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.
A number of Gorge-area athletes are among the favorites at season-ending track and field state meets this weekend in Wilsonville and La Grande.
The Oregon School Activities Association decided not to host state competition — in any sports — this school year, so groups of coaches have organized independent state meets in all five of six enrollment classifications. A Class 5A state meet, the 5A Invitational, will be held Friday and Saturday at Wilsonville High School and include athletes from The Dalles and Hood River Valley. A 1A state meet is scheduled Saturday at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande and will include Big Sky athletes.
There’s a new club at Hood River Valley High School, and its aim is to provide menstrual products to those in need both in the community at la…
The Dalles senior Justin Conklin appreciates the opportunity afforded to him. With former coaches and current coaches standing by his side, Conklin soaked in the moment and tipped his cap to everyone who has been part of his life through his wild ride on the track and field circuit.
Avery Cardosi already had one event in the bag on opening day, and she added state qualifications in two events Thursday at the Columbia River Conference District Championships at Hermiston High School. The Riverhawk senior placed second in the 400-meters with a final time just a shade over a minute, and just a second behind Hood River Valley’s Kassidy Davidson (59.22). Cardosi was also one of the key cogs in the 4x400-meter relay team along with Bailey Nearing, Emma Mullins and Athena Thomas that hit a mark of 4:17.49 for second place behind Hermiston (4:12.02). The 4:17.49 put up by Cardosi, Nearing and company was a season-best by nearly eight seconds. “It took a lot of dedication and a lot of extra practice to work on 4x400 techniques,” said Nearing, a sophomore making her first trip to state. “We definitely knew deep down we could do it and we got it.” Joining Cardosi and the relay team is junior Kayla Seibel.
To the editor: This week is “Teacher Appreciation Week.” Being a teacher at Dry Hollow and growing up in The Dalles, this week has special meaning to me.
Hood River Fire and EMS Department has officially kicked off the Amazing Ellen Dittebrandt Program (AED), honoring the dedicated firefighter and community volunteer who died in a bicycling accident in 2014.
