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CLOUDY Temp: 56 °F Wind: WNW at 8 mph Saturday, June 21, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 25, 2003 Pole ‘delivers’ district title for Jentzsch By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune ASHLAND — What’s in a name? Quite a lot if you’re talking about Rogue River vaulter Shannon Jentzsch and the moniker she attached to her new pole. "Saturday Delivery," she said sheepishly after her father, Randy, urged the junior to divulge the name. Jentzsch and her pole lived up to the name, teaming for a Skyline Conference district meet record Saturday at Southern Oregon University. Advertisement Jentzsch, who only took up the event this season, scaled 11 feet, 3 inches to break the mark of 11-0 set by Kerry Teamy five years earlier. She then missed on three attempts at 11-6. Jentzsch was among a handful of individual standouts vying for berths to the state meet next Friday and Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene. In addition, she advanced to state with runner-up placings in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. The top two placers in each event move on. Phoenix’s Kat Cox, on the girls side, and Nathan May, on the boys side, also came up big, as did North Valley hurdler Jeremiah Lewman and Lakeview sprinter/jumper Ryan Nash. Cox won the 100 meters and 100 hurdles, plus ran anchor on the triumphant 4x100 and runner-up 4x400 relay teams. May, who won the 3,000 on Friday, added the 1,500 crown to his resume and was on Phoenix’s runner-up 4x100 relay. Lewman ran flawless races to take both hurdles and was second to Nash in the 100. Nash also captured the triple jump, to go along with a Friday victory in the long jump, and ran a leg on the runner-up short relay. In a tight battle for the boys team title, Henley scored 114.5 points to nip co-runners-up Phoenix and Mazama, with 113.5 each. Henley breezed to the girls victory, scoring 167 points to second-place Mazama’s 90. Phoenix scored 80 for third. Jentzsch’s previous best competitive vault was 10-0. She got the grandstand crowd’s attention after clearing 11-0. She missed badly on her first attempt at 11-3, then came a tad closer. On her third and final try, she rewarded fans’ rhythmic, encouraging clapping of hands by effortlessly sailing over the bar. The difference in her three vaults could be traced to her knowledge of the pole she’s had all of two weeks. "I had to move my grip down," said Jentzsch. "The pole was getting really soft. The coaches have taught me to know the pole and how soft it is and how to get up on it." Jentzsch had wanted to try vaulting since middle school, but there was no one to coach her. Enter Ron Logan, an assistant to head coach Adam Stallsworth. He advised her as she tried to hit 11-6 but was unable to get her legs over the bar. "I was confident," said Jentzsch, "but I was still too excited about going 11-3." Logan, who said his prot�g� exhibited more speed on her approach than in the past, expects a little fine-tuning to go a long way as Jentzsch — who has improved steadily through the season — readies for state. "I don’t expect next week to be any different from any other week," he said. "She has consistently improved, and I think there’s room for another 6 inches, maybe more, over what she did today." Cox ran a season’s-best 12.98 to win the 100 and took the 100 hurdles in 16.32, one-tenth off her best. "My coach told me that at districts the clocks don’t matter," said Cox. "The first two go to state. It’s like when you used to be on the playground. Whoever gets first is the winner." She also got first in the short relay with Kristen Davis, Jessica Howard and Hallie Storey. They came in at 52.35, more than a second ahead of Hidden Valley. "Our 4x100 is really quick," said Cox. "We have really good handoffs with the group we have in it now." Also on the girls side, Henley’s Emily Mathis claimed three titles — the 400 (1:00.37), the 800 (2:28.17) and the 1,500 (5:08.09); Rogue River’s Christina Malara won the 200 in 27.34 and Phoenix freshman Marci Klimek made a stirring run at Mathis in the 800 before settling for second in 2:28.34. After setting a meet record the day before in the 3,000, May didn’t have great expectations for the 1,500. He clocked 4:15.11 to win, but was nearly eight seconds off his best this year. "It wasn’t for any kind of time," said May, who last year at state won the 3,000 and was runner-up in the 1,500. "Nothing special, just run the race to try to get team points." Teammate Lalo Flores provided excitement just off May’s shoulder, barely outkicking Hidden Valley’s Jesse Hart for second and a trip to state. Flores’ time was 4:16.17 to Hart’s 4:16.41. Lewman established personal bests in both hurdles, eclipsing 16 seconds in the 110 highs for the first time to win in 15.66. Another crisp trip in the 300 intermediates led to not only a PR, but a school-record time of 39.36. Ken Hiler set the mark of 39.64 last year. "This was the day of my life," said Lewman. "I felt awesome, just awesome." He was excited about the intermediates and the record, but he was equally thrilled with the high hurdles. Lewman is 5-foot-4. "It’s hard to do the highs when you’re short," he said. Lewman came up just short in the 100 to Nash. The winner clocked 11.0, Lewman 11.28. Nash has gone a Class 3A state best of 48-11 in the triple jump, but he struggled with his steps Saturday and managed to mix in a winning leap of 44-8 with a spate of fouls. Phoenix’s John Feeney and Flores dueled to the end in the 800, Feeney winning in 2:05.02 to Flores’ 2:05.35. For Illinois Valley, Jon Riley (173-03¼ ) and Josh Pope (165-11½ ) went 1-2 in the javelin. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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