Document text
SUNNY Temp: 50 °F Wind: ENE at 3 mph Friday, June 7, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend May 25, 2002 Extra work pays off for Phoenix’s May in the 3,000 The Pirate junior was one of two competitors from the Rogue Valley to win a championship during the first day of the state meet By DON HUNT Mail Tribune EUGENE — When Nathan May finished fourth in the 3,000 meters at the Class 3A state track meet last year, he knew what he needed to emerge as a state champion in 2002: More speed. The Phoenix High junior worked all spring on sprucing up his finishing kick and it paid off Friday at Hayward Field when he pulled away from the competition over the final 200 meters to win the 3,000 in 9 minutes, 1.99 seconds. May was one of two competitors from the Rogue Valley to win a championship during the first day of the state meet, which includes athletes from the Class 4A and 3A levels. North Valley’s Travis Wheeler took home the 3A boys discus title with a lifetime best mark of 166 feet, 1 inch. "I’ve only run the 3,000 a handful of times this year because I wanted to run more 800s and 1,500s and increase my speed," said May, who will aim for a second state title today when he takes the starting line of the 1,500. "And I’ve done a lot more speedwork in practice. "The 3,000 is a long race, but when you get up here there’s always going to be guys with good kicks and if you don’t have one, you’ll have a tough time winning." May led for all but one lap of the 7½ -lap race but could never shake Astoria’s Joe Mansfield and Wilsonville’s Kobi Daum until the final 200 meters when he found another gear to win by 15 meters. Daum took second in 9:04.01 and Mansfield was third in 9:05.61. "Nathan did all the work to win that race," Phoenix coach Hans Voskes said. "He put in a couple of spurts to break up the pack and make it a three-man race. He wasn’t afraid to go on the offensive and take the lead. "There were probably a couple guys in the field who could have outkicked him if the pace was slow, but that’s why Nathan took the lead and threw in those surges. "Strategically, he couldn’t have run any smarter." While May won the 3A boys 3,000, Klamath Union’s Jacob Gomez did likewise a few minutes later in the 4A race. He, too, ran wisely, pulling away from the field over the final 800 meters to triumph in a swift 8:25.35. Gomez beat runner-up Jon Marcus of Franklin by more than 20 seconds as he won the boys 4A 3,000 title for the second straight year. "I forced myself to run past everyone with 800 meters to go," said Gomez, who will also double back and run the 1,500 today. "(Central Catholic’s) Galen Rupp was throwing in all kinds of crazy surges and I finally decided to just take off." The Southern Oregon Conference produced another champion Friday when Roseburg’s Joe Newton won the 4A boys discus, but his title didn’t come without some scary moments. Newton played track and field’s version of Russian Roulette when he scratched his first two throws of the preliminary round. With just one throw left to boost him into the finals, the 6- foot-6, 230-pound senior reached 171 feet, good enough to be the winning mark. Newton improved to 178-10 in the finals and became the third SOC discus thrower in as many years to win the state title. Jake Zeliff of Grants Pass won in 2000 and North Medford’s Scott Myers triumphed in 2001. The Cavemen’s Casey McIntosh finished second to Newton Friday with a heave of 162-6. "My first throw went out of the sector (out of bounds) and I couldn’t stay in the ring on my second one," Newton said. "I was pretty nervous, but on my third throw I just told myself to stay in the ring and keep it between the lines." Said Roseburg throwing coach Jeff Church: "I dang near chewed a hole in the fence waiting for Joe’s third throw. You wait all year for this meet and then you flirt with disaster. But Joe has been in a lot of pressure situations in other sports (football and basketball) and he knows how to compete when everything is on the line." Eagle Point’s Robbie Johnston also came through under pressure, soaring to a school record and lifetime best of 15 feet to take third place in the 4A boys pole vault. Sandy’s Tommy Skipper established a meet record — one of four on the day — with a 17-foot vault. Like Newton, Johnston also courted trouble, needing third jumps at 13-6 and 14-0. "Fifteen feet has been my goal all year and it’s great that it came here at the state meet," said Johnston, a sophomore who placed ninth at state a year ago. Johnston broke his pole two weeks ago and borrowed one from South Medford that he used to win district. He got a new pole last week but didn’t use it Saturday until the bar went to 14-6. "The new pole has more spring but it’s also stiffer and I wasn’t able to bend it very well in practice this week," Johnston said. "But once the bar went to 14-6 I needed the extra spring and it (the new pole) worked great. "I had a lot of adrenaline pumping through me and we had a nice tailwind." The Eagles also got a good effort from Katrina Anderson, who finished fourth in the 4A girls shot put with a mark of 38-10¾ . The Medford schools, meanwhile, had an up-and-down day. The North Medford girls fared well as both of their relay teams, Brittany Hodges in the 200 and 400 and Rosana Medina in the 300 hurdles moved through the qualifying rounds and into today’s finals. The South Medford girls weren’t so fortunate. Their day started badly when the Panthers’ 4x100 relay team got disqualified, and it only got worse from there. Hope Berkey had her worst day of the season in the shot put, managing just 35-9¼ for 10th place, and Noi Hilgendorf never made it to the starting line of the 800 and 4x400 qualifying rounds due to illness. Heather Frigaard finally gave the Panther girls something to feel good about when she advanced to the finals in the 100 and 300 hurdles, and freshman Kaylyn Knutson did likewise in the 200. Whitney Grant provided the South girls with their only point of the day when she took eighth in the long jump at 16-8¼ . As for the South boys, Jonathan Klenke advanced to the finals in the 100 and 200 and the Panthers’ 4x400 relay team ran a season-best time of 3:24.05 to move on to today’s finals. But the Panther boys had their share of struggles, too, as Shaun Olson failed to advance to the finals of the 800, Andres Reed never made it past the qualifying rounds of the 100 and 200 and their 4x100 relay went up in smoke due to a couple of bad handoffs. North Medford’s Aaron Barlow came through with a lifetime best of 21-10¾ in the long jump, good enough for fifth place, and Tornado hurdler Chris Vorgang breezed into the finals of the 300 hurdles. Along with Skipper, other competitors who set meet records Friday were Churchill standout Jordan Kent, who clocked 10.6 in a 4A boys 100 preliminary; Wilsonville’s Brandon Roosevelt, who clocked 22.12 in a 3A boys 200 preliminary; and the Benson girls 4x400 relay team, which blazed to a time of 3:53.36. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S