Top track and field athletes from 4A Division and smaller schools converged Saturday, April 25, for the Meet of Champions, which gave some local athletes the opportunity to test themselves against those they likely will see at state this year.
“In some events I think we might have seen tougher competition than we’ll see at the state meet,” said Sweet Home Coach Nathan Whitfield, who together with Cascade Coach Molly Gehley, organized the meet, which is held annually and for which all participants must qualify.
“I think the meet went really well,” Whitfield said. “All I heard was positive. When you have a meet like this, things are going to go wrong, but for the most part it went pretty well without a hitch.”
Sweet Home’s boys were third with 62 points in the field of 31 teams, behind 3A DIvision Blanchet Catholic (82) and Philomath (69.5). East Linn Christian’s boys finished with 24 points, in a tie for ninth with Knappa, which was last fall’s 2A/1A state cross-country winner, and had six qualifiers in the boys 3000 and three in the 1500 on Saturday.
“It was a good meet,” East Linn Coach Kellen Peters said. “We didn’t have a lot of PR’s, but what we did have was good.”
Sweet Home’s boys team of Landon Murry, Sam Barringer, Dilan Davis and freshman Brayden Driver won the 4×100 relay in 44.25, and Driver, Murray and Davis teamed with Ryker Burr to win the 4×400 in 3:34.88.
East Linn sophomore Ryder Howard won the high jump with a leap of 6-4.
“Ryder was still fresh when he won the high jump,” Peters said. “We’re still training hard. Everybody’s still a little tired.”
Davis was second for Sweet Home in the 200 (23.28) and the 400 (51.87) with the Eagles’ Josh Rehart right behind him, placing third in the 200 (23.28) and fourth in the 400 (52.45).
Sweet Home’s Murry was fourth in the 100 (11.36) and in the 200, behind Rehart, in 23.47, both PR’s for Murry.
On the girls side, East Linn was seventh with 35 points, behind Delphian and Sisters, which tied for fifth with 43. Banks won the girls team competition with 60 points, followed by Junction CIty (47) and Dayton and Tillamook, which tied for third with 45. Sweet Home’s girls were 19th out of 26 teams with 17.33.
June Cowan won the 100 hurdles for East Linn in 16.18 and Lexy Kauffman was second in the 200 (26.60) and third in the 400 (1:00.14).
“June was in the middle heat, but she got the time she needed to win it,” Peters said. Generally, athletes are divided into heats by their best times entering the meet and the fastest runners are typically in the last heat.
For Sweet Home’s girls, McKenzie Miller was fourth in the 1500 (5:06.72) and the 3000 (11:20. 11).
Some particularly outstanding efforts, Whitfield noted, were freshman Elijah Rodgriguez’s run in the 3000, in which a last-minute scratch opened up an opportunity for him to run – except he hadn’t come dressed to compete. Rodriguez had literally five minutes to borrow some spikes and a jersey, and ran to a roughly 17-second PR in 9:54.55, which was 15th in a field of 21 runners spread over two heats.
Similarly, sophomore Acen Webber was a last-minute addition to the 800, for which his best time of 2:13.70 was just outside the qualifiers. But another scratch opened a spot for him in the fastest heat, in which he ran by himself for much of the race, trailing the pack by about 10 seconds. He finished in 2:12.60, 17th in the field of 24 qualifiers.
Whitfield noted that Sweet Home had 18 placewinners, after basically doubling the number of qualifiers the Huskies had last year.
“Our goal is to always get better,” he said. “The level of competition (at the meet) was higher this year too. It was tougher to get in.”
Sweet Home vs Stayton, N. Marion
In a three-way meet with North Marion at Stayton on Wednesday, April 22, the Sweet Home boys finished on top with 104 points to 55 for Stayton and 13 for North Marion. The girls were also team winners, with 92 points, to 76 for Stayton and 5 for North Marion.
It was a productive meet in terms of improvement – the boys produced 21 personal bests and the girls 20.
Winners for the Sweet Home boys were Dillan Davis in the 100 (11.95, PR), Manuel Rivera in the 400 (55.01, PR), Acen Webber in the 800 (2:14.43), Nick Larson in the 110 hurdles (18.08) and freshman Brayden Driver in the 300 hurdles (44.26).
Landon Murry, Samuel Barringer, Davis and Driver combined to run 45.44 in the 4×100 relay.
Driver, Ryker Burr, Murray and Davis won the 4×400 in 3:35.54, two seconds ahead of Sweet Home’s second team of freshman Bentley Uhlry and sophomores Webber, Barringer and Russell Schroeder.
