Hood River Valley competes at 5A state track meet

Two other HRV boys registered PRs at state. Junior sprinter/jumper Shaw Burns ran a personal best 11.59 in Friday’s 100-meter prelims, but he did not advance to the final. Burns also placed 11th in the triple jump at 39-8.75. Distance runner Elliot Hawley’s state distance double included a personal best in Friday’s 3000-meter final of 8:54.7, which placed him ninth. The junior was 10th in Saturday’s tactical 1500 in 4:08.72.

Junior Titus Grimsley also competed at state, finishing ninth in Friday’s 110-meter high hurdle prelims in 17.27 seconds.

On the girls side, junior Phoebe Wood raced to two non-placing personal bests in the distances. She was ninth in the 3000 final on Friday in 11:03.46, and 12th in the 1500 final on Saturday in 5:06.51. Teammate Maeve Woodruff finished a place ahead of Wood in the metric mile (5:06.49), and she was 11th in the 800 prelims on Friday in 2:29.58. Hood River had one other individual compete at state, junior Ximena Santillan ran 51.08 to finish 11th in the 300 low hurdle prelims.

The HRV girls 4x400 relay competed in a timed final on Saturday afternoon, placing eighth in 4:20.02. Relay members were Alex Bronson, Santillan, Sophie Kaden and Simone Tillman. Tillman’s 60.79-second split brought the Eagles from a non-placing 10th to a spot on the podium (top eight finishers).

Things were falling into place just nicely for the favored Hood River Valley girls track and field team heading into last weekend’s district meet. And then, a cell phone call later, they weren’t.

The Eagles finished third in the Intermountain Conference championships, behind last year’s winner Crook County, the meet host, and Pendleton. Crook County did what was expected, scoring heavily in the throwing events (55 of its 145.5 points). Pendleton did its thing, as well, as the deep Buckaroos placed in 15 of the 16 events it entered — including scoring 57.5 of its 137 team points in the jumps.

Hood River did its thing, too, by dominating the distance races at Ward Rhoden Stadium in Prineville and scoring118.5 points. But the Eagles’ chances of winning its first district team title since 2015 were dashed when talented sophomore Simone Tillman missed the meet because of illness. Tillman was entered — and favored — in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter runs, and she was a member of HRV’s 4x400 relay.

Coach Brandon Bertram didn’t spend too much time on what could have been, but rather accentuated the positive. “All around we had a good day. We were just missing that 30 points,” he said of Tillman’s projected three wins. “And not only that 30 points, it would have shoved down almost everybody else.

“It is what it is.”

A district track and field meet can be a taxing affair. After a season of tinkering with virtual form charts and doping out mid-week and weekend meets to give athletes the best chance to improve on their times and marks, district comes down to two days of head-to-head competition.

The Eagle distance runners didn’t disappoint. Woodruff won two races — the 1500 and 800 — and Wood won the 3000 (and was second in the 1500). Senior teammate Kaden added third places in the 1500 and 800; frosh Alex Bronson was fourth in the 800; and senior Mieka McKnight was fifth in the 3000 - as the Eagles scored 59 points in the three races.

The girls 1500 was a 1-2-3 HRV sweep worth 24 points. “To go 1-2-3 is really fun; I will say I was quite emotional,” Bertram said. “I was just proud. Tactically, we ran our best races of the year.”

Wood set the tone on Friday with a one-second win in the 3000 over Ridgeview frosh Morgan Shaw. “She’s the most assertive racing, non-assertive person I’ve ever coached,” Bertram said of Wood, who also won the district cross country championship this past fall.

Hood River Valley received gritty performances in the shorter races, too, and in field events. Senior Lauren Griggs was second in the high jump at 4-10, and qualified for this weekend’s Class 5A state meet, as did all first and second placers, plus wild card selections statewide.

“That was her first conference meet,” Bertram said of Griggs. “We narrowed her down to one event and she went out and did it. That meant a lot to her — and her family.”

Sophomore Cristine Kinoshita had two PRs at district, including a 65.32 open 400, good enough for third place. Santillan was fourth in the 100 high hurdles with a PR 17.37 and qualified for state as a wild card with her 49.84 effort in the 300 low hurdles. Zoe Todorov was third in the pole vault at 8-1; and sophomore Lillana Wyers was fourth in the triple jump with a PR 31-7.5 best.

Hood River also advanced its 4x400 relay to state, finishing third in 4:19.04 — the seventh-fastest time in 5A this season.

The Eagles boys were sixth with 82 points and led by state-meet qualifiers Shaw Burns (triple jump and 100); Elliot Hawley (1500 and 3000); Jackson Bullock (800); and Titus Grimsley (high hurdles in 16.9, a PR).

Pendleton won the boys meet with 200.5 points.