Newport junior Oshay Dunmore has been a rising star on the local track scene for the past two years, after winning the state 4A discus title as a freshman.
But Dunmore, in his first Sweet Home Decathlon, stamped his credentials as the real deal Friday and Saturday, scoring 6360 points to win the annual event. By comparison, the record, set by the Huskies’ Dakotah Keys as a junior, is 6664 points.
The decathlon and heptathlon, which are the only such events held during the track season in Oregon, drew a record 54 competitors from 18 schools, at least one from each OSAA division.
“What’s neat is we have a lot of the same people every year,” Coach Billy Snow said, noting that schools such as Crow and Westside Christian and others bring their promising athletes year in and year out.
“It’s very competitive and this year it was more competitive than ever.”
The weather is almost always part of the story during the event and it was no different this year. With snow showers threatening one minute and the sunshine bursting through the next, Snow and other organizers decided to juggle events a bit, moving athletes who had finished an event on to another, which kept things moving and helped deal with weather issues.
“We’d still be there if we hadn’t done that,” Snow said Monday. “That actually started working out pretty good.”
Newport also got a win in the girls heptathlon, as sophomore Kacie Hargett took that title with 3612 points, ahead of Westside Christian’s Ciana Baron (3559). Sweet Home’s Annie Whitfield was fifth in the 22-athlete competition with 2971 points.
Nick Hall was the top boys finisher among the Huskies in the decathlon, scoring 4397 points to finish seventh in the 32-athlete boys field, which included three unattached competitors.
One of them, Jake Comstock of Sweet Home, who placed second to Keys in last year’s state meet’s 110 hurdles final, showed he hasn’t forgotten how to run that event, as he won in 16.16 – about a second off his state meet time but still good enough for first place.
Zach Jackson was the Huskies’ other winner, taking first in the javelin (157-1) in what Snow said was very poor weather conditions.
Dunmore won the shot put (44-6 ¼), the high jump (6-0 ¾), the pole vault (12-11 ½) and the long jump (20-7), and took second in the 110 hurdles (16.36) and the 400 (52.02).
Snow predicted that Dunmore will vault “14-6 or 15 before the end of this year. He’ll score higher (in a decathlon) if he does one in warmer weather.”
At the end of his sophomore year, Dunmore scored 6634 points last July during a low-key decathlon involving athletes from Newport, Waldport and a few other schools.
Hargett’s lone first-place event finish was in the shot put (34-8 ½), but she was in the top five in all the other events except the jumps, which gave her enough points to win.
Whitfield was third in the shot and fourth in the 100 hurdles, while Kelika Kaniaupio, Sweet Home’s other girls competitor, took fourth in the long jump in a personal-best 14-7 ½. Kaniaupio, who was handicapped by her failure to clear a height in the high jump, finished 22nd.
The other boys competitors for the Huskies were Alex Santana (eighth, 4382), Jackson (14th, 3732) and Evan Ray (31st, 1375). Comstock was ninth with 4321 points. Snow noted that not all the Huskies competed in all their events, which accounted for some lower scores.
“Zach would have done better if he’d run the 1500,” he said.
This week the Huskies will be back as a full team, traveling to Cottage Grove Thursday to face LaPine and a stronger host Lions squad than their last go-around, when some of Cottage Grove’s boys were still in the basketball playoffs. Sweet Home will then travel to Junction City Saturday to compete against Central, Elmira, Newport, Siuslaw, Stayton and Toledo, as well as the hosts, in the Junction City Invite. Field events start at 10:30 a.m. Track events begin at noon.
Sweet Home Decathlon Results
Top 5 and Sweet Home finishers
*Unattached non-high school athlete
100 – (1) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 11.85; (2) Alex Santana (SH) 11.90; (3) Nick Hall (SH) 11.97; (4) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 11.98; (5) Dereak Albright (New Hope Christian) 12.03; (9) Jake Comstock (*SH) 12.39; (16) Zach Jackson (SH) 13.06; (27) Evan Ray (SH) 13.85.