Gavin Tyler set PR’s in winning both the shot (49-5) and javelin (135-0), while Cannon Klumph won the discus with a PR of 120-1.
Elisha Scofield cleared 5-4 to win the high jump, Conner Spencer was tops in the pole vault (9-0, Mason Tyler won the long jump (17-8) and Kaeson Walker won the triple jump with a season’s best of 38-2.
For the girls, freshman Kali Vogel won the 400 in 1:10.95, and Selah Wright, Cassie Spencer, Emma Whitton and Noelle Helfrich combined to win the 4×400 4:35.03.
Wright won the shot (32-0) and the javelin (107-3, a PR).
Freshman Elizabeth Hankins won the long jump in 15-3 and tied with Amara Gonazales to win the high jump (4-4), both personal bests for Hankins.
Delainie Pratt won the pole vault (6-6) and Grace Gardner won the triple jump by 2 inches over Gonzales with a leap of 30-1.
East Linn at Toledo
The Eagles came out ahead on the girls side and the boys were second Thursday, April 23, in a meet matching up five Special District 2 teams and 3A Division Taft.
East Linn’s girls scored 193 points to best Crosshill Christian (155), Regis (98), Toledo (85), Monroe (45) and Taft (14). The boys finished with 145 points, four behind Croshill, and ahead of Regis (89), Monroe (83), Toledo (59) and Taft (27).
Winners on the track for the Eagles on the girls side were Lexy Kauffman in the 200 (26.79), Morgan Lalonde in the 1500 (5:51.12), June Cowan in the 100 hurdles (16.39), Ella Stutzman with a personal best in the 300 Hurdles (53.36), and the 4×100 relay team of Kaylyn Kauffman, Avery Runyon, Cowan and Lexy Kauffman in 53.36.
Svetlana Manner won the javelin (104-4½) and the pole vault (7-6), and Lexy Kauffman went 15-9 to win the long jump. The girls finished with nine personal bests.
On the boys side, Josh Rehart won the 200 (23.69) and the 400, in which he was pushed by teammate Ryder Howard to a personal best of 51.41, as Howard finished second by a lean in 51.66, also a PR.
The 4×100 relay team of Cole Pennington, Hank Davidson, Beckham Kramer and Gabe Talleur finished first in 46.40.
Pennington won the javelin with a PR of 138-4, and the pole vault (11-6), while Howard won the triple jump with a leap of 39-10. The boys finished with 13 PRs.
Meet of Champions
Top 3 and Sweet Home and ELCA Finishers
*Personal Best
Boys
100 – (1) Oli Beauregard (Delphian) 10.95; (2) Josiah Hawkins (Cascade) 11:02; (3) Angel Vargas Guerrero (Blanchet) 11.32; (4) Landon Murry (SH) 11.36*; (8) Sam Barringer (SH) 11.51*.
200 – (1) Josiah Hawkins (Cascade) 23.06; (2) Dillan Davis (SH) 23.28; (3) Josh Rehart (ELCA); (4) Landon Murry (SH) 23.47*; (22) Manuel Rivera (SH) 24.53*.
400 – (1) Enoch Wilson (Tillamook) (2) Dillan Davis (SH) 51.87; (3) Don Ware (Central Linn) 52.13; (4) Josh Rehart (ELCA) 52.45; (12) Brayden Driver (SH) 54.49*; (15) Manuel Rivera (SH) 55.05.
800 – (1) Gage Roper (Pleasant Hill) 2:00.08; (2) Micah Hanke (Cottage Grove) 2:00.25; (3) Nathan Cloutier (Delphian) 2:00.58; (17) Acen Webber (SH) 2:12.60*; (20) Ryker Burr (SH) 2:13.47; (22) Jonah Magness (ELCA) 2:16.59.
1500 – (1) Wyatt Jacobson (Knappa) 4:10.91; (2) Diego Velazquez (Tillamook) 4:10.98; (3) Omar Diani (Banks) 4:12.22.
3000 – (1) Alejandro Abnai (Banks) 9:09.47; (2) Leo Pausch (Philomath) 9:13.98; (3) Wyatt Jacobson (Knappa) 9:30.82; (15) Elijah Rodriguez (SH) 9:54.55*.
110 Hurdles – (1) Oli Beuaregard (Delphian) 14.82; (2) Tristen Adams (Triangle Lake) 15.32; (3) Deontae Washington (Blanchet) 15.33; (11) Nick Larson (SH) 17.20; (14) Kaeson Walker (SH) 17.42*.
