Document text
Panther girls, Cavemen boys bag titles Mail Tribune / Jim Craven South Medford's Kaylyn Knutson , left, crosses the finish line in front of teammate Amber Stevens in the 100-meter event. South's Knutson sets three meet records at the Bob Newland Classic By DON HUNT There's nothing like a fast freshman to kick-start your sprint corps. South Medford's Kaylyn Knutson continued her superb season during the third annual Bob Newland Track and Field Classic Friday at South Medford High. Knutson sped to meet-record times of 13.0 seconds in the 100 meters, 26.7 in the 200 and ran a leg on the Panthers' winning 4x100 relay team that clocked a meet record 52.3. The meet, named in honor of former Medford High track coach Bob Newland - who led the school to nine state titles over a 10-year period in the 1940s and 50s - is limited to freshmen and sophomores as a way to showcase the young track talent in the Rogue Valley. But Knutson has been showcasing her fleet feet all season - against upperclassmen as well as her peers. "We've had some excellent sprinters at South and Kaylyn looks like she's going to fit into that category," Panthers coach Bill Rowan said. "She needs to get into the weightroom and gain some strength, and there's some technical things she can do better, but it's exciting to see how fast she's developing as a sprinter." The South Medford girls piled up 165 points to walk away with the team title. Grants Pass did likewise in the boys division, scoring 121 points to 89 for North Medford and 84 for South. Many of Knutson's toughest races this spring have come against sophomore teammate Amber Stevens, and Friday was no exception. Stevens took a close second in both sprint races and ran a strong anchor leg on the short relay, overtaking a Crater runner in the final few meters for the win. "We push each other a lot in practice and feed off each other in meets," Knutson said. "I know if I'm not at my best that she'll beat me - she already has a couple of times." Knutson owns bests of 12.5 in the 100 and 26.36 in the 200, times that trail only Emily Dunn of North Medford in the former and the Black Tornado's Brittany Hodges in the latter. Knutson almost upset Dunn in the 100 on Tuesday, losing by a mere 1/100th of a second. Knutson, who set school records in the 100, 200 and long jump at Hedrick Middle School last year, could have been part of the vaunted Tornado sprint corps because she lives in the so-called gray area of town that makes her eligible to attend either school. But because her older brother, Kyle, attends South, she chose to be a Panther. Knutson hopes to eventually break the South Medford school record in the 100 (12.33 by Amois Gonzales in 1998). But this season, she'll settle on advancing to the Class 4A state meet. "That's my No. 1 goal - getting to state," she said. Sophomore Mallory Carlton cleared 5 feet in the high jump to provide the South girls with their only other individual victory. North Medford got wins from Rachel Munyon in the discus (110-0), Heather Hodnett in the 100 hurdles (17.4) and Brianne Hwang in the 1,500 (5:15.0) and 3,000 (11:02.7). Hwang, a freshman, has improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the season. Running under the tutelage of first-year Tornado distance coach Marnie Mason, Hwang has chopped more than 20 seconds off her best time in the 1,500 and more than a minute off her best in the 3,000 in the last two weeks. Her 3,000 time Friday was a PR by 54 seconds. "She (Mason) has put us through some tough interval workouts, but it's really paying off," Hwang said. "She knows what she's doing." Crater's Jessica Stoner also had a good day with victories in the long jump (15-8) and 400 (1:01.6). Trevor Hanlin fueled the Grants Pass boys to victory with meet record performances in the 1,500 (4:19.0) and 3,000 (9:18.8). But the top mark of the day belonged to Crater sophomore Jason James, who clocked 15.0 to win the 110 hurdles and shatter the meet record of 16.1 that he set a year earlier. "That might be the best race I've run, but I know I can get into the 14's," said James, who also won the 300 hurdles in 41.4. "I need to stay lower and keep my speed over the final two hurdles." Other top marks belonged to Crater's Brandon Farey, who set a meet record of 141-4 in the discus; Roseburg's Austin Shoptaw, who cleared 13-0 in the pole vault; and South Medford's Tyler King, who reached 20-21/2 in the long jump and 39-11 in the triple jump. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.