400 – (1) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 51.94; (2) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 52.02; (3) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 52.96; (4) Nick Hall (SH) 53.72; (5) Zach Trask (Philomath) 55.51; (7) Alex Santana (SH) 56.16; (12) Jake Comstock (*SH) 57.50.
1500 – (1) David Bowdoin (*New Home Christian) 4:42.52; (2) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 4:44.79; (3) Zach Trask (Philomath) 4:45.29; (4) Nick Hall (SH) 4:52.55; (5) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 4:57.00; (20) Alex Santana (SH) 5:45.02; (21) Jake Comstock (*SH) 5:45.92.
110 Hurdles – (1) Jake Comstock (*SH) 16.16; (2) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 16.36; (3) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 16.66; (4) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 16.81; (5) Chad Cummings (Sisters) 18.12; (6) Alex Santana (SH) 18.42; (10) Nick Hall (SH) 19.29; (15) Zach Jackson (SH) 21.05.
Shot Put – (1) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 44-6 ¼; (2) Zach Jackson (SH) 42-6; (3) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 39-1 ¼; (4) Brandon Thompson (Westside Christian) 38-2 ¾; (5) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 37-6 ¾; (13) Alex Santana (SH) 30-11 ¼; (14) Jake Comstock (*SH) 3-9 ¾; (17) Nick Hall (SH) 28-10 ½; (23) Even Ray (SH) 26-2 ¾.
Discus – (1) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 122-4; (2) Tanner Eastlick (Crow) 118-3; (3) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 114-2; (4) Jeran Conaway (Crane) 108-6; (5) Daniel Perrson (Newport) 103-9; (7) Zach Jackson (SH) 92-10; (12) Alex Santana (SH) 75-2; (13) Nick Hall (SH) 74-2; (26) Jake Comstock (*SH) 54-8.
Javelin – (1) Zach Jackson (SH) 157-1; (2) Jeran Conaway (Crane) 152-8; (3) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 151-1; (4) Calvin Little (Eddyville) 138-9; (5) Alex Santana (SH) 129-1; (12) Jake Comstock (*SH) 107-4; (17) Nick Hall (SH) 95-9.
High Jump – (1) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 6-0 ¾; (2) Andrew Christenson (Barlow) 5-10 ¾; (3-tie) Jeran Conaway (Crane), Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 5-8 ¾; ; (4-tie) Korey Smith (Roseburg), Alex Santana (SH), Jake Comstock (*SH) 5-7; (7) Zach Jackson (SH) 5-1.
Pole Vault – (1) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 12-11 ½; (2) Zach Trask (Philomath) 11-5 ¾; (3-tie) Andrew Christenson (Barlow), Jeran Conaway (Crane) 10-11 ¾; (5) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 10-6; (8-tie) Jake Comstock (*SH), Zach Jackson (SH) 7-0 ½; (9) Nick Hall (SH) 6-6 ¾.
Long Jump – (1) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 20-7; (2) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 20-0 ¼; (3) Alex Santana (SH) 19-8 ¾; (4) Andrew Christenson (Barlow) 19-0; (5) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 18-8; (7) Jake Comstock (*SH) 18-4 ½; (8) Nick Hall (SH) 18-2 ¼; (15) Zach Jackson (SH) 16-9 1/2; (28) Evan Ray (SH) 13-11 ¾.
Decathlon Final Scores – (1) Oshay Dunmore (Newport) 6360; (2) Korey Smith (Roseburg) 5578; (3) Carson Kennedy (Forest Grove) 5471; (4) Andrew Christenson (Barlow) 4803; (5) Jeran Conaway (Crane) 4759; (6) Zach Trask (Philomath) 4561; (7) Nick Hall (SH) 4397; (8) Alex Santana (SH) 4382; (9) Jake Comstock (*SH) 4321; (10) Tyler Park (*New Home Christian) 4087; (11) Calvin Little (Eddyville) 4034; (12) Brandon Thompson (Westside Christian) 3892; (13) David Johnson (New Hope Christian) 3836; (14) Zach Jackson (SH) 3732; (15) Chad Cummings (Sisters) 3567; (16) Conlan Stewart (Condon/Wheeler) 3564; (17) Daniel Perrson (Newport) 3317; (18) Lucas Clark (Seaside) 3197; (19) David Bowdoin (*New Hope Christian) 3185; (20) Tanner Eastlick (Crow) 3088; (21) Dalen Hargett (Newport) 3055; (22) Tallon Camargo (Condon/Wheeler) 3828; (23) Jackson Lin (East Linn Christian) 2819; (24) Adrien Rodriguez (Eddyville) 2751; (25) Logan Drullinger (Crow) 2717; (26) Tyler Parson (Crow) 2641; (27) Tyler Hunt (Condon/Wheeler) 2415; (28) Daniel Rossiter (New Hope Christian) 2129; (29) Justin Park (New Hope Christian) 1620; (30) Dreak Albright (New Hope Christian) 1431; (31) Evan Ray (SH) 1375; (32) Chris Bladorn (Cascade) 906.
