| Taking aim at district meet
By Ron Jackimowicz, Special to The Post
Reedsport athletes once again put their best foot forward in the Jack Blum Invitational on Friday, the final home track meet of the season.
The district meet is Friday and Saturday at Glide with the state meet the following week (May 16-17).
Coach Steve Chase said the team had an outstanding week and pointed to the stellar efforts of John Drozek, Jessica Cooper and Matt Thurber as the highlights of the week.
As a team, the Braves’ boys finished second in the 10-team Jack Blum Invitational with 100 points, four less than Myrtle Point. Oakridge was third with 93 points and Bandon was a distant fourth with 50.
The girls team finished third with 68 points, Myrtle Point won the event with 98 points.
Event winners for the Braves on Friday included Jason Fishel in the long jump and high jump, Ismael Osorio in the shot put, Cooper in the javelin, and the boys and girls 4x100 relay teams.
Drozek finished fourth on Friday, but had a personal best in Bandon last Tuesday.
“John threw the javelin 141 feet for a big PR,” Chase said. “He came back with a 138-5 on Friday.”
Cooper has been steadily improving throughout the season.
“Jessica Cooper has really come on in the javelin,” Chase said. “She threw 100 feet at Reedsport to win the event. She’s working really hard. You can work hard, work hard, work hard, then all of a sudden it works for you.”
Freshman Caitlyn Riley had a strong day in the sprints, finishing third in the 100 and the 200. Camille Tisler was second in the discus and Becka Moore was second in the long jump and third in the javelin, less than two feet behind Cooper.
“Jason Fishel had a strong week in the long jump. He won the high jump at both meets, too,” Chase said of his senior. Fishel also finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet, 1 inch. That mark is currently the fifth best in 3A in the state according to www.athletic.net.
“Sophomore Matt Thurber ran a big PR of 12.19 in the 100,” Chase said. Thurber has run a person best in each of his last four meets, starting at the Pacific Invitational in early April. At the Reedsport meet, he knock a full tenth of a second off his best time.
Chase said his team is dominated by underclassmen, but that several have a chance to do well in the district meet and make the state meet.
“We had a lot of kids that peaked at districts last year,” Chase said. “I do have five or six sophomores that can make the state meet. Our boys relay is capable of running a full second better.”
He also noted that Fishel is among the state leaders in 3A in his best events and has a strong chance at making the state meet.
The girls relay team has been impressive all season and figures to be a strong contender at the district meet.
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