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South sweeps by North on track Photo by Jim Craven Justin Baldoni of South Medford High, left, scores a victory in the 100 meters during a Southern Oregon Conference dual meet against North Medford Thursday at Spiegelberg Stadium. Baldoni was clocked in 11.5. At right is Justin Bilodeau of North Medford High. South Medford triumphed in both the boys and girls competitions. Black Tornado thrower Myers establishes state best in shot put By GREG STILES South Medford's girls extended their dual-meet dominance over North Medford to 14 years Thursday night, while the Panthers ruled in the sprints and jumps to win the boys track and field competition as well. While North's injury woes mounted, South came up with big performances in both meets to wrap up the wins before the final relay on Bob Newland Track at Spiegelberg Stadium. "Our goal is always to have kids blooming at the end of the season and the kids just blossomed tonight," said South Medford coach Bill Rowan. In perhaps the best overall battle between the schools since the North-South split in the fall of 1986, three meet records fell in the boys competition. North junior weightman Scott Myers powered the 12-pound shot 57 feet, 4 inches to take over the state lead, while easily surpassing the meet mark of 52-7 by South's Shawn Davis in 1995. South senior distance runner Perry Custance, who has been among the top state 800-meter performers all spring, shaved a half-second off his best in dropping the meet record to 1:56.2. The old North-South mark of 1:57.4 was posted by the Tornado's Noey Meador in 1995. Custance also lowed Meador's 4:09.8 meet mark in the 1,500 to 4:09.3. Myers was the top-ranked Class 4A sophomore in the shot put a year ago with a best of 52-5 but failed to make it past district. But he left little doubt about the direction he's headed Thursday with his final three tosses going 54-3, 57-4 and a scratch throw in the 56-foot range. "I was pretty positive I could get 57 feet," Myers said. "I've been working on a new form where I'm getting lower with more speed. When I saw the guy (Chris Dearmon) from Crater being called the top thrower in the SOC, I went `Uh, uh.' I cut that out and put it on my locker. "My goal all week was to toss one out there." His mark surpassed West Linn senior Rob Mamula's 57-3 on the state leader list. "My goal now is to go 60 and become state champion," Myers said. "I still have a lot of work." Myers also muscled his way into the state leader list in the discus with a 163-5 toss. His previous best was 161-2 last year. Once action picked up on the track, however, South picked up the pace. Sophomore Justin Baldoni led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 meters, clocking the same 11.5 time as freshman Andres Reed. In the 200, Reed edged out Baldoni 23.1 to 23.3. "Last time, I won the 100 and 200," Reed said. "But it's an on-and-off thing. But I know I'm making him work harder." Custance found himself working a lot harder than he planned two days before the Grants Pass Rotary Invitational. After going 1-2 with sophomore Shaun Olson in the 1,500, Custance was challenged by North's Nick Dunn in the 