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Marshfield making major strides as program
By John Gunther, Sports Editor
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | No comments posted.
Before 2006, Marshfield never had a girls cross country team qualify for the state meet.
Now the Pirates have made it three years in a row, which MaKenzie Scott views as a sign of the program’s improvement.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Scott, one of the two senior captains for the squad. “That just says a lot about our program. We keep building — we keep pushing farther and farther.”
Marshfield won its second league title last week, and added a first for the school — an individual girls district champion. Junior Jana Sadler surged ahead of Churchill’s Sydnie Johnson in the final 150 yards to win the race.
“It was amazing,” said Sadler, who had the same feeling about the team’s victory.
“At first, we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “We weren’t thinking about winning it — we were just happy to get to state.”
Marshfield and Thurston finished with the same score at the district meet, but Marshfield won the tiebreaker because the Pirates’ sixth runner — Shelby Paulson — finished better than the Colts’ sixth runner.
One of the team’s primary goals this week is to again beat Thurston — the Pirates edged the Colts on the same tiebreaker at last year’s state meet.
“We just want to stay ahead of Thurston,” Scott said.
The Pirates could use another strong day like they had at the district meet.
“We all ran really well,” Scott said. “I don’t think any of us can say we were disappointed with how we ran.”
Marshfield coach Doug Landrum said that between the girls and boys teams, 12 runners set their personal bests at the district meet, on a course that is more challenging than several others the team races on during the season.
“Our athletes stepped up and continued to get better at the end,” Landrum said.
Sadler ran her best-ever time at Lane Community College — 20 minutes, 10 seconds in the 5,000-meter race.
This week’s state meet also is at Lane, though on a course that is slightly different.
Sadler has a goal of finishing in the top 20 after placing in the mid-50s her first two state meets.
“I’m nervous,” said Sadler, adding she feels better than she did at the end of the season the past two years. “This year, I feel I have more energy. I’ve worked really hard.”
Sadler has the 23rd-fastest time among Class 5A runners, with her mark of 19:43 at the Tugman Invitational early in the season, though comparing times is not an exact science because no two courses have the same difficulty. Sadler’s dream is to place in the top 12 and qualify for the Border Clash, an all-star race with runners from Oregon and Washington.
“I want to PR again,” Sadler said. “I haven’t PRed since Tugman.”
Meanwhile, the team hopes to improve on its eighth-place finish last year, which was one spot better than the year before.
Paulson, who joins Scott as team captain, has one other goal.
“I know we’ll give our best effort,” she said. “I want us to go out and have fun.
“We get to go spend the weekend together, and that’s nice.”
The Pirates will go up early on Friday and watch the Pac-10 cross country championships in Springfield. That is part of what should be a fun trip for the close group.
For Paulson, the Pirates are like a family, many years in the building. She started running in sixth grade, along with Scott, who played volleyball and ran in seventh and eight grade and rejoined the cross country program last year after playing just volleyball as a freshman and sophomore.
Senior Moriah Roberge was in cross country for the first time as an eighth grader and continued in the sport in high school, though she took last year off before rejoining the club this fall.
Sadler and fellow junior Tori Scott both have run every year since they were in sixth grade, while fellow junior Risé Campbell started in seventh grade.
Only junior Vanessa Brum is a newcomer this year.
“We’ve been running together for four or five years,” Paulson said.
The Pirates hope to have one more great race together Saturday.
Notes: Marshfield’s Dustin Reis and Andrew Davidson also are competing in the state meet, as individual qualifiers. The Class 5A races are in the afternoon Saturday. The girls race is at 1:25, followed by the boys at 1:50.
Now the Pirates have made it three years in a row, which MaKenzie Scott views as a sign of the program’s improvement.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Scott, one of the two senior captains for the squad. “That just says a lot about our program. We keep building — we keep pushing farther and farther.”
Marshfield won its second league title last week, and added a first for the school — an individual girls district champion. Junior Jana Sadler surged ahead of Churchill’s Sydnie Johnson in the final 150 yards to win the race.
“It was amazing,” said Sadler, who had the same feeling about the team’s victory.
“At first, we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “We weren’t thinking about winning it — we were just happy to get to state.”
Marshfield and Thurston finished with the same score at the district meet, but Marshfield won the tiebreaker because the Pirates’ sixth runner — Shelby Paulson — finished better than the Colts’ sixth runner.
One of the team’s primary goals this week is to again beat Thurston — the Pirates edged the Colts on the same tiebreaker at last year’s state meet.
“We just want to stay ahead of Thurston,” Scott said.
The Pirates could use another strong day like they had at the district meet.
“We all ran really well,” Scott said. “I don’t think any of us can say we were disappointed with how we ran.”
Marshfield coach Doug Landrum said that between the girls and boys teams, 12 runners set their personal bests at the district meet, on a course that is more challenging than several others the team races on during the season.
“Our athletes stepped up and continued to get better at the end,” Landrum said.
Sadler ran her best-ever time at Lane Community College — 20 minutes, 10 seconds in the 5,000-meter race.
This week’s state meet also is at Lane, though on a course that is slightly different.
Sadler has a goal of finishing in the top 20 after placing in the mid-50s her first two state meets.
“I’m nervous,” said Sadler, adding she feels better than she did at the end of the season the past two years. “This year, I feel I have more energy. I’ve worked really hard.”
Sadler has the 23rd-fastest time among Class 5A runners, with her mark of 19:43 at the Tugman Invitational early in the season, though comparing times is not an exact science because no two courses have the same difficulty. Sadler’s dream is to place in the top 12 and qualify for the Border Clash, an all-star race with runners from Oregon and Washington.
“I want to PR again,” Sadler said. “I haven’t PRed since Tugman.”
Meanwhile, the team hopes to improve on its eighth-place finish last year, which was one spot better than the year before.
Paulson, who joins Scott as team captain, has one other goal.
“I know we’ll give our best effort,” she said. “I want us to go out and have fun.
“We get to go spend the weekend together, and that’s nice.”
The Pirates will go up early on Friday and watch the Pac-10 cross country championships in Springfield. That is part of what should be a fun trip for the close group.
For Paulson, the Pirates are like a family, many years in the building. She started running in sixth grade, along with Scott, who played volleyball and ran in seventh and eight grade and rejoined the cross country program last year after playing just volleyball as a freshman and sophomore.
Senior Moriah Roberge was in cross country for the first time as an eighth grader and continued in the sport in high school, though she took last year off before rejoining the club this fall.
Sadler and fellow junior Tori Scott both have run every year since they were in sixth grade, while fellow junior Risé Campbell started in seventh grade.
Only junior Vanessa Brum is a newcomer this year.
“We’ve been running together for four or five years,” Paulson said.
The Pirates hope to have one more great race together Saturday.
Notes: Marshfield’s Dustin Reis and Andrew Davidson also are competing in the state meet, as individual qualifiers. The Class 5A races are in the afternoon Saturday. The girls race is at 1:25, followed by the boys at 1:50.
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