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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 22, 2005 Grants Pass� Katelyn VanBrunt smiles after winning the 800-meter title at Saturday�s Class 4A state meet. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman VanBrunt makes her mark at state Grants Pass senior wins 800, runs anchor on winning long relay in school-record fashion By DON HUNT Mail Tribune EUGENE — Katelyn VanBrunt blended talent, experience, poise and grit into a long-awaited state championship Saturday at Hayward Field. The Grants Pass High School senior ran a near-perfect race to claim the girls 800-meter title at the Class 4A state track meet, breaking her own school record in the process. A little more than one hour later, VanBrunt added the first of two exclamation points to her glorious day by running the anchor leg on the Cavers’ 4x400 relay that bagged another gold medal and another school record. The second exclamation point? That would come later Saturday when VanBrunt attended her school’s prom. "This doesn’t even feel real," VanBrunt said moments after charging past Central Catholic’s Annaliese Chapa and Sandy’s Sheryl Page to win the 800 in 2 minutes, 14.64 seconds. Advertisement Thanks mostly to VanBrunt, Grants Pass tied for 10th place in the team standings with 20 points. Marshfield, fueled by senior sprint standout Leah Worthen, ended Benson’s six-year reign as state champions. The Pirates from Coos Bay scored 58 points to collect their first title since 1972. Benson wound up second with 53 points, followed by Lakeridge with 33 and Summit with 30. Saturday marked VanBrunt’s third trip to the starting line in the 800 at the state meet. As a wide-eyed sophomore, she failed to qualify for the finals. Last year, she made a couple of tactical errors but still finished third. "Last year, she got elbowed and got spiked," Grants Pass head coach Carl Sniffen said. "She didn’t know how to run in traffic or deal with some of the other situations you find yourself in up here. "But today she used her experience to her advantage. I’ve never seen her run so smooth and so relaxed. She ran a perfect race." VanBrunt showed the rest of the state that she meant business at the Centennial Invitational four weeks ago. She narrowly lost to a Washington runner that day, but clocked 2:14.96 to cut more than a second off her previous-best 800 time. No girl in Oregon ran faster the remainder of the season. "I felt like that race put me at a new level," said VanBrunt, who is headed to Oregon State on a track scholarship. "After that, I knew I could run with the big dogs." VanBrunt trailed four other runners after the opening lap Saturday, but then burst past Sheldon’s Nori Rice and South Medford’s April Bradshaw on the backstretch of the final lap. With about 110 meters to go, she kicked past Chapa and Page and held them off to the finish line. Chapa finished second in 2:16.04 and Page was third in 2:16.40. Bradshaw settled for eighth in 2:20.26. "I wasn’t worried about being in fifth with a lap to go because we were all bunched up and I wasn’t far from the lead," VanBrunt said. "I like running from behind, anyway." VanBrunt got another chance to do that in the 4x400 relay when she blasted past a Gresham runner and then held off Worthen on the anchor split to give the Cavers their second victory of the day. VanBrunt’s anchor split was a sizzling 56 seconds as the Cavers clocked 3:56.38 to chop three seconds off the school record they had set one day earlier in the preliminary round of the long relay. "I kept running harder and harder and just thought, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen," VanBrunt said of the relay victory. Junior