800. North coach Mark Hodges, seeking to compensate for injuries to sprinters Thomas O'Brien, Matt Parrish and Simon Driskell, entered Dunn in both hurdles races and the 800. Last year, Dunn upset Custance in the 800 as North defeated South at Bowerman Field. A similar outcome might have swayed things the Tornado's direction once again. But Custance was ready this time. "I knew I had to run faster than I planned," Custance admitted. "When he beat me over there last year, it was disappointing. If I was a freshman or sophomore, I'd be hurting, but I recover faster now." Although Dunn broke up Custance and Olson's chance for a 1-2 finish, South virtually locked up the meet at that point, taking a 67-47 lead. Ethan Wallenberg gave the Panthers a boost with wins in the long jump (19-9) and triple jump (42-4) and teammate Colin Grant beat Wallenberg in the high jump, although both cleared 6-4. Dunn (15.8, 41.1) and Chris Vorgang (16.2, 43.0) went 1-2 in both hurdles for the Tornado. "I wasn't that tired after the high hurdles, but I was woozy before the 800," admitted Dunn. "I was still woozy after the 800, but I was finally feeling pretty good for the 300 hurdles." South's dominance in the girls competition is witnessed by the fact that the Panthers own all but two of the meet records. The Tornado's hopes for ending South's stranglehold rested on its sprint crew -- one of the best in the state. But early in the meet, disaster struck when senior Jamie MacLauchlan pulled a hamstring while running the third leg of the 4x100 relay. Although the Tornado won the race, it was disqualified for passing the baton out of the exchange zone. "It's not good for us," said Hodges. "When the strength of your team is sprinters and one of them goes down, you're in trouble." Jennifer Abbott battled from behind to lead a sweep for North in the 100 as she, Emily Dunn and Keri Cain were all timed in 12.8. When Tice led a sweep in the 200 (26.0), North was still within striking distance. But South's strength in the hurdles and distances were too much for the Tornado. Sophomore Heather Frigaard equaled her best of 15.4 in the 100 hurdles and she came back with a 47.8 in 300 hurdles. Aside from freshman Rosanna Medina's surprise win in the 400 (1:00.1), North had little to counter South's depth in the distances. The Panthers outscored the Tornado 24-3 in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000. Noey Hilgendorf led a sweep in the 1,500 (5:16.5) and Sarah Eyman led a 1-2-3 finish in the 3,000 (10:42.8) after winning the 800. Whitney Grant popped a 16-foot leap to win the long jump on her final turn. BOYS TEAM SCORES -- South Medford 79, North Medford 66. SHOT PUT -- 1, Scott Myers, NM, 57-4 (Betters meet record of 52-7 by Shawn Davis, SM, 1995); 2, Justin Baehman, NM, 48-4; 3, Cameron Gallop, SM, 45-2. DISCUS -- 1, Scott Myers, NM, 163-5; 2, Just Baehman, NM, 142-10; 3, Dan Johnson, NM, 132-9. JAVELIN -- 1, Chris Thomas, SM, 151-11; 2, Tim Miner, NM, 150-5; 3, Matt Haveniear, NM 144-1. HIGH JUMP -- 1, Colin Grant, SM, 6-4; 2, Ethan Wallenberg, SM, 6-4; 3, John Bracken, NM, 6-2. LONG JUMP -- 1, Ethan Wallenberg, SM, 19-9; 2, Matt Griffiths, SM , 19-1; 3, Dustin Brooks, NM, 18-3. TRIPLE JUMP -- 1, Ethan Wallenberg, SM, 42-4; 2, Matt Griffiths, SM, 41-9; 3, Dustin Brooks, NM, 39-10. POLE VAULT -- 1, John Bracken, NM, 11-0; 2, Matt Rowan, SM, 10-6; 3, Logan McConnell, SM, 10-0. 