2007 State Preview

I am now recently catching my breath from the whirlwind track season that was 2007. I can't believe that the district meet is over and done, and in less than a week we will again be down at Hayward Field Competing in the state meet. There is a catch though, we have one less week of preparation than we did last season, and I think we've definitely felt that shortened season's affect. But overall, I would say we as a group are prepared to compete next week. The three day meet is going to have an affect on all of the athletes. Before this season, our state itinerary was planned almost to the minute. With another day of competition thrown into the equation, that has to change. I have never coached at a three day competition before on any level but we have tried to simulate the three day competition during workouts this season, and I believe that will help our athletes adjust to the schedule. The most important thing now is to recover from the tough district meet that our girls had to endure just to make it to this meet.

The Mt. Hood Conference has a total of nine girls' teams, and from event to event I would argue that we have some of the toughest competition in the state. This is also the first year that I have been a coach at Sandy that we haven't had an individual conference champion on the girls' side. Our only individual champion came from our lone boy qualifier freshman javelin thrower Colton Safely with a mark of 179'10. Several of our girls who qualified for the state meet would have won in many other conferences. OSAA has already set precedence with the new classification system with football and basketball by allowing the top five teams from the conference into the playoffs. I don't believe that it would be too much of a stretch to allow the top three athletes in each event at the Mt. Hood Conference to compete at the state meet. But at the same time, we knew the situation before the conference meet began and could have hit the automatic qualifier. I try not to put too much energy into changing the system while the season is still going on. Our focus right now has to be competing to the best of our abilities at the state meet.

Here's where we stand now in our hopes to defend the state title. Our pole vaulter Ashlee Neal has a personal best of 9'6". I feel she needs to clear at least 10' to score any points. This is within her ability levels. She is also competing at state for the very first time though. We need her to score if we are to have a shot. Katie Pelchar is one of the best high jumpers in the state. Her personal record is 5'5". She finished second to Jacquie Mattson of Hood River at our district meet. Katie is fully capable of winning this event and helping our overall team total. Kayla Hendershot is the returning runner up in the discus. She is a big meet performer, and despite her small size, a big time competitor. She finished second at our meet to Martha Hale because of a controversial foot foul on her last throw which would have won the competition. The only reason I call it controversial is because no one saw the foul accept the official. Kayla has competed at the state meet since her sophomore year. She is searching for that elusive individual state title. She'll have some great competitors in Laura Wilkens and Allysa Haslen, but I think that she's going to preform magnanmously. Brenna Hoffman is competing in two individual events. The 400 meters and the 200 meters. She currently has the 6a's second fastest time int he 400m at 56.60. Her race against Shaveyantay Hill at district was memorable with Hill winning with a new meet record of 55.53. Brenna is definitely looking forward to the rematch at state. Brenna also has to score big in the 200m for the team to have a chance of repeating. What I have been emphasizing to Brenna is the need for her to get out faster in the blocks of the 200 meters. Once she gets going she catches a lot of people, but in order to finish well at state her start needs to be faster. The last event we qualified for the state meet in was the 4x400m. The team as 3 of the 4 members from last years state championship team that also ran a blazing 3:53.5, but things feel remarkably different this season. We finished third in our conference running a seasonal best 3:57.80. The time, ironically enough, is also the 3rd fastest time in the 6a. That race at district though, marks only the fourth time this season that team has run together. I really felt that the team was capable of running fast times, but there have been injuries and illness that have affected the cohesiveness of the team. But the four girls (Siara Leininger, Malia Ingrao, Sarah Kathrein, Brenna Hoffman)to their credit despite all of the set backs managed to put their best race together at the right time to give them a chance once again to show what they can run at the state meet. Brenna's split of 55.7 helped greatly in this feat, but without the other three girls putting it on the line to give her a shot at the leaders they would not have run that time. I firmly believe that this team of girls is capable of winning the 4x400m at state.

The favorite for the girls team title this year has to be Lincoln. With Bianca Mathabane, Marsha Lampi, and a host of young sprinters they will need to falter for anyone to catch them. Benson also has to be in that mix. With Kayla Smith and Jewel Martin sure to score big. Southridge has been solid all season and they need to be included in that group as well. Gresham may have their best shot in a while to claim that top podium at the state meet. The three days at Hayward should be exciting. I plan to blog after each day of competition. Let the good times roll.