May 18, 2017

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The 2017 OSAA State 3A/2A/1A Track and Field Championships will be held on Thursday and Friday, May 18 and 19. Preliminaries will be held on Thursday and Finals will be held on Friday. Class 6A/5A/4A preliminaries will start on Friday, May 19 and Finals for those classifications will take place on Saturday, May 20. Track fans and supporters can access event times and entries at osaa.org.

McKenzie Girls Second In District, On To State!

McKenzie’s Varsity Girls Track and Field team finished second in the 1A Special District 5 Track and Field Championship and qualified as a team for the 2017 OSAA 1A State Track and Field Championship meet at Hayward Field later this week. Triangle Lake swept both the Girls and Boys competition, the Lakers earning 124 pts. in the Girls competition and 170 pts. in the Boys meet.

McKenzie Girls scored 103 pts., earning a hard won second place in the girls’ competition and the Eagles finished with 18.5 pts. on the Boys side, which placed McKenzie eighth. The Days Creek girls finished third with 85 pts., Oak Hill was fourth with 69 pts., Mapleton finished the day fifth with 57 pts., Alsea sixth with 39 pts., Eddyville seventh with 23 pts. and Siletz Valley eighth with 11 pts. The Days Creek boys finished in second place, scoring 132 pts. and the Wolves team will advance to the State Championships along with the Lakers. Mapleton took third with 72 pts., and Oak Hill finished fourth with 66 pts. In fifth place was Alsea with 57 pts., followed by Lowell sixth with 47.5 pts., Glendale seventh with 28 pts., McKenzie eighth with 18.5 pts., Mohawk ninth with 18 pts., Eddyville tenth with 9 pts., and Siletz Valley eleventh with 4 pts.

Eagles Hurdle Adversity To Qualify For State Berth

McKenzie Head Coach Duane Aanestad knew going into the 1A Special District 5 Track and Field Championships that the meet would be a battle. The weather forecast was for wet, windy, chilly, some sun and for sure, there was a lot of the wet, windy and chilly and some sun. But that is the way it goes for track and field in the Great Pacific Northwest, especially this record-setting Spring. Coach Aanestad also knew, at least when one looked at the pre-meet form chart, that the Eagles stood a good chance at finishing as one of the top two in team scores, which would qualify the McKenzie team for the 2017 OSAA State Track and Field Championships. According to State District rules, only two teams from each District qualify and only the top two individuals in each event qualify for the State Championships. In fact, in looking at the form charts, the Eagles stood a good chance at winning this season’s District Championship.

Triangle Lake, with its strong sprint corps, presented the biggest threat, but both Days Creek and Oak Hill looked as though they could throw a monkey wrench in the Eagle hopes. Nonetheless, an interesting competitive battle loomed. The greatest unknown facing all these teams was what would be revealed the day of the event, when all the competing Coaches convene for the pre-competition scratch meeting. As those familiar with track meets understand, a scratch meeting is held the day of a meet so that competing coaches can submit those athletes that are injured, absent, or ineligible for that meet. All the best laid plans of Mice and Track Coaches at times fly away in these meetings not to mention strategies and sometimes, hopes.

For McKenzie, Coach Aanestad had been chewing for most of the week on some information that would certainly surprise and embolden the other competitors. Eagle sophomore Jade Hays had chosen to fore-go the District Championship meet (and thus, the opportunity to qualify for State) and instead elected to participate in a non-school sponsored volleyball tournament. Hayes potential points in multiple events had been a large part of the Eagles’ strategy for a high finish and with the loss of those point opportunities, the rest of the team would have to rise to the occasion. And rise the Eagle team most certainly did!

McKenzie did not win the District Championship, but Coach Aanestad’s athletes found a way to hold off surging Days Creek and Oak Hill to capture second place. It took a personal record in the shot put and a season best in the pole vault by sophomore Chloe Erdahl, a season best in the long jump by junior Paige Lowry, and solid performances by every other Eagle in their respective events to earn the second place finish.

McKenzie parents and supporters can be very proud of how these girls faced the challenge and rose to the occasion. For their efforts, every one of Coach Aanestad’s athletes participating at the District meet qualified for the State meet and will represent our school and community. The Eagles swept the pole vault as Erdahl set her season best mark with a 6-06.00 ft. vault. Anna McNutt finished second, clearing the bar at 5-06.00 ft. Erdahl’s personal record, second place throw of 28-11.00 ft. came in the shot put and that event was won by Mapleton’s Josi Hays with a 30-07.00 ft. effort. Eagle sophomore Kanyen Kamrath won the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-04.00 ft. Megan Harper of Alsea qualified for State by finishing second with a jump of 4-02.00 ft. Lowry’s season best, second place long jump was measured at 13-11.75 ft. Days Creek’s Moriah Michaels took first place in the long jump with a leap of 14-07.50 ft. Senior Katelynn Caulley captured two second place finishes in the two hurdles races. Caulley was timed at 20.97 sec. in the 100 m. hurdles and 1:03.96 min. in the 300 m. hurdles. Carlie Dossman of Days Creek won both the hurdles events with times of 18.67 sec. in the 100 m. hurdles and 57.93 sec. in the 300 m. hurdles.

