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KU edges Panthers for boys crown When the final points were totaled at the end of the meet, the Pelicans had 119 to South's 118 By DON HUNT Mail Tribune The unpredictable nature of track and field was never more evident than during the Southern Oregon Conference boys district meet Saturday at Bowerman Field. The meet ended with South Medford's Dan Hilgendorf blazing to a 49.9-second split and leading the Panthers' 4x400-meter relay team to victory. A couple of hours earlier, Hilgendorf developed a nasty cramp in the back of his right leg just prior to the start of the 400. He limped around the track in obvious anguish, stumbled across the finish line in last place and looked to be finished for the day. When the points were totaled at the end of the meet, Klamath Union had 119 to South Medford's 118. Some might conclude that an untimely leg cramp cost the Panthers a district championship. On the other hand, had Hilgendorf's guts not entered the picture - and yes, he threw up just as the meet ended - then South wouldn't have made it so tormentingly close at the end. "Hey, the kid battled back and did some great things," said South Medford coach Bill Rowan, noting that Hilgendorf finished third in the 200 in addition to anchoring the relay team to victory. "And that 400 was just one of 17 events. "A lot of other stuff happened." Indeed it did, but none of it was as visible as Hilgendorf grabbing the back of his leg and hobbling just as the 400 was set to start. He asked starter Harvey Tonn to delay the race for a couple moments, and Tonn obliged. But what Hilgendorf needed was 20 minutes and a masseuse. "I thought maybe I had (the cramp) worked out but then the gun went off and I totally cramped up again," Hilgendorf said. "It took everything I had just to finish." Hilgendorf's muscle misery and the oh-so-close team totals aside, the Panthers enjoyed an exceptional day. Their highlights included: Jonathan Klenke winning the 100 in 10.98, the 200 in a lifetime best of 22.3 and running a leg on South's 4x100 relay contingent that triumphed in a season's best of 43.03. Andres Reed taking second in both sprint races, although he barely edged Hilgendorf in the 200, clocking 22.60 to Hilgendorf's 22.63 as the Panthers went 1-2-3 in that event. Shaun Olson clocking a lifetime best of 1:56.11 in the 800. Olson couldn't keep up with Klamath Union's Lauren Jespersen, who sped to a 1:53.94 clocking, but still punched his ticket to the state meet. Olson also ran a 51-second split on the 4x400 relay. Tyler King sailing to a lifetime best of 42 feet, 10 inches in the triple jump - a personal record by more than two feet. King finished third to Grants Pass' Kory Mahr, who reached a state-best distance of 46-81/2, and North Medford's Dustin Brooks, who nailed his own PR at 44-3. Klamath Union, meanwhile, leaned on its distance corps of Jespersen, Jacob Gomez and Kevin Pelligrino to win the meet. The trio swept the 1,500 Saturday with Jespersen winning in 3:55.21 and Gomez grabbing second in 3:56.57, and they personally accounted for 57 of the Pelicans' 119 points. To illustrate just how dominant a runner Jespersen is, he purposely ran a slow opening lap of the 800 just so he could work on the following 200 - meters 400-600 - of the event. He was using it as a tune-up for next week's 800 at the state meet. "The third 200 is where a lot of the sprinter-type guys make their move (at state), and I want to be ready for that," Jespersen explained. "I want to be ready to make a surge right after that first lap and make those guys have to go around me." Almost lost in the tight battle for the team title was the most impressive mark of the entire meet - Chris Dearmon's 60-11 throw in the shot put. The massive heave broke the meet record of 60-6 set by Roseburg's Steve Petrie in 1967. Dearmon threw 59 feet in a meet last week but prior to that had been in a slump ever since he threw 60-7 on April 9. The Crater thrower wasn't discouraged, however. "My timing was off but I've been lifting weights and throwing hard in