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SR's Marshall Olin wins 4 events at Nevers Field
Maria Carrillo's Jenna Lowder runs 400-meter sprint in 57.4 seconds,
tying meet record set in 1985
Friday, May 6, 2005

By DEWEY FORGET
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Marshall Olin and Jenna Lowder are two of the busiest runners in the Empire.

Lowder regularly competes in five events, and recently added the 300-meter hurdles to her resume.
Olin is the boys' top hurdler and competes in the long jump and the triple jump.

Under the lights at the 22nd annual All City track meet at Nevers Field on Friday, the two were
at their best on Santa Rosa's new all-weather track. Lowder, a Maria Carrillo junior, was a
triple individual winner, taking the 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprints, while Santa Rosa's Olin
captured the 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles, plus the long jump and
triple jump.

Lowder ran 57.4 seconds to equal the meet record in the 400 set in 1985 by Santa Rosa's Wendi
Simmons.

"I didn't think I was even in the 57s," said Lowder, who ran the 300 hurdles for the first time
against Piner in a league meet last week. "If I knew I was going that fast, I think I could
have pushed a little harder.

"I love the 400, but it's really a hard race," Lowder said. "The 100 is all out, but there isn't
much strategy. You just go for it."

Maria Carrillo coach Danny Aldridge said the 400 may be Lowder's best event, but feels she
could also excel at 800 meters. "She has great speed and strength," Aldridge said.

Olin, who has the Empire's best time in the 300 hurdles by more than two seconds, blitzed the
field in 40.2 to defeat Montgomery's Joey Kobylinski and Bryan Bei.

"Joey was pushing me. I could hear him all the way down the stretch," said Olin, who was
accepted at the Naval Academy, but plans to attend UC Santa Barbara as a walk-on. "I decided
to opt out of the Naval Academy because I want to go into pre-med. The Navy doesn't like to
spend all that money training you and then have you go into the Med-Corp."

His 43-foot, 4-inch triple jump was nearly four feet farther than Montgomery's Matt Williams,
and he also edged Williams in the long jump.

"Marshall is a four-event person. He's undefeated in league this year in all four events," said
Santa Rosa coach Doug Courtemarche. "He has tremendous speed and a great sense of timing that
really helps in the triple and long jump."

Lowder was named girl athlete of the meet. Olin shared the boys honor with Elsie Allen sprinter
Josh Jackson, who captured the 100, 200 and 400 sprints. Jackson broke 50 seconds in the 400
for the first time in two years, running 49.9.

"That was my first time under 50 since the ninth grade," said Jackson, who ran his personal
best of 49 seconds as a freshman to qualify for the Junior Olympics. "I didn't start out strong,
but I finished better. I felt like I had control of the race."

Jean Lightfoot of Maria Carrillo was a double winner. She captured the shot put with a toss of
37 feet, 2½ inches, easily defeating Montgomery's Molly Coxon (32 feet, 7 inches). Her heave of
115 feet, 1½ inches took the discus.

"When I first started, I did better in the shot, but now I like the discus," said Lightfoot,
who also plays volleyball for the Pumas. "With the shot I feel like I can muscle it out there,
but the discus takes more technique. It's been hard to tackle."

Santa Rosa took the boys' team competition, while Maria Carrillo easily captured the girls'
team title.

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