Both McKenzie relay teams also produced crucial points, finishing second in both of those races. In the 4X100 m. relay, the Eagle team of Danielle Melcher, Lowry, McNutt, and Miyanna Hayes were timed in 58.88 sec., second to winning Triangle Lake’s time of 55.49 sec. The Lakers’ winning time in the 4X400 m. relay was 4:52.92 min. and McKenzie’s second place time was 5:03.05 min. Caulley threw the javelin 77-01 ft., good for a third place mark and Miyanna Hayes took home the fourth place ribbon with a throw of 72-05 ft.

The javelin was won by Mapleton’s Hays with a throw of 94-07 ft. and the second place State qualifier was Emma Rupert of Triangle Lake with a throw of 83-09 ft. Melcher earned a fourth place ribbon in the 400 m. event, running the distance in 1:11.00 min. and she was followed by McNutt in fifth place, timed in 1:14.12 min. Carissa Bottensek of Triangle Lake won the 400 m. in 1:01.57 min. and she was followed by Harper of Alsea in second with a time of 1:05.11 min., both athletes qualifying for State. In the 200 m. race, Lowry ran a fifth place time of 33.16 sec. and that event was won by Carissa Bottensek of Triangle Lake in 27.72 sec. Second place finisher and State qualifier Michaels of Days Creek was timed in 28.10 sec.

Other Girls State qualifying finishes in the District meet were: 100 m.: (1) Bottensek, Triangle Lake, 13.36 sec. (2) Michaels, Days Creek, 13.63 sec.; 800 m.: (1) Stephanie Loop, Oak Hill, 2:47.45 min. (2) Zoey DeLuca, Oak Hill, 2:48.18 min.; 1500 m.: (1) McKenzie Carrier, Oak Hill, 5:34.27 min. (2) Natalie Dumford, Triangle Lake, 6:08.46 min.; 3000 m.: Samantha Kasitz, Oak Hill, 12:45.85 min. (2) Dumford, Triangle Lake, 14:29.48 min.; Discus: (1) Hays, Mapleton, 89-10 ft. (2) Dossman, Days Creek, 70-11 ft.; Triple Jump: (1) Dossman, Days Creek, 30-05.25 ft. (2) Kiana Bojarski, Eddyville, 26-04.25 ft.

No McKenzie male athletes qualified for the 2017 OSAA State meet at the District meet. Eagle sophomore Danny Quirk did establish a new personal record in the 200 m. event with a sixth place time of 25.00 sec. Fellow sophomore Malakai Taylor-Ide set a season best mark of 98-05 ft. in the discus., which was a fourth place effort. McKenzie senior Mike Davis finished third in the high jump, clearing 5-02.00 ft.. Quirk jumped to a seventh place tie at 4-06.00 ft. Davis also placed sixth in the long jump with a 17-06.00 ft. mark and the Eagle finished ninth in the 100 m. timed at 12.41 sec. Quirk took tenth in the 100 m. finishing in 12.61 sec. Taylor-Ide finished ninth in the shot put with a 32-05.00 ft. throw.

Other Boys State qualifying finishes in the District meet were: 100 m.: (1) Alex Amezcua, Triangle Lake, 11.66 sec. (2) Jed Hays, Days Creek, 11.76 sec.; 200 m.: Amezcua, Triangle Lake, 23.50 sec. (2) Hays, Days Creek, 23.79 sec.; 400 m.: (1) Parker Wynn, Triangle Lake, 52.82 sec. (2) Isaac Starcher, Days Creek, 53.89 sec.; 800 m.: (1) Jaden Kane, Oak Hill, 2:09.06 min. (2) Kameron Stever, Days Creek, 2:15.90 min.; 1500 m.: (1) Jacob Charbonneau, Oak Hill, 4:35.66 min. (2) Connor Metzger, Triangle Lake, 4:39.13 min.; 3000 m.: Metzger, Triangle Lake, 9:54.87 min. (2) Charbonneau, Oak Hill, 10:01.52 min.; 110 m. hurdles: (1) Jacob Drago, Triangle Lake, 19.02 sec. (2) Tyler Packebush, Mapleton, 19.06 sec.; 300 m. hurdles: (1) Joshua Wetzel, Days Creek, 44.24 sec. (2) Drago, Triangle Lake, 45.88 sec.; 4X100 m. relay: (1) Days Creek, 45.55 sec. (2) Triangle Lake, 45.91 sec.; 4X400 m. relay: (1) Triangle Lake, 3:42.35 min. (2) Days Creek, 3:51.51 min.; Shot Put: (1) Christopher DeWolfe, Alsea, 42-11.50 ft. (2) Thomas Ward, Lowell, 40-07.00 ft.; Discus: (1) Ward, Lowell, 122-08 ft. (2) Tanner Wilson, Mapleton, 99-09 ft.; Javelin: (1) Wilson, Mapleton, 128-02 ft. (2) Nathan Roane, Mapleton, 121-10 ft.; High Jump: (1) Tristan Ware, Glendale, 5-06.00 ft. (2) Carver Beck, Triangle Lake, 5-06.00f ft.; Pole Vault: (1) Pere Regull, Alsea, 9-06.00 ft. (2) Packbush, Mapleton, 9-00.00 ft.; Long Jump: (1) Beau Tayler-Ladd, Oak Hill, 19-01.00 ft. (2) Hays, Days Creek, 18-09.75 ft.; Triple Jump: (1) Colton Fuller, Days Creek, 40-09.50 ft. (2) Beck, Triangle Lake, 38-06.75 ft.

McKenzie River Reflections