Sweet Home Heptathlon Results
Top 5 and Sweet Home finishers
200 – (1) Claire Thomas (Molalla) 27.32; (2) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 27.54; (3) Sarah Frazier (Summit) 27.89; (4) Emily Ritchey (Summit) 28.01; (5) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian) 29.06; (8) Annie Whitfield (SH) 29.89; (22) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 34.37.
800 – (1) Claire Thomas (Molalla) 2:32.69; (2) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian) 2:33.09; (3) Mandie Maddux (Barlow) 2:37.18; (4) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 2:38.93; (5) Christa Collmer (Barlow) 2:42.55; (18) Annie Whitfield (SH) 3:13.80; (22) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 3:27.62.
100 Hurdles – (1) Claire Thomas (Mollala) 17.21; (2) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian) 17.47; (3) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 18.18; (4) Annie Whitfield (SH) 18.26; (5) Sarah Frazier (Summit) 18.63; (18) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 21.08.
Shot Put – (1) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 34-8 ½; (2) Laura Grube (Crow) 29-3 ¾; (3) Annie Whitfield (SH) 27-10; (4) Esther Suelzle (Cascade) 26-7 ¼; (5) Kristen Sowers (East Linn Christian) 26-2 ¾; (17) Kelika Kaniupio (SH) 21-1 ½.
Javelin – (1) Annie Whitfield (SH) 124-0; (2) Laura Grube (Crow) 123-0; (3) Michaela Farner (Molalla) 115-11; (4) Kristen Sowers (East Linn Christian) 113-11; (5) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 112-5; (16) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 53-1.
High Jump – (1) Mandie Maddux (Barlow) 4-9 ½; (2-tie) Zoe Engwall (East Linn Christian), Ana Mena (Newport) 4-7 ½; (3) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian), Emily Ritchey (Summit) 4-5 ½.
Long Jump – (1) Claire Thomas (Molalla) 16-8; (2) Emily Richey (Summit) 15-8 ½; (3) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian) 15-8 ½; (4) Sarah Frazier (Summit) 15-2; (5) Ariel Koos (East Linn Christian) 15-2; (6) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 14-7 ½.
Heptathlon Final Scores – (1) Kacie Hargett (Newport) 3612; (2) Ciana Baron (Westside Christian) 3559; (3) Claire Thomas (Molalla) 3483; (4) Mandie Maddux (Barlow) 3070; (5) Annie Whitfield (SH) 2971; (6) Sarah Frazier (Summit) 2833; (7) Laura Grube (Crow) 2822; (8) Zoe Englwall (East Linn Christian) 2673; (9) Emily Ritchey (Summit) 2646; (10) Ariel Koos (East Linn Christian) 2621; (11) Christa Colmer (Barlow) 2593; (12) Kristen Sowers (East Linn Christian) 2457; (13) Kathryn Curtis (Westside Christian) 2388; (14) Dallas Wilson (Cascade) 2374; (15) Ana Mena (Newport) 2270; (16) Shanna Doyle (Newport) 2188; (17) Mariah Hart (Barlow) 2097; (18) Alice Jefferson (Molalla) 2055; (19) Michaela Farner (Molalla) 2048; (20) Esther Suelzle (Cascade) 1714; (21) Mechell Bailey (Eddyville) 1626; (22) Kelika Kaniaupio (SH) 1526.