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Roseburg grabs early advantage By DON HUNT KLAMATH FALLS - South Medford's Whitney Grant needed only one jump to win the Southern Oregon Conference girls district long jump championship on Thursday. But there was no lack of drama in the event. Grant soared to a lifetime best and school-record mark of 17 feet, 4 inches on her first jump of the day, only to watch Roseburg's Jennifer Lint match that effort on her second jump. The two juniors, who have taken turns beating each other by an inch or two since the beginning of last season, did their best to break the tie. But the deadlock remained, and all that separated the duo was Grant's superior second-best mark of 17-2. Roseburg grabbed the team lead after the opening day of the meet with 37 points, followed by Klamath Union with 28, South Medford with 27, Ashland with 23 and Crater and North Medford with 18 apiece. Roseburg, Klamath, South and North are expected to battle for the team championship when the meet resumes at 11 a.m. Saturday. "That was fun," Grant said a few minutes after the long jump competition had ended at John H. Moehl Stadium on the Oregon Institute of Technology campus. "It's always close between me and her (Lint). We push each other." Grant also nipped Lint for the district title last season, sailing to a mark of 17-11/4 on her final jump of the competition. Lint nearly returned the favor Thursday, launching herself near the 18-foot mark on her final attempt - only to scratch. Lint beat Grant in a dual meet last week when she registered her personal record of 17-5. "Those two kids have developed a great rivalry," South Medford coach Bill Rowan said. "Lint has beaten Whitney at a couple of dual meets and at the state meet last year, but Whitney owns the district titles. "Whitney's a tiger. I wish I could clone her a hundred times." Grant's teammates also had a good day in the long jump. Tasha Wright reached a lifetime best of 16-5 to claim fourth and Teri Silva hit a PR of 16-23/4 to take sixth. The 1-4-6 finish gave South Medford a whopping 18 points in the event, and the Panthers picked up bonus points when senior Heather Fossen reached a lifetime best of 122-1 to finish second in the javelin and punch her ticket to next week's state meet. The trip to state is especially gratifying to Fossen, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee last August and forced her to miss the entire soccer and basketball seasons. "It feels great just to be able to compete in something," Fossen said. Fossen has been hesitant to run full speed down the runway and plant on her left leg, which still requires a brace following surgery nine months ago. But she eschewed discretion on her final throw Thursday. "I just decided to go for it," she said with a shrug. "That's the first time I've been able to overcome my knee." Roseburg's Taylor Jones won the javelin with a throw of 127-1. In other girls finals Thursday, Crater's Carissa Nafie won the discus with a mark of 123-6 and Ashland's Paris Edwards cruised to victory in the 3,000 in 10:34.74. Nafie was 4 feet off her personal best but was still pleased with her victory. "I had five throws over 120 feet, so the consistency factor was there," she said. "I know I've got a lot bigger throw in me and hopefully we'll see it next week at the state meet." Paris' time was well off her lifetime best of 9:58 set last season at Centennial, but was none too shabby considering the 15 mph wind the runners had to contend with, not to mention the 4,100-foot elevation of Klamath Falls, Ashland coach Bob Julian said. "I told Paris when she went out there that we had one purpose in mind, and that was to qualify for the state meet," Julian said. "She wasn't going to run a PR in this wind and this altitude." Although North Medford scored only 17 points Thursday, the Black Tornado had a solid day in qualifying heats and remains poised to make a run at a second straight district title. The Tornado also picked up some bonus points in the discus, where sophomore Crystal Worthington finished fifth and freshman Rachel Munyon seventh, and in the long jump, where freshman Jenna Siebenlist bagged seventh. "We're in good shape, but the real test is Saturday and our kids know that," North Medford coach Mark Hodges said. "I still think Klamath is the favorite, but we'll see if we can nip at their heels a little bit." TEAM SCORES - Roseburg 37, Klamath Union 28, South Medford 27, Ashland 23, Crater 17, North Medford 17, Eagle Point 6, Grants Pass 1. DISCUS - 1-x, Carissa Nafie, C, 123-6. 2-x, Carly Morris-Picknell, R, 116-0. 3, Alisa Lee, EP, 115-0. 4, Taylor Jones, R, 114-9. 5, Crystal Worthington, NM, 108-8. 6, Sarah Payne, C, 108-0. 7, Rachel Munyon, NM, 103-0. 8, Hope Berkey, NM, 101-8. JAVELIN - 1-x, Taylor Jones, R, 127-1. 2-x, Heather Fossen, SM, 122-1. 3, Katrina Collins, KU, 120-3. 4, Nicole Tucker, NM, 114-8. 5, Nichollette LeBel, C, 109-2. 6, Tessa Maurer, A, 107-3. 7, Usa Donahoo, KU, 104-7. 8, Stacy Foster, A, 104-2. LONG JUMP - 1-x, Whitney Grant, SM, 17-4. 2, Jennifer Lint, R, 17-4. 3, Sam Gilbert, KU, 17-2. 4, Tasha Wright, SM, 16-5. 5, Emily Dunn, NM, 16-43/4. 6, Teri Silva, SM, 16-23/4. 7, Jenna Siebenlist, NM, 16-23/4. 8, Kristen Bitter, R, 15-71/2. 3,000 - 1-x, Paris Edwards, A, 10:34.74. 2-x, Liz Lindgren, KU, 10:45.29. 3, Adrienne Cesena, KU, 11:29.63. 4, Therese McCaffrey, A, 11:39.82. 5, Mariah Mayfield, 11:41.05. 6, Melis Garner, R, 11:44.33. 7, Chelsea Nicholls, R, 11:52.77. 8, Brittany Hodgson, GP, 12:02.92. x - denotes state-meet qualifier. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.