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TEAM
XO INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
- by Dave Devine
Eugene, Oregon - For more than a year now, the buzz
has been building in Track Town U.S.A. With a new coach at
the University, an influx of young talent and a host of promising
recruits, the track and field community in Eugene is rallying around
a renaissance. At the center of it all, as always, is venerable
Hayward Field, a stadium that still shudders with the echoes of
countless legendary performances. Many have said those echoes
are reawakening in Eugene, and this Saturday, at the annual XO
Invite, 43 teams from throughout Oregon, and more than
1300 athletes, will have the chance to find out for themselves.
In only its third year, the XO Invite has quickly
become the hot ticket in early season Oregon high school track
and field action. The 2005 edition showcased some impressive
athletes putting up name-making performances, capped by a stunning
national recordin the girl’s javelin from
Newberg senior Rachel Yurkovich, who decimated the existing record
with a launch of 176 feet 5 inches.
The 2006 incarnation promises more of the same. Twelve
of last year’s individual XO Invite champions return, along
with six of the eight Oregon state championship teams from 2005. The
XO Invite bills itself as the only opportunity in Oregon for schools
across classifications to compete against one another, head-to-head
on the same day. The meet awards an overall trophy to the
top co-ed team, as well as a trophy to the next highest-placing
team from a different class. In several races, defending
state champions from different classes will face off for early
season bragging rights. The short hurdles, in particular,
feature compelling cross-class matchups. In the girl’s
100m hurdles, 4A state and defending XO Invite champion Bianca
Mathabane (Jr., Lincoln) lines up against 1A state champion Emily
Holding (Jr., Damascus Christian) and 2A runner-up Maddie
Miller (Jr., Catlin Gabel). On the boys side, the
110m hurdles finds 4A state champion Tyler McBee (Jr.,
Beaverton) curling into the blocks next to 2A champ Marshall
Ackley (Sr., Nyssa). On the high jump apron, Churchhill
senior Tyler Poppe, 4A champion, will be leaping
against 2A runner-up Jake Redfield (Sr., Oakland),
who also snagged the 2A long jump title.
Benson senior Nate Anderson, who
stepped up to the 800 at last year’s XO Invite and came home
second with an impressive 1:53.80, brings his blistering 46.47
speed to the 400 and 200 in this year’s meet. Central
Catholic star Kenny Klotz, a Foot Locker finalist
and Nike Team National individual champ in cross country, will
be stepping up in a very different way, over the barriers and across
the water in the rarely-run boy’s 3000m steeplechase.
With some of Oregon’s finest high schoolers
competing in the state’s most hallowed stadium, there is
little doubt the echoes will be stirring again in Hayward this
Saturday.
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The 3rd Annual XO Invite at Hayward Field will be
held on Saturday, April 15th, 2006. The meet will be commencing
at 11:00am and ending at 9:00pm. |