6A State Championship, Historic Hayward Field, Eugene, 5.24.05
The Lakers completed one of their best seasons in school history as the boys tied for 7th overall with 29 points. The girls also had some fine showings and scored 5 points to tie for 27th.
Final Day Highlights:
- James Ratliff rebounded from his unfortunate fall in Friday's 300 Intermediate Hurdles prelims to place second in the finals of the 110 High Hurdles with a personal best of 15.05 (automatic timing).
- Micah Hatfield placed third in the 110 Highs in 15.17a to give the Lakers a 2-3 finish. He later placed 7th in the 300 Intermediates with a time of 40.47
- Both Ratliff and Hatfield completed their day by joining teammates Thomas Belesiu and Elijah Greer to run a new school record of 3:20.99 in the 4 x 400 Relay for 6th place.
- Curtis (aka Chris) Houghton closed out his LO career with a clearance of 13'6" for 13th place
- Jacqui Wallis placed 8th in the 400 meter finals with a new personal best of 58.46a.
- Tate Murray ran her fastest 1500 of this season and placed 8th in 4:47.17.
- Both Wallis and Murray teamed with Aly Steinbacher and Kate Mogentale to run the Laker's season best of 4:02.21 in the 4 x 400 Relay to place sixth.
- Morgan McGuire equaled her personal best and school record by clearing 10'0" in the Pole Vault for 9th.
For race video, please go to www.runnerspace.com
The race played out like a script as Laker Elijah Greer ran behind Lincoln's Nathan Mathabane and Central Catholic's Taylor Morgan as they passed the halfway point in the 55 second range. Then with 250 meters remaining, the LO junior, accelerated catching first Morgan and then Mathabane as they passed the 600 meter mark. Greer quickly opened a gap and continued his sprint toward a new state meet best of 1:50.6, bettering Ryan Waite's mark of 1:50.67 in 2006. It was Greer's second State championship as he won the 1500 in 2007.
Other events:
- Jacqui Wallis qualified for the 400 meter finals on Saturday with a 59.02 clocking for 7th overall.
- Micah Hatfield qualified in both the 110 Highs and 300 Intermediate Hurdles with times of 15.40 (1st in heat/3rd overall) and 40.47 (4th in heat/8th overall)
- James Ratliff ran 15.28 in the 110 High Hurdles (2nd in his heat and 2nd fastest overall), but caught the last hurdle in the 300 IMs and fell just before the finish line. He was in second and would have easily qualified, if he had not fallen.
- Kate Mogentale placed 11th overall in the 100 meters (13.01) and 13th overall with a time of 26.34 in the 200
Opening Day, 5.22.08
The Lakers qualified both 4 x 400 relays, but in different fashion. the boys ran to a new school record of 3:21.38 (Thomas Belesiu, Micah Hatfield, James Ratliff and Elijah Greer), winning their heat and finishing with the 3rd fastest time of the day.
The girls ran a seasonal best of 4:02.7 (4th best in LO history), but were back in their heat. However, two teams were disqualified (one in each heat) and the Lakers ended up the 8th best time and in the final qualifying berth. The team was Kate Mogentale, Aly Steinbacher, Tate Murray and Jacqui Wallis.
Earlier, Greer had won his heat of the 800 meters in the day's best time of 1:55.57 and advanced to Friday's final. Murray ran a personal best of 2:19.88 (2nd best LO all time) fo r6th in ther heat and 11th overall, but did not qualify for the finals. Lauren Ohlson closed out her LO career with a personal best of 10:42.15 in the 3000 meters, good for 12th and 22 seconds better than her previous best.
The boys' 4 x 100 relay (Belesiu, Hatfield, Ratliff and Chris Leutjen) ran 44.58 for 5th in their heat and 12th overall, while the girls (Madison Keele, Mogentale, Wallis and Cali Reis) ran 50.13 (5th in heat and 10th overall). Neither team advanced to Saturday's finals.