110-METER HURDLES -- 1, Nick Dunn, NM, 15.8; 2, Chris Vorgang, NM, 16.2; 3, Andy Cote, SM, 18.8. 300-METER HURDLES -- 1, Nick Dunn, NM, 41.1; 2, Chris Vorgang, NM, 43.0; 3, Jeremy Boyd, SM, 43.5. 100 METERS -- 1, Justin Baldoni, SM, 11.5; 2, Andres Reed, SM, 11.5; 3, Jonathan Klenke, SM, 11.6. 200 METERS -- 1, Andres Reed, SM, 23.1; 2, Justin Baldoni, SM, 23.3; 3, Andrew Ludlow, NM, 23.5. 400 METERS -- 1, Andrew Ludlow, NM, 52.3; 2, Britton St. Onge, SM, 53.2; 3, Kelly King, SM, 53.3. 800 METERS -- 1, Perry Custance, SM, 1:56.2 (Betters meet record of 1:57.4 by Noey Meador, NM, 1996); 2, Nick Dunn, NM, 1:57.5; 3, Shaun Olson, SM, 1:58.2. 1,500 METERS -- 1, Perry Custance, SM, 4:09.3 (Betters meet record of 4:09.8 by Noey Meador, NM, 1996); 2, Shaun Olson, SM, 4:13.7; 3, Nick Niemeyer, NM, 4:17.6. 3,000 METERS -- 1, Kedrick Charlton, NM, 9:26.6; 2, Alando Paco, SM, 9:27.6; 3, Nick Niemeyer, NM, 9:28.0. 4X100 RELAY -- 1, South Medford (Kelly Kings, Andres Reed, Jonathan Klenke, Justin Baldoni) 44.6; North Medford disqualified. 4X400 RELAY -- North Medford (Ben Anderson, Matt Schneider, Andrew Ludlow, Nick Dunn) 3:31.6; 2, North Medford, 3:31.9. GIRLS TEAM SCORES -- South Medford 80, North Medford 65. SHOT PUT -- 1, Hope Berkey, SM, 32-3; 2, Crystal Worthington, NM, 32-0; 3, Kerby Boschee, NM, 31-6/ DISCUS -- 1, Kerby Boschee, NM, 104-0; 2, Michelle Himmelman, SM, 101-11; 3, Hope Berkey, SM, 98-11. JAVELIN -- 1, Heather Fossen, SM, 110-1; 2, Noelle Reed, SM, 109-5, SM; 3, Nicole Tucker, NM, 106-1. HIGH JUMP -- 1, Teri Silva, SM, 4-10; 2, Heather Frigaard, SM, 4-10; 3, Chaley Higgins, NM, 4-10. LONG JUMP -- 1, Whitney Grant, SM, 16-0; 2, Rosanna Medina, 15-11; 3, Emily Dunn, NM, 15-8. TRIPLE JUMP -- 1, Denali Tice, NM, 33-4; 2, Whitney Grant, SM, 33-1; 3, Emily Dunn, NM, 33-0. POLE VAULT -- 1, Nakali Maurin, NM, 9-0; 2, Gina Alvis, SM, 8-0; 3, Rosanna Medina, NM, 7-6. 100-METER HURDLES -- 1, Heather Frigaard, SM, 15.4; 2, Sarah Rountree, NM, 16.5; 3, Sarah Duarte, SM, 18.0. 300-METER HURDLES -- 1, Heather Frigaard, SM, 47.8; 2, Sarah Duarte, SM, 50.5; 3, Sarah Rountree, NM, 51.4. 100 METERS -- 1, Jennifer Abbott, NM, 12.8; 2, Emily Dunn, NM, 12.8; 3, Keri Cain, NM, 12.8. 200 METERS -- 1, Denali Tice, NM, 26.0; 2, Jennifer Abbott, NM, 26.2; 3, Keri Cain, NM, 26.8 400 METERS -- 1, Rosanna Medina, NM, 1:01.1; 2, Denali Tice, NM, 1:01.2; 3, Whitney Grant, SM, 1:02.5. 800 METERS -- 1, Sarah Eyman, SM, 2:23.3.; 2, Jessica Grimes, NM, 2:28.2; 3, Emily Perttu, SM, 2:31.4. 1,500 METERS -- 1, Noey Hilgendorf, SM, 5:16.5; 2, Emily Perttu, SM, 5:35.3; 3, Esther Cole, SM, 5:35.7. 3,000 METERS -- 1, Sarah Eyman SM, 10:42.8; 2, Noey Hilgendorf, SM, 12:00.5; 3, Kelly Sullivan, SM, 12:17.3. 4X100 RELAY -- 1, South Medford (Sarah Duarte, Noelle Reed, Collette Keck, Sarah Vaughn) 53.1; 2, North Medford DQ. 4X400 RELAY -- 1, North Medford (Rosanna Medina, Jennifer Abbott, Jessica Grimes, Denali Tice) 4:14.4; 2, South Medford 4:29.8. 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