Writeups from the 2007 season that appeared on the Home Page

Another race--another record!

Elijah Greer chopped almost another full second off his LO school 800 meters record as he ran 1:51.49 in placing 8th at the B-section of the Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field in Eugene on Saturday night (6.9.07).

Elijah Greer continued to improve on the LO school 800 meters record as he won that event in the Brooks meet of Champions in Seattle, WA, on Saturday (6.2.07) with a time of 1:52.44. The clocking is only .11 seconds shy of Central Catholic standout Taylor Morgan's sophomore record of 1:52.33 set in 2006. It is also the fastest time for high school in Oregon this year and easily bested his school record of 1:54.26 set at the TRL District meet in mid-May.

State Championships:
On the final day of the State Track & Field Championships at historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon Campus in Eugene, LO sophomore Elijah Greer sprinted to a 12-meter lead with 500 meters remaining and held off a charging Nathan Mathabane of Lincoln to win the State 1500-meter championship in a new personal best of 3:57.76. It was the second State title for a LO 1500-meter runner matching Doug Henderson's title in 1985.  Senior Riley Werner followed Greer across the finish line in a new personal best of 4:03.9 for sixth and gave LO 13 points in that event. Then in the final event of the day Werner led off the 4 x 400 relay, passed the stick to Logan Capps, who did the same to James Ratliff. Greer took the baton from Ratliff and finished off the third best time in LO history at 3:23.08 for a surprising 4th place finish. 
 
Earlier the girls 4 x 100 relay of JoJo Faris, Jacqui Wallis, Kate Mogentale and Mady Johnson moved the baton around the oval in a fine 49.98, almost the same as their qualifying time of 49.95, to place 7th in the 6A final. Freshman Tate Murray capped a great season as she placed 9th in the 1500-meter final in a fine 4:44.59.


Individuals attempting to qualify for Saturday's finals on Friday were JoJo Faris (100 meters), Jacqui Wallis (400/9th) and James Ratliff (300 Intermediate Hurdles/9th).
 
Three Rivers League District Championships
LO had a great showing at West Linn H.S. as the Lakers placed fourth in both the boys and girls competition, exceeding expectations.  Photos from the meet are on the Photos 3 page.

Elijah Greer had an outstanding evening on the final day of the Three Rivers League Championships conducted at West Linn High School statium. The Laker sophomore used his speed to pull away over the final 300 meters to win the 1500 final in a tactical 4:09.29. The time was over ten seconds slower than his seasonal best, but was enough for the win and a qualifying performance for this week's State Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene. Senior teammate Riley Werner ran very smart, staying in striking position until Greer took the led. Riley finished in 4:10.16 for second and the other State qualifying position.

Later in the 800 meters, Greer followed the early pace of Milwaukie's Ryan McLaughlin before sprinting to a new LO school record of 1:54.26 and another qualifying performance for State. Werner placed fourth as the two Lakers scored 33 points in the 800/1500 events. Then to cap off a perfect evening, they teammed with James Ratliff and Logan Capps to win a very exciting 4 x 400 relay in the final event of the meet. That earned the twosome a total of 38 points for the championships (Greer 22.5 and Werner 15.5).  Seeded well behind favored Putnam and Clackamas, Werner ran a great leadoff leg. Capps kept the Lakers in contention and Ratliff made a strong move on the back straightaway and another on the home stretch. Then was a stirring duel between Putnam's Ricky Garcia (the open 400 champ) and Greer, with the Laker breaking the tape first in a time of 3:27.65.

Before his leg on the victorious 4 x 400 relay, Ratliff had qualified for State in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles with a second place finish in 40.99 and had placed third in the 110 High Hurdles in 15.56. Those performances coupled with the relay gave James 16.5 points for the meet. The trio of Greer, Ratliff and Werner scored an amazing 54.5 points between them.

Micah Hatfield placed 6th in both the High (16.56) and Intermediate (42.43) Hurdles for six points. Curtis Houghton took fourth in the Pole Vault (13'00") for 5 points. Austin Snell tied for 6th in the High Jump (5'8") for 2.5 points, while Alex Martin's 9:36.46 was 7th in the 3000 meters (2 points) and Anthony Culver placed 7th in the 200 (23.49) (2 pts). Thomas Belesiu scored one point with his 8th place 55.50 in the open 400 meters.

