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| OSAA Oregon State Championships
Hayward Field - University of Oregon, Eugene OR
May 22-24, 2008
DyeStat on-site with Dave Devine and Laura Magee
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Mathabane thrills, Barlow's Capelle and Summit's Schueler shore up team aspirations
Lead story by Dave Devine, Photos by Robert Rosenberg
 On a packed Saturday at the Oregon 4A-5A-6A State Meet, where the weather was a marked improvement on the steady drizzle from the previous day, Lincoln junior Nathan Mathabane (left) provided a performance which lit up the grandstand at raucous Hayward Field. Mathabane— several times a state runner-up in track, but never a champion—pulled a loaded 1500 field which included two former 6A cross country champions through splits of 63.4 and 2:07.7 before unleashing a long kick that saw him draw steadily away from Taylor Morgan (Central Catholic sr) for a then-US#1 3:53.28 victory [bettered by Charles White's 3:49.62 in Boston]. As he crossed the line in triumph, Mathabane threw his hands in the air and allowed the relief at shedding his perennial runner-up status wash across his exhausted face.
“I had no idea who was behind me,” Mathabane said after the race, “I thought it was [Bryce] Burgess, then I saw a black jersey and I was like, ‘It’s Taylor...nice job.’ But that lasted a second, and then I was like, I have to move. It was a tough last 100, not as painful as Friday, but tough.”
 On Friday, Mathabane was second in a blazing 800, scoring a PR 1:51.88 to Lake Oswego junior Elijah Greer’s 1:50.60 winning effort.
In the team battle, Barlow rode the efforts of a determined senior and a precocious freshman to the 6A boys’ title, scoring 74 to Lincoln’s 47.50. Senior sprinter/hurdler Eric Capelle (right) grabbed three golds (14.51 110H, 38.89 300H, and leg on Barlow's 41.92 4x100 relay) and a silver (10.72 100 to Jordan Polk's 10.63) to help pile up the points on the track. Ninth grader Ryan Crouser extended his Oregon freshman state records in both the shot put (60-02) and the discus (178-09) to rack up 20 points in the field.
“It was my goal to win whether the team was in contention or not,” Crouser allowed, “but it just makes it better that the team is in a position to win it too.”
In the 6A girls competition, Jesuit used a balanced attack with high placings in multiple events to carve out an 88 to 59 victory over runner-up Southridge.
5A: Schueler and O’Connor front Summit to 112 points and girls title
 Summit sophomore Kellie Schueler (left) was expected to defend her three sprint titles from 2007, but she still managed to take it up a notch with state meet records in all three individual events (12.01 100, 24.54 200, 55.04 400) as well as an anchor on Summit’s state meet record 3:55.11 4x400 relay. Teammate Alyssa O’Connor ran third leg on that relay, and added stellar wins in the 800 (2:12.00) and 1500 (4:42.90) to help push Summit to a team score of 112 points en route to the 5A girls state title.
“Two years in a row…winning three open events is really special to me,” Schueler said after her third individual gold. “But it’s always about the team, and it’s always about pushing ourselves as hard as we can.”
Another standout in the 5A girls meet was Marshfield senior Alison Worthen, who made it a triple-gold weekend with a 5-06 HJ on Friday, and then a state meet record 44.46 300H and 17-11.50w (+2.5) LJ on Saturday, plus a runner-up 15.07 in the 100H.
Worthen’s mother Fran is the Marshfield coach, a legendary mentor and athlete in Oregon circles who is stepping down at the end of this season. The Marshfield boys sent her into retirement in style, winning the first boys’ state title in Marshfield history with 49 points to end up well clear of Wilsonville’s 38.
4A: Wallace brings it home for Henley
Foot Locker finalist Taylor Wallace added 1500 gold (4:33.79) to the 3k title she took on Thursday, then anchored Henley's state record 3:56.83 4x400 to seal the girls' 4A team title for her school by half a point.
The Sweet Home boys, buoyed by the efforts of sophomore star Dakotah Keys, grabbed the 4A title by a single point over North Bend. They also secured the win in the final event of the day, needing a fourth place finish in the 4x400 to take the top step on the podium, and claiming exactly that position in a torrid homestretch battle.
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Oregon 4A-6A State Meet Index |
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