300 Hurdles – (1) Tristen Adams (Triangle Lake) 40.75; (2) Deontae Washington (Blanchet) 42:27; (3) Erick Chinchilla (Dayton) 42.70; (7) Nick Larson (SH) 44.60; (19) Brayden Driver (SH) 46.59.
4×100 Relay (15 teams) – (1) Sweet Home (Landon Murry, Sam Barringer, Dillan Davis, Brayden Driver) 44.25; (2) Blanchet 44.38; (3) Salem Academy 45.27.
4×400 Relay (13 teams) – (1) Sweet Home (Brayden Driver, Ryker Burr, Landon Murry, Dillan Davis) 3:34.88; (2) Junction City 3:36.63; (3) Tillamook 3:37.37.
Shot – (1) Kaleb Moore (Junction City) 57-9½l; (2) James Barnett (Blanchet) 49-10; (3) Carter Sorenson (Stayton) 47-9¾; (4) Jamin Peters (Philomath) 46-10½; (5) Gavin Tyler (SH) 46-5¾.
Discus – (1) Kaleb Moore (Junction City) 162-4; (2) James Barnett (Blanchet) 143-8; (3) Soren Johnson (Tillamook) 143-2; (15) Cannon Klumph (SH) 109-5.
Javelin – (1) Josiah Peters (Philomath) 181-2; (2) Jordan Ness (Santiam Christian) 162-7; (3) Alejandro Magana (Dayton) 148-7; (13) Ean Tackett (SH) 133-3; (14) Gavin Tyler (SH) 132-7.
High Jump – (1) Ryder Howard (ELCA) 6-4; (2) Samuel Hernandez (Philomath) 6-4; (3) Adam Barnett (Blanchet) 6-0; (4) Dreyton Nuno (Philomath) 5-10; (6) Sam Barringer (SH) 5-8.
Pole Vault – (1) Jack Forson (Scio) 13-7; (2) Joe Barra (Blanchet) 12-0; (3) Carson Smith (Blanchet) 12-0; (7) Nick Larson (SH) 11-0.
Long Jump – (1) Josiah Hawkins (Cascade) 22-10½; (2) Kaden Howard (Philomath) 21-10½; (3) Matthew Atherton (Willamina) 20-4½; (6) Ryder Howard (ELCA) 20-0½.
Triple Jump – (1) Chase Tabb (Banks) 40-10½; (2) Kaden Howard (Philomath) 40-7½; (3) Adam Barnett (Blanchet) 40-5¼; (6) Sam Barringer (SH) 39-7½; (7) Kaeson Walker (SH) 39-0; (9) Ryder Howard (ELCA) 38-3½.
Team Scores: (1) Blanchet 82; (2) Philomath 96.5; (3) Sweet Home 62; (4) Tillamook 58; (5-tie) Junction City, Cascade 43; (7) Delphian 34; (8) Banks 31; (9-tie) East Linn Christian, Knappa) 24; (11) Cottage Grove 23; (12) Dayton 22; (13) Triangle Lake 20; (14) Salem Academy 13; (15-tie) Nestucca, Santiam Christian, Central Linn 11; (18-tie) Scio, Pleasant Hill, Stayton 10;
Girls
100 – (1) Selah Sanford (Sisters) 12.56; (2) Ava Greene (Elmira) 12.62; (3) Adrian Vogel (Tillamook) 12.75; (6) Lexy Kauffman (ELCA) 13.03; (19) Loralai Mark (SH) 13.57.
200 – (1) Selah Sanford (Sisters) 26.41; (2) Lexy Kauffman (ELCA) 26.60; (3) Ava Greene (Elmira) 26.63.
400 – (1) Bella Lardy (Banks) 59.48; (2) Soleis Jones (Pleasant Hill) 59.66; (3) Lexy Kauffman (ELCA) 1:00.14.
800 – (1) Sophie Schoolmeester (Banks) 2:14.16; (2) Molly Schoolmeester (Banks) 2:19.20; (3) Lola Esplin (Junction city) 2:19.32; (13) Emma Whitton (SH) 2:32.98; (17) Noelle Helfrich (SH) 2:38.04.
1500 – (1) Micah Rigg (Nestucca) 4:50.24; (2) Anya Griffith (Central Linn) 2:58.95; (3) Lydia Shellman (Banks) 4:58.94; (4) McKenzie Miller (SH) 5:06.72; (6) Emma Whitton (SH) 5:13.66*; (23) Morgan Lalonde (ELCA) 6:0314.
3000 – (1) Ella Henthorne (Coquille) 9:51.55; (2) Ella Cardwell (Cottage Grove) 10:53.98; (3) Alexandra Curtis (Newport) 11:06.96; (4) McKenzie Miller (SH) 11:20.11; (10) Morgan Lalonde (ELCA) 12.33.66*; (17) Bella Albert (ELCA) 13.13.69; (18) Hadassah Albert (ELCA) 13.21.21.
