Tyler Pell
Sophomore Seth Lindquist long jumps during the Southern Region Championship on Saturday, May 9, at Cottage Grove High School. Lindquist finished second in the long jump between teammates Trent Davis and Bruce Burbank for a 1-2-3 finish for the Titans. Photo by STACY DAVIS/The Torch
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Chris Stubbs carries the baton for the second place 4x400-meter relay team. Photo by STACY DAVIS/The Torch
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Lukas Fenley trails teammate Travis Stevens in the 5,000-meter run at the Southern Region Championship. Fenley would wind up finishing third in the event coming in at 16:10.05. Stevens finished behind Fenley and teammate Alex Jones in fifth place. Photo by STACY DAVIS/The Torch
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When the final scores were tallied up from last Saturday's Southern Region Championship in Cottage Grove, the Titans had easily clinched their sixth consecutive Southern Region Title. Their closest competitors were so far behind them, they were barely visible.
LCC used a solid all-around performance to earn 317 total points, more than second-place Mt. Hood Community College, 130 points, and third place Clackamas Community College, 109 points, combined.
The huge margin of victory was nothing new for the defending Southern Region Champions. In fact, Head Coach Grady O'Connor saw it coming.
"We scored 317, probably could have scored 400. I just felt the main competition is Spokane, and they could have scored 400 in this meet as well. Not to discredit some of the other teams, they had some nice performances, but depth-wise they don't have the numbers we have."
Bruce Burbank lead the way for LCC, scoring a meet-high 30 points for the Titans. Burbank's day was highlighted by a first-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles along with a second-place finish in the pole vault and third-place in the long jump.
Seth Lindquist used a first-place triple jump finish, second-place finishes in the high jump and long jump to score 26.25 points for LCC, the third best individual score of the day.
"Lindquist had a monster day on the jumps. He had three personal bests in those jumps. He is really looking strong right now," O'Connor said.
Beyond individual scores, LCC showed why it is the class of the Southern Region by finishing first, second and third in the 110 hurdles: Burbank, Dennis Olstedt and Richard Arnold; the long jump: Trent Davis, Lindquist and Burbank; and discus: Chris Bellitt, Ty Lindgren and Max Perry.
"We were not expecting having the top-three finishers in the high hurdles, but that's what we need to have happen. JJ Rosenberg and Richard Arnold are two guys who haven't been too high on the NWAACC list, but they really showed up. Those are the surprises and breaks we're gonna need in the NWAACCs," O'Connor said.
Placing fourth in the overall scoring was Chris Stubbs. Stubbs broke the tape in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 21.52. He also took second in the 100, finishing in 10.86 seconds.
Other event winners for LCC: Bryan Harper, 400; Ty Lindgren, hammer; and Scott Elliott, pole vault. These performances left O'Connor singing their praises.
"Max Perry looked pretty solid, Dennis Olstedt had a [personal record] in the hurdles, Bryan Harper had a personal best in the 400. I could go on and on, and that's the way the end of the season should be," he said.
Olstedt, Stubbs, Harper and JJ Rosenberg comprised the winning relay 4x400 relay team.
O'Connor described the meet as a good pre-NWAACC test, but not the best display of what the men's team is capable of since he held some of their athletes back for the sake of freshness heading into the NWAACCs on May 21.
Unfortunately for LCC, Burbank suffered a hyper extended knee during the triple jump, and his status for the NWAACC meet is uncertain.
Although the Titans' scores were great, O'Connor isn't crowning this team just yet.
"We know that we're talented. We don't know how tough we are," O'Connor said.
