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South jumper soars to new heights for title Photo by Jim Craven Ethan Wallenberg of South Medford matches the school record and earns a win in the high jump at 6 feet, 7 inches. By DON HUNT CENTRAL POINT -- At this time last year, Ethan Wallenberg was playing on the South Medford High JV golf team. The experience was a nice respite from the rigors of soccer and basketball. But this spring, Wallenberg wanted more action, and so he decided to give track and field a try. At the Southern Oregon Conference district meet Thursday at Crater High, Wallenberg won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 7 inches and tied the school record. Wallenberg, a senior, was thrilled with his achievement but also saddened by the struggles of teammate Colin Grant, who had set the school record earlier this season and has been the more consistent jumper. Grant cleared 6-4 Thursday but finished third to Wallenberg and Roseburg's Brad Coen, who went 6-5, and thus missed out on a trip to next week's state meet. "This is bittersweet," said Wallenberg, who established a lifetime best by a whopping three inches. "Colin's a better jumper than me and really deserves to go to state." In other boys finals contested Thursday, Crater's Ryan Rackley won the pole vault (13-6); Roseburg's Joe Newton outdueled North Medford's Scott Myers to capture the discus (169-5); Jake Zeliff claimed the long jump (22-0); and Klamath Union's Ian Dobson cruised to victory in the 3,000 meters (8:49.13). Roseburg grabbed the first-day lead in the boys team standings with 38 points and Crater was second with 35. But pre-meet favorite Grants Pass, which stands third with 33 points, qualified all of its big guns into Saturday's final action and remains the team to beat. In the girls portion of the meet, South Medford's Whitney Grant took the long jump in dramatic fashion by sailing a school record 17-1 on her final attempt; Crater's Carissa Nafie won the discus (120-3); Ashland's Chava Florenda triumphed in the javelin (127-10); and Ashland's Paris Edwards won the 3,000 (10:13.1) Ashland amassed 37 points to take the girls lead, followed by Roseburg with 31, South Medford with 24 and North Medford with 20. Wallenberg thought his best chance at qualifying for the state meet would be in the long jump, where he had the second-best mark (20-5) coming into district. But two scratches and a meager mark of 18 feet left him near the back of the pack. "I was really angry at myself for what happened in the long jump," Wallenberg said, "and so I took it out on the high jump bar." After Wallenberg cleared 6-6 and clinched the win, South Medford coach Bill Rowan suggested he move the bar to 6-7, a half-inch higher than Grant's school record. But Wallenberg opted for 6-7 and then missed three times at 6-8. "I'm happy being tied with Colin," Wallenberg said. "If I could have made 6-8, fine, but 6-7 just didn't seem right." The most spirited boys competition came in the discus, where Newton and North Medford's Scott Myers waged a see-saw battle. The pair were tied at 166-0 in the trials before Myers took the lead with a lifetime-best toss of 168-2 in the first round of the finals. Newton came back with a winning mark of 169-2 on his final attempt of the day. "I had four throws over 160 feet and I'm going to state -- there's nothing wrong with that," Myers said. "Joe and I have a friendly rivalry going. Early in the year he seemed pretty tense in the ring and I did my best to calm him down. And now he's beating me. "But that's OK. I'll get him back at the state meet." Zeliff finished third with a mark of 163-0 and by surpassing the state qualifying standard of 158-3 also made it to state in the event. Rackley, the Crater pole vaulter, never missed a vault until the bar was raised to 14 feet as he beat out teammate Mike Moore for the win. "I went to a bigger pole a few weeks ago and I'm just now getting used to it," said Rackley, whose best of 13-6 Thursday was a personal record by six inches. "But the key for me today was staying relaxed. It helped being able to jump in my home pit." Whitney Grant -- Colin Grant's sister -- had a brilliant day in the girls long jump. The sophomore soared 16-1 or further on all six of her jumps including her winning mark of 17-1 that pushed her past Roseburg's Jennifer Lint (16-7). The normally stoic Grant jumped into the air and flashed a big grin as her winning mark was announced. "I've worked all season to hit 17 feet and it felt great to have it happen on my last jump at district," said Grant, who's in her first season of long jumping. "I've been working to increase my speed on the runway and everything came together today. "On my last jump I knew I already had a trip to state wrapped up and I just went for it. I had nothing to lose." South Medford jumps coach Mark Losinski said Grant is an example of an athlete getting the most out of their ability. "She's not the fastest kid out there and other kids may have more spring in their legs," Losinski said. "But Whitney works hard every day in practice and she's one of the most focused athletes I've seen. And she knows how to win." "By the time she graduates I wouldn't be surprised if she jumps 18 feet." Saturday's field events begin at 11:30 a.m. The first running event -- the 4 x 100 relay -- starts at 1 p.m. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA