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Dunn gets another record as North rolls Photo by Jim Craven North's Denali Tice triumphs in the 200 meters with a lifetime-best time of 26.1. By DON HUNT First-year North Medford High track coach Mark Hodges knew he had some talented young girls on his team when practice began last month. Two meets into the season, they're better than even the ever-optimistic Hodges could have imagined. Freshman Emily Dunn broke her own school record in the triple jump, ran a lifetime best in the 100 meters and added victories in the long jump and 4-x-100-meter relay to pace the Black Tornado to an 89-56 victory over Crater at Bowerman Field. The Tornado boys were equally dominant, winning 12 of 17 events en route to an 85-60 victory over the Comets. But that was expected. It's the precocious North Medford girls who are raising eyebrows around the Southern Oregon Conference. And it's Dunn who's leading the way. The freshman phenom anchored North Medford's short relay team to victory in 51 seconds flat, won the 100 in 12.6, took the long jump with a mark of 15-8 and then, in her final attempt in the triple jump, soared 34-7 to shatter the school record she had set against Eagle Point one week earlier. "I hit the board perfectly," Dunn said of her record jump that eclipsed her previous best by one foot, 4 inches. "I moved my mark up. I already had the event won, and my coaches wanted me to be more aggressive. I knew when I hit the pit that it was a good jump." Dunn's early-season success isn't too much of a surprise considering she won four events at the middle school district meet last spring. But a couple of her youthful, untested teammates are also taking the track world by storm: Sophomore Denali Tice won the 400 with a fine early-season time of 1:02.1 and came back to win the 200 in 26.8. Both were personal records. Tice also ran splits on both relays, registering a 61-second split in the 4-x-400-meter event. "I wasn't very serious about the 400 last year and only ran it a couple of times," Tice said. "But coach (Hodges) convinced me I could be good at it. "I felt like I faded a little bit at the end and that's something I'll need to work on. But running that time (1:02.1) is encouraging. "I feel so much more prepared this year. He (Hodges) gets you ready, physically and mentally." Freshman Sarah Rountree won the 100-meter hurdles event in a respectable 16.9 and nearly upset Crater's Megan Comfer in the 300 intermediates. Comfer was clocked in 49.5 and Rountree in 49.6. "She (Comfer) got the early lead and I tried to chase her down," said Rountree, who transferred to North from Tampa, Fla., last fall. "I went over the last hurdle with my wrong foot and that might have cost me a little bit of time." The Tornado girls won handily even though their best sprinter -- sophomore Jennifer Abbott -- sat out the meet with a strained hamstring. Now 2-0 in SOC duals, the North girls are off to their best start in years. Hodges recruited the halls all fall and winter and talked 42 girls into joining the team, nearly double the turnout from a year ago. One of his recruits is senior soccer standout Jamie MacLauchlan, who finished third in the 100 Tuesday with a time of 12.9 and ran a leg on the 4-x-100 relay. "I knew she played soccer (in the spring) but I asked her if she'd like to help us out and she said yes," Hodges said. "We're thrilled to have her because she's got good leadership qualities to go along with her foot speed. "And you can never have too many sprinters." The North boys, meanwhile, picked up four victories from Simon Driskell and three more from Nick Dunn -- Emily's older brother -- to win going away. Driskell won the 200 (23.0), 400 (51.0) and ran legs on both relays, while Dunn triumphed in the 110 high hurdles (15.6), the 300 intermediates (41.6) and ran a leg on the 4-x-400 relay. Nick Niemeyer got the North Medford boys off to a good start when he took the 1,500 in 4:18.0. Niemeyer