BOYS AND GIRLS
Battle It Out At The Dean Nice Invitational Written by Hannah Phillips, Monica Kemp, and Laura Phillips
The 2010 annual Dean Nice meet hit the track again this year on May 7th, Great Anticipation, The girls track teem gathers after the closing moments of the District Meet awaiting the results for the top team honors. “We wanted it so bad, we had all worked so hard and knew it was going to be close,” said Marisa Benson (12). “Although we were announced CoCampions, I made sure that we received the award first,” Ceone Nojima (12) joked.
Girls fight for District title Last year at Districts, the girls track team dealt with a huge loss when placing fourth overall. It was a tough loss since they had been District champions for the last seven years in a row. This year however, they are out for vengeance. “I feel confident that our team has the ability to do well at districts. We have a strong element and a lot of natural ability,” said Clarice Terry (10). The first meet of the season was against Sandy and Hood River. Sandy was already set to win Districts this year, but they were quickly defeated with a score of Gresham: 74, Sandy: 71. Gresham then became the school set to take the District title. “It felt so awesome to beat Sandy,” said Nche Onyima (12). “It was the highlight of the season for me. I think if we compete how we’re supposed to compete and don’t let up, we will win.” Next came an easy victory over Reynolds and St. Marys, and with another boost of confidence, the girls defeated the Central Catholic Rams and the David Douglas Scots. The District title was practically in their grasp; the only thing in their way was the Sandy Pioneers, who were only three points behind them going into Districts. With the girls team suffering injuries, it would turn out to be a very close battle. The girls came through victorious however, and won back the title of district champions. “Districts was a lot of fun, and everyone did a really good job and it felt really good winning,” said Haley Crouser (9).
welcoming 15 other schools from around Oregon including Bend, Central Catholic, Clackamas, Dallas, Marist, Mountain View, Pendleton, Redmond, Rex Putnum, South Salem, Dalles Wahtonka, West Salem, and Wilsonville. Last year the girls team placed third, so this year the team was hoping to keep that winning streak. “When Harshfield first announced the outcome we were confused because we had calculated the points and we should have placed higher, but then Harshfield said we got second and we were happy,” laughed Ify Onyima (10). The girls kicked off the meet by winning the 4x100 meter relay and scoring the first 10 points for the team. Throughout the whole meet the gopher girls were placing in the top spots trying to keep the win going. However, competition was close, with South Salem only a few points behind them and by the 3000 meter race the two teams were tied for first with 88 points and only one event left; the 4x400 meter relay. The girls started off in the back during the first leg of the race, but by the fourth leg Khalia Tidwell (12) brought the team into fourth place, giving South Salem the first place trophy. “We went out, and we had a few people having to step up into Varsity spots, so to get second shows how good of a team we really are,” said Head Coach Cris Koenig. During the awards ceremony the teams gathered on the turf, and as the winning teams were being declared, announcer Cyrus Harshfield accidentally announced the wrong three winning teams spreading false excitement. “Excuse me, umm the three ladies who just got trophies, please bring them back, those are the wrong scores,” Harshfield announced. In the end, Mountain View placed third, Gresham took second, and South Salem stole first.
Near the finish, Eric Dugwyler pushes past his limits during the Dean Nice Invitational. “It’s hard. Running is hard. Most people don’t realize the kind of training we do to get in the kind of shape where running a couple of miles insn’t a huge deal,” stated Dugwyler. Running hard, freshman Hannah Phillips runs her fastest during the 800 meter run. “Running is like a release for me, after a certain point it just feels really good,” explained Phillips.
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6/26/2010 5:36:04 PM