Courtney Cameron, who joined the relay team late in the season when Anna Lovelace suffered a stress fracture in her right leg and had to bow out, got the relay off to a good start when she clocked 1:01.5. Juniors Audrey Richardson and Amanda Straw both dipped under the 60-second barrier before VanBrunt got the baton. No one from the Southern Oregon Conference could match Van Brunt’s heroics, but there were other noteworthy performers. Among them: North Medford sophomore Haylee Godfrey, who tied for third place in the high jump with a clearance of 5-2. Godfrey entered the meet as the state leader with a personal record of 5-6 and had cleared 5-4 several times this season. Thus, she wasn’t pleased with her effort Saturday. Aloha’s Courtney McKinney conquered 5-3 for the victory. "I’m disappointed," Godfrey said. Godfrey made 5-0 and 5-2 on her first attempts, passed at 5-3 and then missed all three of her attempts at 5-4. "That’s what I’ve been doing all season," Godfrey said of her decision to pass at what proved to be the winning height. "I’ve been making 5-4 consistently." South Medford sophomore Andrea Herman, who achieved a 7-foot PR on her first throw of the discus competition to finish fifth at 124-10. Herman was in third place with one round to go only to watch two throwers pass her by. Tigard standout Stephanie Horton, who set a meet record in the shot put Friday with a colossal toss of 49-8, won the discus at 150-4. "My form was almost flawless on that first throw," said Herman, who missed the first part of the season after injuring her shoulder in a snowboard accident. "I was in sync and explosive in the ring. I wasn’t able to keep it going, but I’m proud of what I did." Ashland junior Natalie Hemphill, who ran with the lead pack in the 1,500 and finished fifth in 4:39.8, cutting 10 seconds off her previous best time. Hemphill took third in the 3,000 on Friday. "I felt like I was mentally tough in both races," Hemphill said. "I’m one rung away, but I’ve got another year to work on it." North Medford’s 4x100 relay team managed a sixth-place finish in 49.14, and Tornado sophomore sprinter Sara Weeks took eighth in the 100 in 12.79. Worthen, meanwhile, won the 400 for the second straight year in 56.32, took second in the 200 (25.11) and anchored Marshfield’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay squads to second-place finishes. Benson’s Sara Callier did her best to lead the Lady Techsters to a seventh straight title. The senior speedster, who is headed to Kansas State, scored 40 of Benson’s 53 points by winning the 100 (12.05), 200 (24.7), long jump (18-4¾ ) and triple jump (38-4¾ ). Lincoln’s Bianca Mathabane set a meet record in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking 14.58. Class 4A Girls Results TEAM SCORES — 1, Marshfield 58; 2, Benson 53; 3, Lakeridge 33; 4, Summit 30; 5, (tie) Sandy and Gresham 28; 7, The Dalles 26; 8, Lincoln 23; 9, South Eugene 22; 10, (tie) Grants Pass, Tigard and Forest Grove 20; 13, Grant 19; 14, Jefferson 18; 15, (tie) Central Catholic and David Douglas 16; 17, North Medford 15.5; 18, South Albany 14; 19, Hermiston 13.5; 20, Ashland 13; 21, Clackamas 11; 22, (tie) Newberg, Aloha, Reynolds, Sunset and Sheldon 10; 27, Jesuit 9.5; 28, (tie) South Medford and McMinnville 9; 30, (tie) Redmond and Hood River Valley 8; 32, (tie) St. Mary’s and Southridge 7; 34, Barlow 6.5; 35, West Linn 6; 36, (tie) Klamath Union and Franklin 5; 38, (tie) McNary, Beaverton and Canby 4. FINALS DISCUS — 1, Stephanie Horton, Tigard, 150-4; 2, Neticia Enesi, The Dalles, 125-10; 3, Mozell Evenhus, South Albany, 125-3; 4, Lauren Sexton, Forest Grove, 124-10; 5, Andrea Herman, South Medford, 124-10; 6, Kayla Hendershot, Sandy, 119-9; 7, Emmy Greatwood, Sheldon, 117-7; 8, Vanessa Warcheza, Century, 117-6. HIGH JUMP — 1, Courtney McKinney, Aloha, 5-3; 2, Alison Worthen, Marshfield, 5-3; 3, Sarah Von Arx, Hermiston, 5-2; 3, Haylee Godfrey, North Medford, 5-2; 5, Kaila Lemerande, West Albany, 5-2; 6, Lindsay Zimmerman, Summit, 5-0; 7, Danielle Ferguson, Barlow, 5-0; 7, Marian Price, Jesuit, 5- 0. TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Sara Callier, Benson, 38-4¾ , w:-0.4; 2, Hillary Shoop, Lakeridge, 35-6¼ , w:+0.0; 3, Amanda Skerbitz, Gresham, 35-6, w:-0.2; 4, Kari Hidle, Hood River Valley, 35-3, w:-0.2; 5, Alison Worthen, Marshfield, 35-2¼ , w:+0.0; 6, Angela Burnett, Canby, 35-1¾ , w:2.0; 7, Risa Allen, St. Mary’s, 35-0½ , w:+0.0; 8, Mckenzie Mann, Springfield, 34-7¾ , w:-0.2. POLE VAULT — 1, Muriel Roberge, Marshfield, 12-0; 2, Ally Wojciechowski, Lakeridge, 11-9; 3, Natalie Todd-Zebell, Grant, 11-9; 4, Erika Stratton, Summit, 11-6; 5, Amber Wiley, Marshfield, 11-3; 6, McKenna Hering, Hood River Valley, 11-3; 7, Ashley Salvino, St. Mary’s, 11-0; 8, Krysta Pelchar, Sandy, 11-0. 100 HURDLES — 1, Bianca Mathabane, Lincoln, 14.58; 2, Lindsay Zimmerman, Summit, 15.44; 3, Irene Johnson, David Douglas, 15.54; 4, Ashley Bernards, McMinnville, 15.62; 5, Samantha Berryman, Lakeridge, 15.65; 6, Jewel Martin, Benson, 16.07; 7, Melissa Penwell, Churchill, 16.27; 8, Ashley Potter, Thurston, 16.28. 300 HURDLES — 1, Bianca Mathabane, Lincoln, 44.25; 2, Irene Johnson, David Douglas, 44.56; 3, Nina DeHaas, South Eugene, 45.12; 4, Carrie North, The Dalles, 45.20; 5, Ashley Bernards, McMinnville, 45.91; 6, Alyssa Rife, Southridge, 46.65; 7, Ashley Hart, Glencoe, 46.70; 8, Amy Nelson, Sheldon, 47.39. 100 — 1, Sara Callier, Benson, 12.05; 2, Nyema Sims, Jefferson, 12.27; 3, Latasha Essien, Reynolds, 12.31; 4, Carissa Bennett, Sunset, 12.40; 5, Mandy White, Lakeridge, 12.51; 6, Janece Levien, Beaverton, 12.68; 7, Yasmeen Cole, David Douglas, 12.76; 8, Sara Weeks, North Medford, 12.79. 200 — 1, Sara Callier, Benson, 24.70; 2, Leah Worthen, Marshfield, 25.11; 3, Andrea Bailey, The Dalles, 25.54; 4, Nyema Sims, Jefferson, 25.61; 5, Latasha Essien, Reynolds, 25.71; 6, Lacey Meusec, Gresham, 26.04; 7, Kourtney Parks, Summit, 26.25; 8, Kayleen McDowell, Forest Grove, 26.34. 400 — 1, Leah Worthen, Marshfield, 56.32; 2, Brenna Hoffman, Sandy, 56.93; 3, Alex Patten-Jones, Benson, 57.02; 4, Kayleen McDowell, Forest Grove, 57.65; 5, Kourtney Parks, Summit, 57.84; 6, Natalie Stoll, Grant, 58.01; 7, Andrea Bailey, The Dalles, 58.40; 8, Kelsey Priest, Beaverton, 59.24. 800 — 1, Katelyn Van Brunt, Grants Pass, 2:14.64; 2, Annaliese Chapa, Central Catholic, 2:16.04; 3, Sheryl Page, Sandy, 2:16.40; 4, Elise Manley, Franklin, 2:17.53; 5, Laura Nilsen, Jesuit, 2:18.30; 6, Casey Masterson, Sheldon, 2:18.48; 7, Nori Rice, Sheldon, 2:19.95; 8, April Bradshaw, South Medford, 2:20.26. 1,500 — 1, Sheryl Page, Sandy, 4:36.22; 2, Annaliese Chapa, Central Catholic, 4:37.80; 3, Zoe Roy, Summit, 4:39.17; 4, Sara Wild, Grant, 4:39.58; 5, Natalie Hemphill, Ashland, 4:39.80; 6, Kris Thomasberg, Redmond, 4:45.57; 7, Erin Gray, South Eugene, 4:46.57; 8, Claire Michel, Clackamas, 4:48.33. 4X100 RELAY — 1, Gresham (Amanda Backowski, Lacey Meusec, Kate Franklin, Shaveyantay Hill), 48.50; 2, Marshfield, 48.61; 3, South Eugene, 48.88; 4, Jefferson, 48.94; 5, Benson, 49.00; 6, North Medford, 49.14; 7, The Dalles, 49.39; 8, Lakeridge, 49.41. 4X400 RELAY — 1, Grants Pass (Courtney Cameron, Amanda Straw, Audrey Richardson, Katelyn Van Brunt), 3:56.38; 2, Gresham, 3:57.34; 3, Marshfield, 3:57.59; 4, Grant, 3:59.40; 5, Southridge, 3:59.50; 6, St. Mary’s, 4:01.01; 7, Summit, 4:02.03; 8, Forest Grove, 4:03.97. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s