Masterson leads Irish sweep.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

Casey Masterson went into Wednesday's dual meet against South Eugene with her college decision finally behind her and a relatively light load of work on tap for the evening.

PREPS

And she still was worth watching.

The Sheldon senior blew away the field in the 800 meters and then erased a 20-meter gap on the final leg of the 4x400 relay to get the Irish a win in that event as well, as Sheldon defeated the visiting Axemen 92-53 in Southwest Conference girls track and field.

"It was a fun dual meet," said Masterson, who had nearly a 13-second victory in the 800 with a time of 2:15.4. It was the second-best time in the state this season.

Masterson, the 2006 Class 6A cross country champion and one of the state leaders in the 800, 1,500, 3,000 and 300 hurdles this spring, signed a national letter-of-intent Wednesday morning to run cross country and track at Oregon State next year.

"It was a really hard decision, and it's nice to have it off my shoulders," Masterson admitted.

The Beavers also signed Mel Cleland of Chilton St. James High School in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, and Jennifer Macias of Hermiston.

`Casey is what you would call a `rising star,' ' OSU coach Kelly Sullivan said.

She wasn't the only standout for the Irish on Wednesday, however. Amy Nelson won both the 100 and 300 hurdles, and Nori Rice picked up victories in the long jump and triple jump.

The Axemen got victories from defending district champion Whitney Pitman in the 3,000, Malina Wiebe in the 100, Rachel Bunting in the 400 and Lindsay Beard in the pole vault.

In the boys meet, Sheldon's stable of sprinters and jumpers outdueled South's collection of distance runners and throwers to win 84 1/2 -60 1/2 .

Sheldon's Anthony Yakovich ran 22.8 seconds in the 200 and 51.5 seconds in the 400 to sweep both events, and Aaron Pflugrad ran 11.2 to edge teammate Ronnie Brooks (11.3) in the 100. Pflugrad also was second in the 400 and brought his team from behind to win the 4x400 on the final leg.

"Our sprinters really stood out," Sheldon coach Erin Regali said. "The sprinters and jumpers were a key part of today for us. South is always very tough in the distances."

Wednesday was no different.

The Axemen got victories by Walker Augustyniak in the 1,500 and Zach Schneider-Lynch in the 3,000 and Casey Weinman led a strong showing in the 800, winning in 1:59.8.

"The 800 was probably the highlight of the day," South Eugene coach Jeff Hess said.

Brian Rowe also picked up a pair of victories for the Axemen in the javelin and high jump, and Zach Zosel won both the shot put and discus.

"We wanted to compete hard today," Hess said. "We know Sheldon is the top team in the league, so we went at them. I feel good about our competitive effort all the way through."

Ashley Potter won four events, including marks of 36-11 in the triple jump and 14.92 in the 100-meter hurdles, both third best in the state, and Kelly Petaja cleared 5-4, tied for second best, in Thurston's 93-51 girls track win over host Willamette.

Baseball

Midwestern League

North Eugene 11, Marshfield 1: Scott Womack was 3-for-4 with a home run, triple and double and Dan Winterstein threw a one-hitter as the host Highlanders kept their hold on first place with a victory over the Pirates.

Churchill 4, Willamette 2: Andrew Schumacher doubled and Drew Irsfeld followed with a home run in the eighth inning for the visiting Lancers (7-3), who got eight strikeouts from pitcher Matt Myrmo.

Thurston 13, Springfield 3: Kyle Hoover was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs and Danny Urness was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to lead the host Colts past the Millers.

PacWest Conference

Jefferson 14, Harrisburg 1: Mike Kuenzi and Ryan Montgomery combined on a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts for the host Lions.

Regis 13, Creswell 0: Tony Menk was 2-for-3 with a home run, double, two RBIs and two runs to lead the visiting Rams past the Bulldogs.

Sunset Six League

Glide 4, Bandon 0: Jeff Jackson gave up two hits and one walk while throwing the shutout to lead the Wildcats past the Tigers.

Waldport 2, Toledo 1: Jose Quevado singled in the winning run in the sixth inning for the visiting Irish.

Nonleague

North Douglas 13, Sutherlin JV 0: Andrew Hess was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs to lead the visiting Warriors.

Softball

Midwestern League

Churchill 4, Willamette 0: Jessica Plummer hit a home run and Megan Peterson struck out 14 to lead the host Lancers past the Wolverines.

North Eugene 5, Marshfield 3: Kristen DeHaven and Megan Harvey each doubled, and the visiting Highlanders scored two runs in the seventh inning to beat the Pirates.

Thurston 7, Springfield 4: Andria Wheatley was 3-for-5 and scored three runs to lead the Colts to the road victory over the Millers.

PacWest Conference

Harrisburg 14, Jefferson 2: Claire Duncan was 2-for-3 with a solo home run for the visiting Eagles.

Regis 12, Creswell 1: Katie Butterfield was 3-for-5 with a home, and Alex Minten was 3-for-5 with a grand slam to lead the visiting Rams.

Boys golf

Nonleague

Marist won the team title with a score of 301, and Casey King of McKenzie claimed medalist honors with a score of 70 at the Oregon High School Invitational at Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis.

Robbie Pitts shot 73 to lead the Spartans, who won the 24-team tournament by three strokes over Bend. Marshfield was third at 305, and McKenzie was 10th with 321.