is trying to return to his form of two seasons ago when he clocked 4:13 in the 1,500. "I'm using my arms a lot more now and that's helping me lengthen my stride," Niemeyer said. Niemeyer is also eating more wisely-- he's all but eliminated foods that are high in sugar and fat -- and his senior project involves writing a report on the psychological aspects of competitive running. "I'm using more strategy now," he says. "I've got my splits down to a science." BOYS TEAM SCORES -- North Medford 85, Crater 60. SHOT PUT -- 1, Scott Myers, NM, 53-10; 2, Scott Toney, Cra, 50-7; 3, Chris Dearman, Cra, 49-8. DISCUS -- Brian Helman, Cra, 143-4; 2, Justin Baehmann, NM, 141-4; 3, Chris Dearman, Cra, 133-9. JAVELIN -- 1, Jon Lebel, Cra, 140-4; 2, Tim Miner, NM, 128-11; 3, Brandon McBee,Cra, 137-3. HIGH JUMP -- 1, Mark Cristy, Cra, 6-0; 2, Josh Jones, Cra, 5-10; 3, Andrew Norum, Cra, 5-10. LONG JUMP -- 1, Kevin Ludlow, NM, 19-8; 2, Ryan Rackley, Cra, 18-7; 3, Taylor Buck, NM, 18-4. TRIPLE JUMP -- 1, Kevin Ludlow, NM, 139-7; 2, Jim Smoot, NM, 38-11; 3, Curtis Stout, NM, 37-7. POLE VAULT -- Mike Moore, Cra, 13-0; 2, Ryan Rackley, Cra, 12-0; 3, John Bracken, NM, 12-0. 110-METER HURDLES -- Nick Dunn, NM, 15.6; 2, Chris Vorgang, NM, 16.2; 3, Andrew Norum, Cra, 16.7. 300-METER HURDLES -- 1, Nick Dunn, NM, 41.6; 2, Andrew Norum, Cra, 43.9; 3, Chris Vorgang, NM, 44.8. 100 METERS -- 1, Thomas O'Brien, NM, 11.2; 2, Mike Moore, Cra, 11.3; 3, Tim Miner, NM, 11.6. 200 METERS -- 1, Simon Driskell, NM, 23.0; 2, Cody Holm, Cra, 23.2; 3, Mike Moore, Cra, 23.7. 400 METERS -- 1, Simon Driskell, NM, 51.0; 2, Andrew Ludlow, NM, 53.8; 3, Cody Holm, Cra, 55.6 800 METERS -- 1, Trevor Palmer, Cra, 2:02.0; 2, Nick Niemeyer, NM, 2:05.0; 3, David Higley, Cra, 2:14.0. 1,500 METERS -- 1, Nick Niemeyer, NM, 4:18.0; 2, J.J. Moses, Cra, 4:31.0; 3, Dan Torry, NM, 4:33.0. 3,000 METERS -- 1, Kedric Charlton, NM, 9:57.0; 2, J.J. Moses, Cra, 9:58.0; 3, Dan Torry, NM, 10:24.0. 4X100 RELAY -- 1, North Medford (Tim Miner, Matt Parish, Simon Driskell, Thomas O'Brien) 44.9; 2, Crater 46.6. 4X400 RELAY -- 1, North Medford (Matt Schneider, Simon Driskell, Kevin Ludlow, Nick Dunn) 3:33.8; 2, Crater, 3:42.0 GIRLS TEAM SCORES -- North Medford 89, Crater 56. SHOT PUT -- 1, Kerby Boschee, NM, 30-6; 2, Crystal Worthington, NM, 29-10; 3, Sarah Payne, Cra, 29-10. DISCUS -- 1, Sarah Payne, Cra, 102-9; 2, Kerby Boschee, NM, 99-7; 3, Crystal Worthington, NM, 80-15. JAVELIN -- 1, Nicole Tucker, NM, 101-6; 2, Krista Ralph, Cra, 98-8; 3, Briana Gentry, NM, 85-5 HIGH JUMP -- 1, Charley Higgins, NM, 4-8; 2, Erin Kinney, Cra, 4-8; 3, C. Singley, NM, 4-8. LONG JUMP -- 1, Emily Dunn, 15-8; 2, Cheri Howell, Cra, 14-8; 3, Erin Chase, Cra, 14-7. TRIPLE JUMP -- 1, Emily Dunn, NM, 34-7; 2, Erin Chase, Cra, 31-9; 3, Erin McFarland, Cra, 31-6. POLE VAULT -- 1, Nakeli Maurin, NM, 7-6; 2, Becky Stone, Cra, 7-0; 3, Elissa Prillon, Cra, 6-6. 100-METER HURDLES -- 1, Sarah Rountree, NM, 16.9; 2, Erin Kinney, Cra, 17.6; 3, Amy Bakker, NM, 19.0. 300-METER HURDLES -- 1, Megan Comfer, Cra, 48.5; 2, Sarah Rountree, NM, 49.6; 3, Amy Bakker, NM, 57.3. 100 METERS -- 1, Emily Dunn, NM, 12.6; 2, Keri Cain, NM, 12.7; 3, Jamie MacLauchlan, NM, 12.9. 200 METERS -- 1, Denali Tice, NM, 26.1; 2, Keri Cain, NM, 27.0; 3, Angela Carrigan, NM, 28.3. 400 METERS -- 1, Denali Tice, NM, 1:02.1; 2, Angela Carrigan, Cra, 1:02.3; 3, Rosanna Medina, NM, 1:05.1. 800 METERS -- 1, Sam Kezer, Cra, 2:31.0; 2, Jessica Grimes, NM, 2:32.5; 3, Sarah Dalton, NM, 2:47.0. 1,500 METERS -- 1, Sam Kezer, Cra, 5:18.0; 2, Janelle Goeres, Cra, 5:21.0; 3, Sarah Dalton, NM, 5:41.0. 3,000 METERS -- 1, Janelle Goeres, Cra, 11:38.0; 2, Ashley Gutches, Cra, 12:21.0; 3, Sharon Bywater, NM, 13:03.0 4X100 RELAY -- 1, North Medford (Keri Cain, Denali Tice, Jame MacLauchlan, Emily Dunn) 51.0; 2, Crater 54.4. 4X400 RELAY -- 1, North Medford (Rosanna Medina, Jessica Grimes, J. Thomson) 4:14.0; 2, Crater 4:20. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA