By DON HUNT

GRANTS PASS - With her entire team sitting around the pole vault pit and cheering her on, Kristin Russell set a school record that capped a superb performance by the South Medford High track team Thursday.

On a warm, overcast afternoon that made for perfect conditions at Russ Werner Field, Russell soared over the bar at 10 feet to break her own record and help the South Medford girls to an 86-58 victory.

The Panther boys were equally dominant, winning 11 of 17 events en route to an 87-58 win.

"Clearing 10 feet has been a long time coming," said Russell, who achieved her previous best mark of 9 feet, 10 inches at the Class 4A state meet last May. "I've consistently been making 9-6 so I knew 10 feet was just a matter of time."

Russell had a slew of spectators - her teammates - applauding her efforts as the other events had ended while she was still jumping.

"It's a great feeling having so many people in your corner," Russell said. "They pumped me up. I'm sure they had something to do with me getting over the bar."

Russell registered the only varsity school record Thursday, but the powerful Panthers put plenty of other impressive times and marks into the books.

To wit:

Tim Meador ran a lifetime best of 4:13.6 to edge teammate Perry Custance in the 1,500-meter run, then doubled back to claim the 800 in 1:59.9. Custance was also timed in 4:13.6 in the 1,500.

"This is only the second time I've run the 1,500 this year so I'm real happy with my time," said Meador, who set a school record in the 800 (1:55.15) at the Centennial Invitational last Saturday. "In the 800, I was just hoping to get under two minutes. It was a

satisfying double."

Freshman Mike Moore soared to a lifetime best of 13 feet in the pole vault, shattering the frosh record of 12 feet he recorded last Saturday in Yreka, Calif.

In a span of two weeks, Moore has improved from 10-6 to 12-0 to 13-0.

"I keeping my hips back and getting better knee drive every meet," said Moore, who made five successful jumps without a miss Thursday before faltering three times at 13-6. "I'm also on a bigger pole than I was using at the start of the season. It has more spring."

GP's Kasey Hughes needed one of his best days - he tied his lifetime best of 14 feet - to hold off the young Panther upstart.

"Nothing seems to bother him - he just goes for it," South Medford coach Bill Rowan said of Moore. "He's refreshing to watch because every day is another adventure for him. He's out there having fun, and no one knows where his limits are."

Amois Gonzales, still recuperating from a leg injury, made up a 20-meter deficit on the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay to spur the Panthers to victory.

Gonzales ran a 57.4 split as she blew past GP's Ashley Smith over the final 150 meters.

"I'm finally able to do some speed work again in practice," said Gonzales, who sprained her ankle the weekend before the track season began and then injured her Achilles tendon while training when the ankle was taped up. "I went almost a month without doing any speedwork. That's a lot of training to lose."

But Gonzales' sizzling relay split, along with a respectable time in the 200 (25.9) has Rowan hopeful that his star sprinter will be ready for the district and state meets.

"Her relay split was very encouraging," Rowan said. "She's starting to feel better, obviously."

Paul Kralic launched the discus 150-3, nearly 10 feet further than his previous best, to upset GP's Jake Zeliff, the leading discus thrower in the SOC.

"It just flew out there and kept going," Kralic said with a shrug. "I didn't do anything differently than I normally do."

Kralic added a victory in the shot put (44-9), and Tyler Carlton won both hurdle races for the Panthers.

Nathan Eames had a good day for the Cavemen, winning the 100 and 200 and running a leg on GP's triumphant 1,600-meter relay.

GP's Brian Howard cleared 6-4 to win the high jump and tie his personal record.

But blue ribbons were few and far between for the Cavemen, who are still recovering from the death of Geoff Carmichael on April 22. Carmichael, who died of heart failure while lifting weights at school, was captain of the track team and one of GP's most popular students.

"Our kids were flat," Grants Pass coach Roger Stewart said. "We didn't have much spark today, but take nothing away from South. They've got a great team."

The same two schools, along with a dozen or so others, will return to Russ Werner Field Saturday for the annual Rotary meet.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES - South Medford 87, Grants Pass 58.

SHOT PUT - 1, Paul Kralik, 44-9; 2, Travis Flowers, GP, 44; 3, Travis Winter, GP, 43-2.

DISCUS - 1, Paul Kralik, SM, 150-3; 2, Jake Zeliff, GP, 143-10; 3, R. Palmer, SM, 130-1.

JAVELIN - 1, Travis Winter, GP, 164-2; 2, J. Winn, GP, 153-3; 3, Travis Flowers, GP, 144-3.

HIGH JUMP - 1, Brian Howard, GP, 6-4; 2, Luke Lathen, GP, 5-8; 3, Reed Sorensen, GP, 5-8.