In the young women's competition freshman Tate Murray qualified for State with her runnerup finish in the 1500 meters (4:52.04) and gutsy third place in the 800 (2:22.10). She also ran the second leg of the 4 x 400 relay which finished a surprising third with a seasonal best of 4:15.78. That earned Murray a total over 15 points. Junior sprinter JoJo Faris earned yet another trip to State by taking second in the 100 meters with a 12.99 clocking. She also led off the 4 x 100 relay which placed second to qualify for State, ahead of co-favorite Lakeridge, and placed 5th (27.25) in the 200. Freshman Jacqui Wallis qualified for State in the 400 with a personal best of 1:00.27 for second place. She was also a member of the qualifying 4 x 100 relay with Faris, Kate Mogentale and Mady Johnson as they ran a seasonal best of 50.27 and teamed with Murray, Lauren Ohlson and Emily Rohde on the 4 x 400 relay.

Shelley Chestler ran a personal best of 11:10.32 for 4th in the 3000 and came back on Friday for a 5th place (5:11.29) in the 1500; totalling 9 points.  Gina Contolini placed 5th (15'08.5") in the Long Jump and 6th (33'05") in the Triple Jump for seven points. Senior Emily Rohde ran 49.44 for 6th (3 points) after a fine 48.61 in the prelilms, while Lauren Ohlson placed 5th in the 800 final in 2:27.51 for 4 points.


TRL JV and Novice Championship
There were lots of highlights at the TRL Novice District Championships (5.4.07) at Rex Putnam High School. Freshman Jess Strull won the girls' 400 meters with a fine 1:05.37 and the Long Jump with a leap of 14'04.75". She also anchored the victorious 4 x 400 relay. Fellow classmate Paula Kearns won the 800 with a personal best of 2:41.64 and Molly Ponkevitch won the 3000 in 12:25.05. The foursome of Lauren Forward, Madison Keele, Taylor Teed and Andrea Ryder won the 4 x 100 relay in 54.65, while Megan Fischer, Natalie Lampson and Taylor Nantz joined Strull to clock 4:39.96 on the winning 4 x 400 Relay. Keele and Ryder swept the 100 with respective times of 13.56 and 13.69. They flipflopped in the 200 as Ryder placed first (28.79) with Keele (29.13) and teammate Taylor Teed third (29.65) for a 1-2-3 finish with Fischer 5th (30.21). Nicole Gregoire placed second in the High Jump at 4'06", and Michelle Gornbein was runnerup in the Triple Jump at 30'00.75" and 4th in the 100 (14.17).

Chris Luetjen continued his sprinting prowness with a 11.73 runnerup finish in the boys' 100. Cameron Lea placed secnond in the 110 High Hurdles in 18.20 and Nathan Thompson took 4th in the 200 (25.42). Paul Hoard was runnerup in the 1500 meters with a fine 4:38.20, while Sam Sanford and Ryan LeBuhn ran personal bests of 4:42.62 and 4:49.01 for 4th and 8th places. Hoard also ran 2:17 in the 800, while Keith Billings finished in 2:24.12 for 7th place. Sean Johnson was 6th in the Long Jump at 15'10.5", Kyle Teach took 5th in the Triple Jump at 29'11.5",  and Ryan Andrews was 8th in the Javelin (113'06"). 

esuit Relays Invitational:
Laker Freshman Tate Murray optimized her invitation to compete in the prestigious Jesuit Relays on a beautiful Friday (4.28.07)evening as she placed 5th in the most talented young ladies' 1500 meters of the season. After running much of the race 10 meters off the leaders, she began to close the gap at the beginnng of the final lap and moved into fourth place, passing Centennial star Michele Dettmann. However, Dettmann closed strong over the final 70 meters to edge past Tate as they finished 4th and 5th respectively. Tate's fifth place time was a sensational 4:43.69, which moves her to the number three performance on the LO All-Time Bests list. The race was won by Jesuit's super-frosh Sarah Bridges in 4:38.79--the fastest time in Oregon this season. Five freshmen were among the top nine finishers, as eleven girls broke 4:50 and 17 ran sub-5:00.

