Hood River Valley High seniors, Poppy Miller and Chole Bullock, are track and field tacticians in arguably different ways. They’re also state champions.
Miller defended her 2019 Class 5A pole vault crown — albeit with a COVID-halted 2020 season in between — in a lifetime best 12 feet, and Bullock won the 800 in a personal best 2 minutes, 20.25 seconds at the 5A Invitational last week in Wilsonville.
Arguments may linger about whether the non-OSAA sanctioned meet — played out over two days at Wilsonville High School — was a true state championship. But there should be no arguing about who is the best 5A girls pole vaulter and the best 5A middle distance runner in Oregon.
Miller and HRV vault coach Shawn Meyle have a special coach-athlete connection that has been forged with hard work and trust, well-earned calluses, good times, and not so good ones. That connection was on display Saturday (field event day) when Miller won by a foot over Churchill’s Sophia Dau.
Miller’s four-year progression under Meyle’s guidance started at 9-3 her freshman year, went to 11-0 as a sophomore (state champion), and then following last-year’s COVID-interrupted season, is now at 12 feet.
HRV head Coach Brandon Bertram said, “Coach Meyle’s state meet Saturdays are poetry in motion. And add in Poppy, who is so smart, picks up on things so well — there you have it.”
For her part, Bullock showed up to Friday’s 800-meter final with a multi-page racing playbook in her mind, ready to be cracked opened to whatever page was necessary. She had also qualified in the 1500 but decided to forgo that race to concentrate on the two-lap grind — perfect for her fitness and grit.
The fitness started this past winter when she kicked up her training for the upcoming spring (weird as it sounds) cross country season. Bullock went unbeaten in four races, including the Intermountain Conference championship by 90 seconds. She piggybacked that with a shortened track and field campaign where she lost just one race — the 400-final at the IMC district meet (one of four races for her that day).
“From February when she started, except for that darn 400, she never lost a race,” Bertram said. “She was in command.”
Saturday proved to be no different. Bullock settled into third for the 69-second first lap in the 800 final before swinging out into the second lane to take the lead at 500 meters. Bullock shifted gears again as she hit the 200 mark and won comfortably by three seconds, chopping five seconds off her previous best.
Bertram said, “The kid just came to the starting line with a three-ring binder of what to do. She placed herself right where she needed to be, right behind the 1-2 girls. She went down that home stretch and she felt the pace change and there was no question what she had to do, which was go.”
Six of the eight placers in the race, including senior Hannah Ziegenhagen of The Dalles, ran personal bests. Ziegenhagen’s was a 2:27.27, which placed her seventh. “Hannah is a quiet, hard worker who just keeps getting better,” The Dalles Coach Garth Miller said. “She’s had such a good career with us.”
There were plenty of other bright spots for The Dalles girls, including senior Emily Johnson’s personal best 11:12.98 3000 (13th place). “All of the distance kids did a great job,” a proud Riverhawk distance coach Mandi Williams said (also see boys story this issue). “Every single one of them had a PR.”
Emily Adams, the two-event IMC district meet sprint runner-up, had a tough go of it on Friday. She popped out to the lead after a great start in her 100-meter race, but clipped a spike, lost her balance, and fell to the track at about the 70-meter mark. Adams was unable to finish. “After she hurt her leg, she just wasn’t able to compete after that,” Miller said of his senior sprinter, who missed her 200 final later that evening as well as the long jump.
Sophomore Zoe Dunn did compete in Saturday’s long jump, finishing third at 16-11.25 – 2.25 inches behind winner Nerissa Thompson of North Salem. (The Vikings won the meet with 104 points, HRV was fifth and The Dalles 22nd.) Riverhawk junior Ashley Quisenberry was just shy of her personal best in the triple jump, where she bounded 30-8.5 for 12th place.
“Ashley was one quarter inch off of her PR from last week,” Miller said. “Another really good jump for her and she’s a junior so we look forward to getting her back next year and seeing her continue to improve. Zoe had a really consistent series of jumps at state. As a sophomore doing that well, I look forward to seeing her continued improvement when she can have a full season.
“I’m really pleased with the way our kids performed in spite of the short season. Our numbers were lower than normal, but the kids who came out were there because they wanted to be and they worked hard all season and they successful because of that.”
The running events were Friday followed by Saturday’s field events. The relay races were contested virtually, based on season-best times. The Hood River girls had the third-best Class 5A time this season in the 4x400 (4:17.03) and The Dalles girls had the fifth best time in the 4x100 (51.65).
On Saturday, Hood River frosh Simone Tillman matched her personal best in the pole vault at 10 feet. That came a day after she came close to matching her 200 personal best when she finished sixth in 26.91. “She went under 27 for the second time in as many meets and added a sixth in the pole vault,” Bertram said. “That’s pretty good for a freshman in her first state meet.”
Another HRV frosh, Kate Siekkinen, made a go of it in the high jump, but just didn’t have any lift after injuring her ankle at the IMC district finals. Siekkinen didn’t clear opening height, but Bertram said, “She’s got three more years and she’s going to have a chance for a lot more success during that time.”
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