LONG JUMP - 1, Jon Micah Summerall, SM, 18-7; 2, Clayton Constable, SM, 18; 3, Brenden Hamada, GP, 17-6.

TRIPLE JUMP - 1, Clayton Constable, SM, 41-2; 2, Jason Thompson, SM, 41-2; 3, C. Watts, GP, 38-7.

POLE VAULT - 1, Kasey Hughes, GP, 14-0; 2, M. Moore, SM, 13-0; 3, Brian Howard, GP, 13-0.

110 HURDLES - 1, Tyler Carlton, SM, 16.0; 2, Clayton Constable, SM, 16.6; 3, Jon Micah Summerall, SM, 17.1.

300 HURDLES - 1, Tyler Carlton, SM, 41.8; 2, Jon Micah Summeral, SM, 44.9; 3, J. Kempfer, GP, 45.5.

100 - 1, Nathan Eames, GP, 11.5; 2, Eddie Bley, GP, 11.9; 3, Armado Lara, GP, 11.9.

200 - 1, Nathan Eames, GP, 23.9; 2, M. Moore, SM, 24.6; 3, Armando Lara, GP, 24.7.

400 - 1. Eric McKenzie, SM, 50.8; 2, Jonathan Jackson, SM, 52.1; 3, Chris Uri, SM, 53.0.

800 - 1, Tim Meador, SM, 2:00; 2, Perry Custance, SM, 2:01.3; 3, Grant Slagle, GP, 2:05.2.

1,500 - 1, Tim Meador, SM, 4:13.6; 2, Perry Custance, SM, 4:13.6; 3, Creighton Helms, SM, 4:18.6.

3,000 - 1, Jed Baures, SM, nt; 2, Jeremy McLean, GP, 9:31; 3, Joel Sullivan, SM, 10:14.6.

400 RELAY - 1, South Medford (Jon Micah Sumrall, Tyler Carlton, Jason Thompson, Eric McKenzie), 44.3; 2, Grants Pass, 44.9.

1,600 RELAY - 1, Grants Pass (Grant Slagle, Parmer, Nathan Eames, Jake Zeliff), 3:32.5; 2, South Medford, 3:33.7.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES - South Medford 86, Grants Pass 58.

SHOT PUT - 1, Kaci Williams, GP, 38-11; 2, Aimee Moore, GP, 35-0; 3, Kylie Healy, SM, 34-9.

DISCUS - 1, Kylie Healy, SM, 111-9; 2, Aimee Moore, GP, 110-7; 3, Kaci Williams, GP, 99-1.

JAVELIN - 1, A. Young, SM, 109-6; 2, Kaci Williams, GP, 100-0; 3, Heather Fossen, SM, nm.

HIGH JUMP - 1, Staci Lambert, SM, 5-0; Kaci Williams, GP, 4-10; 3, K. Thomas, SM, 4-8.

LONG JUMP - 1, Kristin Russel, SM, 13-11; 2, E. Finney, SM, 13-9; 3, Jamie Carleton, SM, 13-4.

TRIPLE JUMP - 1, C. Higgins, GP, 30-11; 2, Jenell Thompson, GP, 30-5; 3, Jamie Carleton, SM, 30-3.

POLE VAULT - 1, Kristin Russell, SM, 10-0; 2, Meghan Boehm, GP, 9-0; 3, S. Schilz, SM, 7-6.

100 HURDLES - 1, Amanda Anders, SM, 17.0; 2, A. Young, SM, 17.1; 3, Heather Wallace, GP, 17.3.

300 HURDLES - 1, Becky Wolf, GP, 50.3; 2, S. Duarte, SM, 50.7; 3, Kim Tiffany, GP, 51.5.

100 - 1, Jessica King, GP, 13.6; 2, Melissa Mullineaux, SM, 13.8; 3, Kim Tiffany, GP, 13.9.

200 - 1, Amois Gonzalez, SM, 25.9; 2, Jessica King, GP, 27.4; 3, Becca Straw, GP, 28.1.

400 - 1. Janette Martin, SM, 59.0; 2, Becca Straw, GP, 1:00.5; 3, Allison Thompson, SM, 1:06.5.

800 - 1, Krista Carlson, GP, 2:28.3; 2, Ellena Flood, SM, 2:32.7; 3, Rachel Tarshes, SM, 2:34.5.

1,500 - 1, Emily Perttu, SM, 5:08.3; 2, Tonya Anders, SM, 5:14.6; 3, Megan Cushing, GP, 5:52.7.

3,000 - 1, Sarah Eyman, SM, 11:26; 2, Jessica Stowell, GP, 11:38.5.

400 RELAY - 1, South Medford (Sarah Duarte, Amanda Anders, Melissa Mullineaux, Janette Martin), 51.2; 2, Grants Pass, 52.1.