100 Hurdles – (1) June Cowan (ELCA) 16.18; (2) Lily Olivares (Delphian) 16.23; (3) Petra Archer (Elmira) 16.39; (16) Ella Stutzman (ELCA) 18.16*; (21) Delanie Pratt (SH) 18.65.
300 Hurdles – (1) Lily Olivares (Delphian) 47.39; (2) Evelyn Welch (Stayton) 47.79; (3) Ruthanna Wilson (Tillamook) 48.74; (10) June Cowan (ELCA) 51.64*; (21) Amara Gonzales (SH) 54.25.
4×100 Relay – (1) Sisters 51.73; (2) Cascade 51.79; (3) Junction City 51.99; (4) Philomath 52.08; (5) Delphian 52.30; (9) ELCA (Kaylyn Kauffman, Avery Runyon, June Cowan, Lexy Kauffman) 53.73; (11) Sweet Home (Noelle Helfrich, Delanie Pratt, Jayla Moore, Loralai Mark) 54.23.
4×400 Relay – (1) Junction City 4:09.94; (2) Sisters 4:13.94; (3) Delphian 4:17.34; (4) Tillamook 4:19.41; (5) Philomath 4:22.97; (10) Sweet Home (Cassie Spencer, Emma Whitton. Noelle Helfrich, McKenzie Miller) 4:32.21.
Shot – (1) Rylee Huerta (Tillamook) 40-1; (2) Mysti Ferguson (Newport) 37-6¼; (3) Lucie Oien (Knappa) 37-2¾; (15) Selah Wright (SH) 30-10½; (16) Maci Modderman (ELCA) 30-9½.
Discus – (1 Hadley Hughes (Dayton) 129-5; (2) Kasey Zuidema (Crosshill Christian) 120-11; (3) Lucy Oien (Knappa) 110-4; (10) Maci Modderman (ELCA) 94-4; (13) Sydney Dominy (SH) 88-1.
Javelin – (1) Hadley Hughes (Dayton) 125-6; (2) Mila Morley (Stayton) 123-8; (3) Kasey Zuidema (Crosshill Christian) 122-11; (5) Selah Wright (SH) 106-7; (9) Svetlana Manner (ELCA) 96-11; (17) Allie Presley (ELCA) 86-3.
High Jump – (1) Rylee Rice (Elmira) 5-0; (2-tie) Adrian Vogel (Tillamook), Nora Shepherd (Dayton) 4-10; (7) Tessa Salvage (ELCA) 4-8.
Pole Vault – (1) Adelaide Wilson (Banks) 10-8; (2) Ada Millet (Coquille) 10-0; (3) Sadie Cardwell (Cottage Grove) 8-6; (4) Hailey Eckhold (Philomath) 8-0; (5) Tatiana Manner (ELCA) 7-6; (6) Svetlana Manner (ELCA) 7-6; (8) Delanie Pratt (SH) 7-0; (13) Anna Henry (ELCA) 6-6; (15) Kali Vogel (SH) 6-6; (17) Cassie Spencer (SH) 6-0.
Long Jump – (1) Madelyn Olson (Stayton) 17-3; (2) Bella Vargas (Blanchet) 16-8; (3) Aspen Gambee (Junction City) 15-11; (13) Elizabeth Hankins (SH) 14-5; (17) Loralai Mark (SH) 13-1; (18) June Cowan (ELCA) 12-0.
Triple Jump – (1) Nora Shepherd (Dayton) 33-10½; (2) Aspen Gambee (Junction City) 33-10; (3) Nyla Vanthom (Banks) 33-7; (11) Amara Gonzales (SH) 31-4½*; (18) Grace Gardner (SH) 27-10¾.
Team Scores: (1) Banks 60; (2) Junction City 47; (3-tie) Dayton, Tillamook 45; (5-tie) Delphian, Sisters 43; (7) East Linn Christian 35; (8-tie) Elmira, Stayton 33; (10) Philomath 32; (11) Cascade 25.5; (12) Blanchet 25; (13) Newport 23.33; (14) Nestucca 22.5; (15-tie) Coquille, Crosshill Christian 22; (18) Central Linn 18; (19) Sweet Home 17.33; (20) Knappa 14; (21) Pleasant Hill 12; (22) Jefferson 7; (23-tie) Amity, Salem Academy 5; (25) Santiam Christian 4; (26-tie) Triangle Lake, Monroe 3.
