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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 18, 2006 Comets, Cavemen set for district showdown By DON HUNT Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT — Two-time defending champion Crater and upstart Grants Pass are expected to duke it out for the Southern Oregon Conference boys district track and field title when the meet gets under way at Eagle Stadium today. The two-day meet kicks off at 11:30 a.m. today, with five final events in the boys competition and four in the girls. It picks up at 11 Saturday. Roughly half the SOC coaches favor the Comets; the other half likes the Cavemen. "My dope sheet has Crater winning by about 10 points, but I feel comfortable with my guys because they’ve been unflappable all season," Grants Pass coach Carl Sniffen says. "We’ve got a good mix of juniors and seniors and they know how to take care of business." One thing seems certain: If the outcome is left to Saturday’s final event — the 4x400 relay — then Grants Pass will win. The Cavemen have clocked 3 minutes, 23.63 seconds, the state’s second-fastest time. It is nearly six seconds faster than any other SOC team. Advertisement "I would be comfortable with the meet coming down to that event," Sniffen says. The Comets, who scored points in virtually every event last season to win comfortably, will load up on just a handful this time around and hope the flurry of points can carry them through. They are led by distance dynamos Isaac Stoutenburgh and Jake Keyser, who will be heavy favorites in the 1,500 and 3,000. The two standouts could flirt with the 3,000 meet record of 8:31.92 set by Ashland’s David Morgan last year, although unseasonably warm weather could foil the effort. The boys 3,000 isn’t scheduled until 3:50 p.m. "I still think it’s doable," Crater distance coach Justin Loftus says of a meet record. "Those kids have really been coming on in their workouts. If it’s really boiling out there then I’d say no, but they’re primed to take it out and push it." Nearly all of today’s boys finals — long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus and 3,000 — loom large for Crater and Grants Pass. Grants Pass’ Terry Hodder (21-5) and Crater’s Nick Nutting (21-2¼ ) and recent transfer Dylan Gaudette (21-0) will battle it out in the long jump. Ashland’s Ryan Pittman (6-6) is the favorite in the high jump, but Crater’s Joe LeBel (6-5), Grants Pass’ Kenny Lathen (6-2) and Eagle Point’s Jake Colley (6-2) are threats to take home the blue ribbon. "We told our kids how important it is to come out charging at the start of a district meet," Sniffen says. Gaudette, a sophomore who moved to Gold Hill from Kelso, Wash., last month, should also pick up valuable points in the pole vault, where he’s cleared 13 feet. Gaudette’s lifetime best before moving to Oregon was just 11 feet. "He’s responded to our coaching very well," said Crater coach Hans Smith of Gaudette. "You tell him something, he goes home and absorbs it, then comes back the next day and does it. "He’s a good athlete and also a good kid. We’re thrilled to have him." Grants Pass is led by Dustin Parrish, who will be the favorite in the 400 (49.72) and among the favorites in the 200 (23.04); Hodder, who owns the top mark in the 300-meter hurdles (40.11) as well as the long jump; and Matt Johnson, who will be the runner to beat in the 800 (1:56.8) and is a valuable member of GP’s 4x400 relay. "I think this meet is going to be a dogfight," Smith says. "The front-line kids are important, but it might be the team that can nickel and dime in certain events that wins it. When you get kids placing fifth or sixth that weren’t supposed to place — that’s huge." In the girls meet, three-time defending champ North Medford gets the nod, but because of a rash of nagging injuries to its sprinters, the favorite’s role is tenuous. South Medford looks poised to jump in and win its first title since 2002 if the Black Tornado falters. Molly Brophy, the heart of the North Medford sprint corps, was having a big season until pulling a hamstring muscle at a meet in Sacramento, Calif., four weeks ago. "We think she was on her way to breaking the school record in the 100 when she got hurt," North Medford coach Pete Voskes says. "She was cranking." Voskes said Brophy has been able to get through her interval workouts the past week or so. "Hamstring injuries are always scary but we feel good about Molly right now," Voskes says. Haylee Godfrey, Sara Weeks and Justine Lawson, who are capable of amassing 25 or more points between them, are also coming off leg injuries. North Medford jumpers Ashley Chambers, who broke the school triple jump record (35-11½ ) earlier this spring, and Irene Kendig, who has gone 16-8½ in the long jump and sailed to a mark of 17-7 last year when she finished third at the state meet, also should score big. South Medford is fueled by hurdlers Katrina Stevens and Jan Frodsham, who have the fastest times in both hurdle events, and by junior thrower Andrea Herman, who has the No. 1 mark in the shot put (36-11½ ) and the No. 2 mark in the discus (124-8). Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail Comets, Cavemen set for district showdown ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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