Centennial Invitational:
Elijah Greer improved his personal best by four seconds as he surprised a very strong field (and a packed grandstand) at the Centennial Invitational by beginning his kick 500 meters from the finish. The sophomore ran sub-60 seconds for his final 400 meters and actually fell across the finish line on a cool, damp evening as the clock stopped at 3:58.19. That amazing performance moves him to number three on the LO All-Time performance list and puts him atop the 2007 Oregon prep list. He avenged an earlier runnerup finish to Lincoln's Nathan Mathabane at the Laker Classic two weeks ago. Mathabane led from the start, but didn't respond quick enough to the Laker's unexpected early sprint as Greer sprinted from the middle of the pack to a 20-meter lead. The Cardinal runner closed over the final 200, but couldn't make up the entire gap and placed second in 3:59.06.--as four runners broke four minutes. LO teammate Riley Werner placed 14th in the tough field with a time of 4:12.41. James Ratliff finished off a busy weekend (see Cotton Invitational) by placing 4th in the 300 Intermedite Hurdles in 41.03a, after qualifying with a 41.10a in the prelim heats.

Cotton Invitational:
What a busy and exciting weekend for the LO track and field contingent. On a beautiful Friday afternoon and evening (4.20.07), the Lakers enjoyed the large crowd of spectators and good competion at the Cotton Invitational at the Grant Bowl, adjacent to Grant High School.

Sophomore James Ratliff began a very busy weekend by hurdling to a new personal best in the 110 Highs with a time of 15.0 (hand timed), which converts to 15.24 and puts him fourth on the All-Time LO bests list. He later matched that third place finish with another third in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles, timing 40.91a (automatic timing). Micah Hatfield also doubled in the those two events placing 4th (16.1 ht) and 5th (43.21a).
 
Freshman Jacqui Wallis ran a pesonal best of 1:00.74 (converted) in the 400 and teamed with JoJo Faris, Kate Mogentale and Mady Johnson to take second in the 4 x 100 relay in 51.03. Emily Rhode continued her fine low hurdling with a 49.1 (hand timed, 49.34c) for second place, the same position as freshman Tate Murray placed in the 1500 with her time of 4:54.1. Gina Contolini placed third in the Triple Jump with a distance of 32'11".
 
Anthony Culver took third in the 200 with a 23.46a time and transfer Logan Capps made his LO debut with a 2:04.14 third place effort in the 800. Chris Caldwell (4th/9:34.24) and Alex Martin (5th/9:34.54) finished strong in the 3000 as both set huge personal bests by 20 and 14 seconds, respectively.
 
In the boys' field events Curtis Houghton took second in the Pole Vault (13'0") and Steven Britton threw a personal best of 140'9" in the Javelin for 6th, while Austin Snell's 5'8" High Jump was 5th and Nick Bottcher Triple Jumped 36'4.5" for 7th. See Photos 2 page for pics. L

incoln Relays:
 The LO Shot team made a strong appearance at the Lincoln Relays (4.13.07), only one day after competing at Milwaukie in a TRL dual meet. Brandon Akerman placed second in the boy's Shot Put with a heave of 41'6". Teammates Jake Banning (37'00.5") and Spencer Feuchtwanger (35'04") placed 6th and 9th, respectively. Margaret Johnson won the girls' competition with a throw of 26'02", just ahead of teammate Karin Rottman's runnerup toss of 25'11.5". 


Past TRL Competition:

LO at Clackamas
LO traveled across the river to compete against Clackamas on a cold, windy, wet Wednesday (5.2.07) afternoon. With poor conditions most of the afternoon and evening there were few highlights. However, LO dominated the boys' 800 meters with Riley Werner sprinting through a fast opening 400 and teammate Elijah Greer close behind. Greer took the lead on the final lap and sprinted to another stunning time of 1:55.03. Werner finished in 1:57.45. Those performances move Greer to 4th and Werner to 9th on the all-time LO performance lists. Greer doubled back with an easy win in the 3000 (9:25.36).