practice building up to this meet," he said. "I peaked last year at district and state and the same thing is happening now." Dearmon threw 57-8 in the preliminary round Saturday before reaching 60-8 and 60-11 on his final two throws. "I'm really happy about breaking the district record," Dearmon said. "That one was in the books for a long time." Trevor Palmer provided the Crater boys with their only other victory Saturday as he won the 400 in 50.64. Brennan Garrelts was a double winner for Roseburg as he claimed the 110 high hurdles in 14.8 and sped to a lifetime best of 38.86 to win the 300 intermediate hurdles. North Medford's Chris Vorgang, who false-started in the 110 hurdles Thursday, earned a state berth in the longer hurdles event by taking second in 39.4. The Tornado also got a good effort from Matt Schneider, who finished runner-up to Palmer in the 400 in 51.7. Cameron Voget was Ashland's lone winner, taking the javelin with a throw of 197-5. BOYS TEAM SCORES - Klamath Union 119, South Medford 118, Grants Pass 98, North Medford 97, Roseburg 88.5, Crater 62, Eagle Point 41.5, Ashland 39. SHOT PUT - 1, Chris Dearmon, C, 60-11; 2, Casey McIntosh, GP, 56-13/4; 3, David Faaeteete, NM, 50-91/2; 4, Joe Newton, R, 48-1; 5, Jimmy Johnson, KU, 47-3; 6, Jacob Olson, EP, 47-13/4; 7, Dom Rodriguez, KU, 46-33/4; 8, Adam Davidson, GP, 45-43/4. JAVELIN - 1, Cameron Voget, A, 197-5; 2, Tom Martin, GP, 184-7; 3, Manny Alegria, NM, 178-5; 4, Kelly Johnson, C, 174-10; 5, Mike Blay, GP, 165-3; 6, Brian Mahoney, KU, 164-11; 7, Nate Swisher, KU, 163-3; 8, Alan Phillips, SM, 158-11. TRIPLE JUMP - 1, Kory Mahr, GP, 46-81/2; 2, Dustin Brooks, NM, 44-3; 3, Tyler King, SM, 42-10; 4, Alex Grigas, NM, 42-71/2; 5, Zach Tucker, KU, 42-4; 6, Jonathan Klenke, SM, 42-1; 7, Jeff Teach, KU, 42-01/4; 8, Trae Richardson, R, 41-61/4. 110-METER HURDLES - 1, Brennan Garrelts, R, 14.80; 2, Jason James, C, 15.10; 3, Nick Trowbridge, R, 15.73; 4, Ryan Neuenschwander, SM, 15.80; 5, Jason Matthews, SM, 15.83; 6, Kory Mahr, GP, 16.00; 7, Andrew Norum, C, 16.16; 8, E.C. Holden, EP, 16.40. 300-METER HURDLES - 1, Brennan Garrelts, R, 38.86; 2, Chris Vorgang, NM, 39.40; 3, Jason James, C, 40.27; 4, Jason Matthews, SM, 40.90; 5, Andrew Norum, C, 41.27; 6, Ryan Neuenschwander, SM, 41.40; 7, Krister Balme, KU, 41.43; 8, Adam Wendt, KU, 44.70. 100 METERS - 1, Jonathan Klenke, SM, 10.98; 2, Andres Reed, SM, 11.31; 3, Paul Allen, GP, 11.41; 4, T.J. Mendenhall, R, 11.48; 5, D.J. Munoz, KU, 11.55; 6, Trent Huard, NM, 11.68; 7, Jeff Wilkinson, NM, 11.71; 8, Blair Brundige, R, 11.75. 200 METERS - 1, Jonathan Klenke, SM, 22.30; 2, Andres Reed, SM, 22.60; 3, Dan Hilgendorf, SM, 22.63; 4, T.J. Mendenhall, R, 22.97; 5, Trent Huard, NM, 23.10; 6, Ryan Douglas, KU, 23.17; 7, Paul Allen, GP, 23.24; 8, Randy Ratliff, 23.44. 400 METERS - 1, Trevor Palmer, C, 51.17; 2, Matt Schneider, NM, 51.70; 3, Ryan Douglas, KU, 52.23; 4, Kelly King, SM, 52.33; 5, Robert Corliss, EP, 52.37; 6, Alan Gomez, NM, 53.67; 7, Garrett Steinbroner, A, 54; 8, Dan Hilgendorf, SM, 54.24. 800 METERS - 1, Lauren Jespersen, KU, 1:53.94; 2, Shaun Olson, SM, 1:56.11; 3, Adam Wadsworth, R, 1:56.91; 4, Jeff Olsen, A, 1:58.37; 5, Andres Kendig, NM, 2:00.74; 6, Trevor Palmer, C, 2:04.51; 7, Logan Serra, GP, 2:07.65; 8, Nate Hoxmeier, A, 2:09.89. 1,500 METERS - 1, Lauren Jespersen, KU, 3:55.21; 2, Jacob Gomez, KU, 3:56.57; 3, Kevin Pellegrino, KU, 4:07.85; 4, David Richardson, A, 4:11.76; 5, Alando Pacas, SM, 4:14.29; 6, Trevor Hanlin, GP, 4:1569; 7, Kyle Lundwall, SM, 4:16.89; 8, Chris McLean, SM, 4:17.53. 4X100-METER RELAY - 1, South Medford (Kelly King, Dan Hilgendorf, Jonathan Klenke, Andres Reed) 43.03; 2, Grants Pass 43.93; 3, North Medford 44.06; 4, Roseburg 44.20; 5, Eagle Point 44.56; 6, Ashland 44.60; 7, Ashland 45.16; 8, Crater 45.20. 4X400-METER RELAY - 1, South Medford (Kelly King, Alando Pacas, Shaun Olson, Dan Hilgendorf) 3:25.12; 2, Klamath Union 3:25.86; 3, Roseburg 3:28.76; 4, North Medford 3:30.79; 5, Eagle Point 3:32.70; 6, Ashland 3:36.43; 7, Crater 3:36.60; 8, 3:44.24. 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.