1, North Medford 3:24.40 (Matt Parish, Matt Schneider, Andrew Ludlow, Nick Dunn); x-2, Klamath Union 3:24.99; 3, Grants Pass 3:25.25; 4, South Medford 3:28.71; 5, Roseburg 3:34.20; 6, Crater 3:35.64; 7, Ashland 3:37.48. 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