Lebanon’s boys finished fifth and the girls sixth in the Mid-Willamette Conference district meet held May 20 and 20 at Corvallis High School.
“Everything pretty much went according to plan,” said Assistant Coach Troy Walker, who focuses on sprints and jumps, which were well-represented in this year’s state qualifications for the Warriors.
Six Lebanon individuals or teams qualified in as many events for state on the boys side and the girls qualified four athletes in three different events.
“We were pretty happy with everything,” Walker said. “We don’t have a lot of kids there, but we’re excited about what kids we have.”
District champions for Lebanon on the girls side were senior Heather Savedra in the javelin with a personal best of 123-4, and Addy Pickles was the district champion in the triple jump for the girls, jumping 35-8½, a season’s best.
For the boys, Logan Large was first in the triple, jumping a personal-best 44-6. Cade Weber won the district title in the 400, running a personal best of 48.72.
The boys 4×400 team of Large, Rowan Jones, Bodhi Brown and Weber also won the district title, running 3:21.16.
“I’m excited for Logan and Rowan and Bodhi and Cade,” Walker said, noting that he has worked with them since they were in the eighth grade.
In addition to the champions, state qualifiers for Lebanon were Brown, second in the 100 (10.68) and in the 200 (22.64), and the 4×100 team of Luke Johnson, Large, Weber and Brown, which was second in 42.38.
For the girls, Pickles also qualified for state in the long jump, making 16-11½, a personal best.
Ruby Vandenbos, who was second to Pickles in the triple jump by less than an inch with a PR of 35-7¾ after they battled back and forth for the lead during that competition, and Jane Brandt, who finished fifth in the triple with a PR of 33-5¼, also punched their ticket in that event for Hayward Field in Eugene, where the competition will be held this Friday and Saturday.
“It’s always fun to get all three of our kids in,” Walker said. “It’s a blessing; it doesn’t happen all the time.”
The boys scored 70 points, as Silverton won the boys competition with 171 points, nearly double second-place Corvallis’ (96), with Dallas third (88) and Central fourth (87).
Crescent Valley and Dallas tied for the district title with 131.5 points each, with Silverton third (103), Corvallis fourth (88.5), South Albany fifth (67) and the Warriors finishing with 50.5 points.
Other scorers for the boys were Weber, third in the 200 (22.67) but just missing qualifying in that event.
Large was fourth in the long jump 20-7¼, about a foot and a quarter under his personal best. Walker said the long jump was supposed to be contested on Wednesday, but the board sank 3 inches and the pit had to be repaired, so it was moved to Friday, an hour and a half before the triple jump competition, Walker said, which complicated things for athletes who were competing in both events.
Tyler Deckert was fourth in the triple in a PR of 40-4¾ .
Other scorers for the girls were Pickles, fifth in the 400 (1:00.33) after running a personal best of 58.90 in the prelims, which placed her third.
The 4×400 relay team of Harper Pepperling, Peyton Vorderstrasse, Leslie Thayer and Jocilynn Durgeloh were sixth in 4:34.12
Molly Basting was seventh in the pole vault, clearing 8-5¼, and Vandenbos was seventh in the long jump (15-11¾).
Walker said the Warriors are ready to go, but the competition will be stiff. The Intermountain Conference district finals had a strong tailwind, he said, which pushed athletes from those schools in the short sprints past Weber and others, who might have qualified.
“That’s the nature of the beast,” he said. “Bodhi will be battling for a spot in the finals. I’m guessing he finishes in the top five or so. It’s exciting to watch these kids, whom I’ve been working with for five years.”
The OSAA 5A state championships begin with track prelims and some field events Friday morning, May 28, at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Visit osaa.org for specific schedules, including official entry lists. Finals for track and some field events are on Saturday.
Kristine Banker photos