Frosh Tate Murray put a scare into TRL defending 1500-meter champion Clare Michel as she passed the Clackmas great with 200 meters to go. However, the veteran used her experience and strength to take back the lead on the final stretch to win 4:46.18 to 4:47.36. Other highlights: freshman Chris Luetjen placed second in the 100 with a fine 11.57 and cleared 5'10" in the High Jump; Logan Capps 2nd in 400 (52.97); James Ratliff 2nd in 110 High Hurdles (15.82) and 1st in 300 Intermediates (41.30); Sean Johnson 2nd in Long Jump (17'11.5"); JoJo Faris 2nd in 100 (13.06) 3rd in 200 (27.54); Jacqui Wallis 2nd in 200 (27.22) and 3rd in 100 (13.17); Lauren Ohlson 2nd in 800 (2:29.93); Shelley Chestler 3rd in 1500 in personal best of 5:10.11; Jillian Fagan 3rd in 100 Highs (17.65); Gina Contolini 2nd Long Jump (15'10") and 2nd TJ (33'1.5")

Oregon City at LO
The Lakers hosted TRL rival Oregon City on Wednesday (4.25.07) afternoon in their final home appearance of the 2007 season. It was Senior Day for the Lakers and Riley Werner responded with his best effort of the season in running a personal best of 1:58.56 in winning the 800 meters. Remenisent of former LO great Ben Frisbee's sub 1:59 last year, Riley led from the start and had only the clock as competition as he split the first 400 under 59 seconds. He had earlier won the 1500 meters in a tactical 4:22.65 effort and capped a three-victory day with a leg on the winning 4 x 400 relay.
 
Tate Murray moved into the top ten on LO's ladies 800 list with a 2:24.83 victory. Lauren Ohlson also ran a personal best of 2:27.20 in her runnerup finish, despite nursing a lower leg injury. Murray almost mimiced Werner's performances as she won the 1500 in a tactical 5:15.58 and ran a good leg on the 4 x 400 relay that finished a second behind the OC team. Anthony Culver won a photo finish 200 with a 23.21 and anchored the winning 4 x 100 relay.

Thomas Belesiu took the 400 in 53.81, placed 4th in the 200 (24.21) and ran a leg on the winning 4 x 100 relay. James Ratliff won the 300 Intermediate Hurdles in 41.34 after placing a close second in the 110 Highs (16.56). Senior Jaran Fagon closed out his home career with a second in the 100 (11.92) and third in the 200 (24.12) and a leg on the victorious 4 x 100 relay. Fellow senior Christian Dunham also ran on both winning relay and placed second in the 200 (44.12). In the men's field events, Curtis Houghton placed second in the Pole Vault competition in what was a preview of the TRL district championships. The Laker cleared 13'6", the same height at third placer Jared Hippler of OC. The OC's Jack Hippler won the event with a fine 14'0" vault. Austin Snell took second in the High Jump (5'8") and Chris Luetjen and Cody Randall tied for third with jumps of 5'6". Senior Jake Banning closed out his home career with a 139'07" third place in the Javelin, while Brandon Akerman took third in the Shot Put (42'00.25") and Jimmy Jacobson was third in the Discus (100'00"). Senior Emily Rohde won the 300 Low Hurdles in 49.70, while Mady Johnson won the ladies' 100 in 13.61 and ran on the winning 4 x 100 relay. JoJo Faris continued her fine season with a win in the 200 (27.57), led off the 4 x 100 and placed second in the Long Jump (15'02.5"). Shelley Chestler won the 3000 and placed second in the 1500 (5:18.69). Jillian Fagan ran a seasonal best (17.93) in placing second in the 100 High Hurdles. Freshman Jacqui Wallis won the 400 (1:03.67), ran a leg on the 4 x 400 and placed 4th in the Triple Jump. Also in the field events, Melanie Overall won the Javelin with a throw of 99'04" and Senior Margaret Johnson placed third in the Shot with a throw of 30'1".


O at Milwaukie
On Thursday (4.12.07), the Lakers traveled across the river to compete against the host Milwaukie Mustangs on a cold and sometimes wet afternoon. The Laker Ladies won their first meet of the season with a score of 98-56. LO was once again led by sprinter JoJo Faris, who won the 100 (12.98), placed second in the 200 (27.74) and Long Jump (15'10"), and led off the victorious 4 x 100 Relay. She was joined on the relay by Kate Mogentale, Mady Johnson and Andrea Ryder. The Lakers also won the 4 x 400 Relay in 4:37.13 with a team of Natalie Lampson, Mogentale, Shelley Chestler and Lauren Ohlson. Besides her two relays wins, Mogentale also placed third in the 200 (28.31). Ohlson (2:33.09) and Chestler (2:34.71/PR) also took first and second in the 800. Chestler had previously run another PR with her 5:15.53 victory in the 1500. She was followed in the 1500 by Ali Steinbacher also in a personal best (5:35.44). Emily Rhode won the 300 Low Hurdles despite a mistake by the hurdle crew, which failed to have the correct number of hurdles in her lane.

In the Field Events, Becca Hodges (92'6"), Devon Brown (84'7") and Melanie Overall (78'1") swept the Javelin. Gina Contolini won the Long Jump with distance of 15'11.5". Jacqui Wallis placed second in the Triple jump (31'6") after taking second in the 100 (13.06).

The boys were defeated by the Mustangs by a score of 86-59. Riley Werner had the top performance for the Lakers as he ran to a personal best of 2:00.4 in winning the 800 meters. He was followed by teammates Jan Budden (2:07.84) and Alex Martin (2:09.51) as the Lakers swept the event. Martin previously had placed second in the 1500 (4:34.05). Besides the 800 sweep, both the 4 x 100 (Jaron Fagan, AJ Kingsbury, Christian Dunham and Anthony Culver) and 4 x 400 teams (Thomas Belesiu, Riley Werner, Micah Hatfield and James Ratliff) were victorious. Ratliff also won the 300 Intermediate Hurdles (time not available). Curtis Houghton won the Pole Vault with a jump of 12'0". Chris Caldwell added points in the distance events with a third in the 1500 and second in the 3000 (9:59.02).


Rex Putnam
On a beautiful, sunny Wednesday (4.4.07) afternoon LO hosted Rex Putnam H.S. in a Three Rivers League dual meet. The Kingsmen, boasting one of the state's best sprinters in Joevonte Mayes, easily bested the Lakers men by a score of 96-48, while the Lakers girls lost by a mere two points, 73-71.
 
Of the many highlights, once again sophomore Elijah Greer woke up the crowd as he ran almost perfect splits (58.52/58.98) in winning a competitive 800 meters in 1:57.5. That performance moves him into 6th place in the all-time LO performance list. He doubled back in the very exciting 4 x 400 relay with a 51.6 split. Senior Riley Werner won the open 400 in 53.94, before anchoring the 4 x 400 with a 51.7 split. But even those two great runs couldn't prevent LO from finishing less than a half-a-second behind the Putnam relay foursome in 3:34.7.
 
Junior JoJo Faris won three invidivual events for the young women with her victories in the 100 (13.25), 200 (27.89) and Long Jump (15'05.5"). She also was on the winning 4 x 100 relay giving her four firsts and a perfect 20 points for the day. Frosh Tate Murray was a double winner with fine times of 5:08.45 and 11:36.63 in the 1500/3000-meter events. Freshman Jacqui Wallis won the Triple Jump with a leap of 32'10.5" and Senior Emily Rohde won the 300 Low Hurdles in 51.07. Junior Shelley Chestler (2:35.72) and Senior Viv Gaddis (2:40.76) took 1 and 2 in the 800 and 2 and 3 in the 1500 as LO swept that event. Sophomore James Ratliff won the boys' 300 Intermediate Hurdles in 41.16, after placing third in the 110 High Hurdles (15.80). Juniors Nick Bottcher won the Triple Jump in 37'11" and defending TRL champion Curtis Houghton took the Pole Vault in 13'00". LO swept the High Jump with Junior Cody Randall (5'8") taking first and Freshman Chris Luetjen (5'6") and Junior Austin Snell third (5'6"). Junior Brandon Akerman improved his personal best to 43'04" in placing third in the Shot Put.