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photo by Andy Atkinson Winner Selena Harman, right, of Rogue River, and South's Sarah Eyman run the 1,500. Martin leads Panthers to win in Classic By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN CENTRAL POINT -- The South Medford High girls track team rode the talented and mighty legs of senior sprinter Janette Martin to the Crater Classic title on Saturday. Martin won the 100, 200 and 400 meters and provided a stirring, meet-winning charge as the anchor leg of the mile relay. She took the baton in sixth place and churned to third, giving the Panthers a four-point win over Klamath Union in the team race at Crater High. South Medford scored 104 points, Klamath Union 100 and Marshfield 74. In the boys meet, Thurston of Springfield won with 112 points and Bend was second with 60. Crater finished third with 53, Marshfield fourth with 42 and South Medford fifth with 38. In the combined boys and girls all-around scoring, Thurston finished first with 172 points and South Medford was second with 142. Martin broke former teammate Amois Gonzales' Crater Classic meet record in the 400, winning in 56.98 seconds. Gonzales' old record was 58:02. Martin won the 100 in 12.46 and she took the 200 in a time of 25.84. "I'm pretty happy with the record," said Martin. "I was going after it today, after I came close to breaking it last year. "It was a beautiful day," said Martin. "That really helped my times. I came out pumped and feeling good for the 400 after already winning the 100." Martin wasn't the only athlete to impressively break a meet record. Marshfield High junior pole vaulter Trevor Wood cleared 15-4 on his first vault and narrowly missed 15-8 on his second attempt in breaking the old meet record of 14-6. South Medford's Kristen Russell also set a meet record in winning the girls pole vault at 10 feet, 6 inches. In the girls 3,000, Rogue River's Jodi Minard rolled past the field in winning in 11:02:52. Minard's teammate, Selena Harman, won the 1,500 in 4:55.68. Eagle Point High senior John Lucas displayed the finishing kick he admits he's lacked in the past in running down South Eugene sophomore Eric Heinonen to win the 3,000 meters in a time of 8:45.08. "My problem in the past with my kick has been all mental," said Lucas. "I'm a little stronger and a little better this year, but I always had it in me. My feeling this year is that I won't quit. Until I'm dead at the finish line, I can go faster." "This is my senior year, and I decided it's time to go for it," said Lucas. "I have to eat, sleep and drink state championship." Minard, a second-place finisher in the 3,000 in the 1997 state meet, says her performance rekindles her confidence and high goals after she had what she calls a disappointing junior year. "I'd like to get at least second place at state," said Minard, who has signed a letter of intent to run track and cross Country for the University of Portland, starting next year. "It's always a tough field up there (at state), but I think I'm ready for it." South Medford coach Bill Rowan said Martin's three-victory effort and her impressive anchor leg of the mile relay to give the Panthers the team title was a memorable one. "I haven't seen a performance any better," said Rowan. "Her 100 and 200 times are state-ranked marks and her 400 time should be a state-best, unless somebody ran faster today." Martin said Sara Schaaf of Klamath Union helped her get off to a fast start in her meet-record time in the 400. "She was on my right at the start, so she was ahead of me," said Martin. "I tried to catch her on the first turn and that got me going." Then, she took off. "I felt real good and strong," said Martin. "It was fun." Martin said one of the South Medford coaches said he timed her in 56.3 seconds for her split in the mile relay. "If it's true, that's my best time," said Martin. "But that race is different. I was just trying to pass as many runners as I could and there was no pressure to win since I started off so far behind." South Medford senior Perry Custance won the 800 in 1:56.70 and took second in the 1,500 in 4:01.87 behind Klamath Union's Dobson. "It was a banner day for Perry," said Rowan. "That was a great double. His time in the 800 may be a state-leading time." Custance said he had to grind his way to his win in the 800. "I had to forget the pain and go pass the leader on the second lap,'' he said. "In the end, it felt real good." Crater's Scott Toney won the shot put with a throw of 52-6. "It's my PR (personal record) by about a foot," said Toney. "The good weather and a big meet really helped me." Dobson held off Custance and Lucas to win the 1,500 in 3:58.5. Custance was timed in 4:01.87 and Lucas was third in 4:03.78. "I was pretty upset," said Lucas. "Ian passed me at the end, and I had given away another one. I said, `Go ahead, Ian, take it from me.' I was mad. "I wasn't going to let it happen again in the 3,000," said Lucas. Kylie Healy of South Medford won the discus with a throw of 116-1. More than 800 athletes represented 66 teams, according to Crater coach and meet director Hans Smith. "The biggest thing that makes this meet so great is the help we get running it," said Smith. "It is tremendous." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.