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Chiefs' Zempel aims for triad Photo by Jim Craven Sarah Zempel eclipses 40 feet to capture the shot put title at the Skyline track championships. By DON HUNT ASHLAND -- Winning all three of the throwing events at a district track meet is a rare feat. But Rogue River's Sarah Zempel is two-thirds of the way there and will zero in on the triple crown today at Southern Oregon University. Zempel won the shot put with a throw of 40-5 and added a victory in the javelin with a lifetime best of 122-9 Thursday at the Skyline Conference district meet. The coed meet picks up today at 11 a.m. Zempel will be a big favorite in today's discus competition, where she has the No. 1 throw in the state (139-11) among Class 3A competitors. "I'm not sure anyone has ever won all three at the Skyline meet," Rogue River coach Floyd Graves said. "It would be a huge accomplishment, but it's something Sarah has been pointing to all season." Zempel's weakest event is the javelin but she achieved a lifetime best by more than 2 feet and beat her nearest pursuer -- Phoenix's Tara Curtis -- by nearly 19 feet. "You're lucky to get an athlete like her once every 20 years," Graves said. "She's a great athlete, a hard worker and she's emotionally balanced. "I've taught her everything I know and now I just try to stay out of her way." Selena Harman added a victory in the 3,000 meters for the Chieftains, but they still couldn't keep pace with pre-meet favorite Henley. The Hornet girls scored 38 points and Rogue River 33 during Friday's four finals. The remaining 13 finals will be contested today. "Henley is just barely revving its engines," Graves said. "We really don't have a prayer against them at district, but it could be a different story at the state meet next week. We'll just have to wait and see." Phoenix's Jennifer Bones sailed a lifetime best of 16-2 to edge Henley's Heather Radke and win the long jump by a quarter of an inch. The North Valley boys, meanwhile, got off to a great start when sophomore Cole Parmalee won the high jump (6-6) and long jump (20-9) and Travis Wheeler and Ray Wessels went 2-3 in the discus. The Knights scored 35 points in those two events alone and added a third-place finish by Colin Beard in the pole vault to grab the first-day lead. Mazama's Gunner Zahler won the discus with a toss of 148-3, and Henley's Jeff North (12-3) and Josh Reid (12-0) went 1-2 in the pole vault. BOYS DISCUS --x-1, Gunner Zahler, Maz, 148-3. x-2, Travis Wheeler, NV, 146-7. 3, Ray Wessels, NV, 143-1. 4, Scott Dickerson, RR, 135-0. 5, Joe LeRoy, Hen, 124-3. 6, Ben Bickle, HV, 119-9. 7, Dustin Merrell, IV, 119-6. 8, Josh Myers, Maz, 116-5. HIGH JUMP --x-1, Cole Parmalee, NV, 6-6. x-2, Jacob Denbrook, Lak, 6-2. 3, Jacob White, HV, 6-0. 4, Joe Reid, Hen, 5-8. 5, Matt Rhoades, Maz, 5-8. 6, Forris Sheridan, Lak, 5-6. 7, Jeff North, Hen, 5-3. 8, Jesse Appling, NV, 5-3. LONG JUMP --x-1, Cole Parmalee, NV, 20-9. x-2, Tyson Martin, Hen, 20-8. 3, Chris Krueger, Hen, 20-5. 4, Robert Draper, Maz, 20-2. 5, Jacob Denbrook, Lak, 19-4. 6, Anthony Carswell, Maz, 19-4. 7, Frank Gauntz, Hen, 19-3. 8, Nick Mason, HV, 18-11. POLE VAULT --x-1, Jeff North, Hen, 12-3. x-2, Josh Reid, Hen, 12-0. 3, Colin Beard, NV, 11-6. 4, Jacob White, HV, 11-6. 5, Ben Bechdolt, Hen, 11-0. 6, Justin Scott, NV, 9-6. 7, Jeff West, HV, 9-0. GIRLS TEAM SCORES --Henley 38, Rogue River 33, Phoenix 20, North Valley 19, Mazama 10, Hidden Valley 8, Illinois Valley 2. SHOT PUT --x-1, Sarah Zempel, RR, 40-5. x-2, Alice Meyers, Hen, 37-11. 3, K'Pree Ford-Harris, NV, 35-7. 4, Pam McFarland, Lak, 34-3. 5, Courtney Smith-Clifton, Hen, 31-7. 6, Lindsay Thede, Hen, 31-4. 7, Kit Thompson, IV, 30-0. 8, Aleah Wright, NV, 29-1. JAVELIN --x-1, Sarah Zempel, RR, 122-9. x-2, Tara Curtis, Pho, 103-10. 3, Pam McFarland, Lak, 93-9. 4, Andrea Osborne, Lak, 93-7. 5, Jessica Childress, Lak, 92-2. 6, Erin Gilkison, RR, 90-1. 7, Liza DeJong, Hen, 89-3. 8, Bre Maupin, Hen, 86-8. LONG JUMP --x-1, Jennifer Bones, Pho, 16-2. x-2, Heather Radke, Hen, 16-2. 3, Nichole Roberts, NV, 16-1. 4, Heather Parker, NV, 15-3. 5, Jenny Schilling, LV, 14-9. 6, Tammi Caldwell, Hen, 14-8. 7, Jessica Childress, Lak, 14-8. 8, Jennifer Klaja, Hen, 14-0. 3,000 --x-1, Selena Harman, RR, 10:47.92. x-2, Alanna Steinert, HV, 11:00.10. 3, Stephanie Dubois, Maz, 11:23.11. 4, Luci Boyel, Hen, 11:59.14. 5, Kelcy Garner, Maz, 12:05.20. 6, Marci Hansen, Hen, 12:28.34. 7, Kristen Heath, Pho, 12:52.11. 8, Hannah Ross-Suites, NV< 14:03.10. x -- state meet qualifiers. Class 2A-1A State Meet COOLIDGE SECOND -- At Monmouth, Trevor Coolidge of St. Mary's took second Friday in the 3,000 meters at the state 2A-1A track meet at Western Oregon University. Coolidge improved on his third-place finish from last year with a time of 9:01.03 in warm, humid conditions. "I felt pretty good out there," said Coolidge, who will also compete in the 1,500 finals today. "I noticed the warmer temperature, but it didn't effect me too much. I'm really happy with my finish." Portland Christian's Jacob Stout took first, crossing the line at just a shade over nine minutes. In the girls' 3,000, the Crusaders' Martina Patella grabbed eighth with a season-best time of 11:40.19. Teammate Julie Chalupa finished eighth in girls' pole vault with a season-best-tying mark of 8 feet. Cascade Christian's Kelly Clark placed sixth in girls' discus with a personal best of 97-5. She will also compete today in the shot put finals. Teammate Brian Prins' time of 54.14 in the boys' 400 also moved him into today's finals. The Crusaders' Trina Stout advanced to the finals in the 100 and 200 with qualifying times of 13.25 and 27.49, respectively. Kristin Zielony qualified for the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.99 and will also compete in the triple jump finals. Also moving onto the finals for St. Mary's were Leah Sawyer, 1,500, and the 4-100 relay squad of Zielony, Stout, Jessica McHenry and Megan Dode. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA