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South aims for another title run MT file photo Bill Rowan, right, shown with one of the team's standouts last year, Janette Martin, guides the Panthers. By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN South Medford High coach Bill Rowan has built a Southern Oregon Conference girls track and field empire in recent years. It took Rowan nearly five years, but the Panthers are now established as not only the premier program in the SOC, but one of the best in the state at the Class 4A level. South Medford will pursue its fourth straight SOC team title this spring and its fourth straight top-10 finish at state in May. But a lot of work remains to be done before the big postseason meets, Rowan says. South Medford lost four of the best athletes in its program's history last spring when seniors Janette Martin, Kristin Russell, Kylie Healey and Stacey Lambert graduated. With that quartet leading the way, South Medford piled up 149 team points in winning the 1999 SOC title. "There's no question we lost some studs from last year's team," says Rowan. "They helped us build our program for four years." Rowan, who took over as South Medford's head boys and girls track coach after a successful run at Mazama High, is the son of a successful high school coach from Hawaii. Al Rowan coached Punahoui High of Honolulu to three state titles in four years from 1970 through '73. Bill Rowan, a high jumper, pole vaulter and hurdler, scored key points in all three state titles for his father's teams. "Success has everything to do with the kids you develop," says Bill Rowan. "I'm here for the kids to have fun and develop, and the goal is for their improvement to help the team win. "The kids know it's important to me for them to improve and to help the team have success. That's the way I learned it. That's what makes sport fun." It hasn't hurt, says Rowan, that South has had a run on gifted athletes over the past four years. "One of the things I feel the best about," he says, "is that a lot of our kids have gone on to compete in the sport in college." South Medford won the 1998 state title after finishing second in the '97 meet. South finished sixth last season. "I want to keep the program going and have a chance to be able to compete for another championship in the district meet at the end of the season," says Rowan. "We're very young this year, but we have talent. "The key will be how the young kids step up in big meets. I'm optimistic that can happen, but you never know with freshmen and sophomores." Two of the younger athletes with state-meet experience are junior Sarah Duarte, the SOC defending champion in the 100 hurdles, and sophomore Heather Frigaard, second in the SOC 300 hurdles. South juniors to watch are Heather Fossen in the discus and javelin, Emily Perttu in the 800 and Noelle Reed in the javelin. Perttu finished third in the SOC 800 in 2:23.85. Senior Sarah Eyman of South Medford finished third in the district 1,500 and 3,000. Duarte's toughest competition to repeat as the 100 hurdles champion might come from Frigaard, a lanky, athletic sophomore, who also competes in the high jump. "Heather and I are training together and helping each other," says Duarte. "It really helps to have someone else out there to practice with and against." But come meet time, Duarte says, she and Frigaard will be determined, competitive teammates. "We're looking to go 1-2 every time we go out there in the hurdles," she says. "We're friends and we stick together. We help each other and pray for each other." Frigaard says the high jump could ultimately be her best event. "I hope to improve at least two inches to 5-4 this year and win the district and get to state," says Frigaard. "The high jump is my best event. I think it's my best chance to win a state championship some day." Ashland, led by junior distance runner Paris Edwards and multi-event performer Jackie Woods, is also expected to contend for the title, along with Roseburg and Klamath Union. Ashland's Edwards is complemented by senior distance specialist Anita Sindelar, who finished sixth in the SOC 1,500 and seventh ion the 3,000 last season. Klamath Union features junior hurdler and sprinter Samantha Gilbert, senior distance runner Liz Lindgren and hurdler and sprinter Sarah Schaff. North Medford will be led by young runners Jennifer Abbott and (100, 200, 400), Danalli Tice (100, 200, 400) and freshman sprinter Emily Dunn. Abbott finished eighth last season as a sophomore in the state 100. Roseburg has a bevy of sprinters, hurdlers and middle-distance runners that should bode well, says coach Mike Bober. The Indians have 19 returning district placers, including triple jumper Jennifer Lint, who covered 35-10 in the Junior Olympic regionals last summer. That mark was 2 feet better than her district runner-up effort. SOC girls track 1999 District Results South Medford 149, Roseburg 121, Klamath Union 107, Ashland 93, Crater 58, Grants Pass 55, North Medford 51, Eagle Point 26. Returning District Placers (District meet marks) 100 -- 1, Sam Gilbert, Klamath Union, jr., 12:46; 2, Jennifer Abbott, North Medford, jr., 12:48; 6, Rachel Stribling, Roseburg, jr., 13.2; 7, Natalie Kailey, Grants Pass, so., 13.23; 8, Kristin Vance, Roseburg, so., 13.50. 200 -- 2, Jennifer Abbott, North Medford, jr., 25.64; 4, Sarah Schaaf, Klamath Union, jr., 26.79; 5, Jessica King, Grants Pass, sr., 27.26; 6, Ashley Bishop, Roseburg, sr., 27.61; 8, Denali Tice, North Medford, so., 28.26. 400 -- 2, Sarah Schaaf, Klamath Union, jr., 57.38, 4, Angela Carrigan, Crater, sr., 1:00.19; 6, Jessica Grimes, North Medford, jr., 1:02.32; 7, Melis Garner, Roseburg, so., 1:02.79; 8, Jennifer Lint, Roseburg, so., 1:03.07. 800 -- 1, Paris Edwards, Ashland, jr., 2:18.8; 3, Emily Perttu, South Medford, jr., 2:23.85; 4, Ashley Smith, Grants Pass, jr., 2:23.89; 5, Melis Garner, Roseburg, so., 2:29.81; 7, Jody Polyniak, Crater, so., 2:32.1. 1,500 -- 1, Paris Edwards, Ashland, jr., 4:47.67; 2, Liz Lindgren, Klamath Union, jr., 4:53.49; 3, Sarah Eyman, South Medford, sr. 4:58.68; 4, Kim Harris, North Medford, sr., 5:08.22; 5, Jody Polyniak, C, 5:09.47; 6, Anita Sindelar, Ash, sr., 5:09.64. 3,000 -- 1, Liz Lindgren, Klamath Union, jr., 10:28.5; 3, Sarah Eyman, South Medford, sr., 10:55.0; 5, Kelly Bishop, Ashland, so., 11:07.43; 7, Anita Sindelar, Ashland, sr., 11:23.0; 8, Janelle Goeres, Crater, sr., 11:35.5. 100 HURDLES -- 1, Sarah Duarte, South Medford, jr., 16:62; 3, Erin Phillips, Roseburg, sr., 16:65; 5, Shawna Lewis, Eagle Point, sr., 52.68; 7, Niki Janelli, Roseburg, jr., 17.72; 8, Anna Voskes, Ashland, jr., 18.11. 300 HURDLES -- Sam Gilbert, Klamath Union, jr., 46.69; 2, Heather Frigaard, South Medford, so., 46.94; 3, Erin Phillips, Roseburg, sr., 47.10; 5, Jennifer Lint, Roseburg, so., 51.21; 6, Shawna Lewis, Eagle Point, sr., 52.68; 7, Sarah Duarte, South Medford, jr. 53:03. LONG JUMP -- 1, Jackie Woods, Ashland, jr., 15-11; 7, Leslie Brown, Ashland, jr., 15-4. TRIPLE JUMP -- 2, Jennifer Lint, Roseburg, sr. 33-10; 3, Allison Huntley, Klamath Union, jr., 33-5; 4, Whitney Grant, South Medford, so., 32-3; 6, Rose Hill, Klamath Union, sr., 31-6; 8, Emmallee Finney, Crater, sr., 31-4. SHOT PUT -- 1, Kaci Williams, Grants Pass, sr., 41-11; 2, Jackie Woods, Ashland, jr., 41-4; 4, Katie Anderson, Eagle Point, so., 34-1; 5, Taylor Jones, Roseburg, soph., 35-4; 6, Hope Berkey, South Medford, jr., 34-8; 7, Janel Sapienza, Crater, jr., 34-7. DISCUS -- 2, Carissa Nafie, Crater, jr., 115-9; 3, McKenzie Morrell, North Medford, jr., 111-0; 4, Kaci Williams, Grants Pass, sr., 107-6; 8, Michelle Himmelman, South Medford, sr, 94-8. JAVELIN -- 3, Chava Florendo, Ashland, sr., 122-0; 5, Heather Fossen, South Medford, jr., 108-6; 6, Minty Bernhardt, Eagle Point, 108-1; 7, Noelle Reed, South Medford, jr., 107-8. HIGH JUMP -- 5, Heather Frigaard, South Medford, so., 5-0; 7, Breanna Johnson, Crater, jr., 4-10; 8, Rose Hill, Klamath Union, sr., 4-10. POLE VAULT -- 4, Rose Hill, Klamath Union, sr., 9-6; 6, Rachel Stribling, Roseburg, jr., 8-6. Returning State Placers 100 -- 8, Jennifer Abbott, North Medford, jr., 12.90. 400 -- 3, Sarah Schaaf, Klamath Union, jr., 58.40. 1,500 -- 3, Paris Edwards, Ashland, jr., 4:35. 3,000 -- 3, Liz Lindgren, Klamath Union, sr., 10:20.98. SHOT PUT -- 3, Kaci Williams, Grants Pass, sr., 41-11; 4, Jackie Woods, Ashland, jr., 41-4. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA