HRV TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES found the podium multiple times during the 5A state meet last weekend. Above, Gabriel Campos-Davis sprints to sixth place during the 4x100 relay.
HRV TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES found the podium multiple times during the 5A state meet last weekend. Above, Gabriel Campos-Davis sprints to sixth place during the 4x100 relay.
Photo by Paul Crowley
Katie Kennedy clears the bar on her way to second in high jump.
A rebuilding year for the HRV track and field team has given Head Coach Brandon Bertram plenty of optimism for the 2018 season, as his athletes — some veteran, some brand-new to the sport — wowed him at OSAA 5A state meet held Friday and Saturday at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene.
Between the girls and the boys, the Eagles set nine personal records (PR) and got on the podium 10 times at the meet. Out of 29 schools, the boys placed tied for 12th with Silverton, scoring 23.5 points. The girls placed 14th out of 27 schools, scoring 16 points. Summit won both the boys and the girls meets — with a triple-digit lead over second-place Bend in the girls race. Columbia River Conference rival Hermiston placed third in the girls meet and fifth in the boys meet; The Dalles and Pendleton were near the bottom of the standings for both.
Bertram, in his first year as head coach, said that with few exceptions, every athlete had their best performances of their lives, “which is gnarly… expectations were exceeded, which is always awesome.”
No athlete came home with a state title this year, but two came awfully close. Sophomore Katie Kennedy “had a great busy day,” taking fourth in long jump (17-feet-1-inch) and second in high jump (5-4). Bertram said Kennedy was “one jump away from the state championship,” as Summit’s Camille Weaver cleared 5-5 on her final attempt to win the title. For the boys, senior Jesse Wiley was tops, taking second after a come-from-behind effort in the final moments of the 1500-meter run, dropping a personal record of 4 minutes, 4.74 seconds, less than seven-tenths of a second behind the winning time set by Jantz Tostenson, of Crater. Bertram called it “probably the biggest performance” of the meet for the Eagles. That effort put him second all-time on the school record books, behind Leo Castillo’s 2008 time of 4:00.01.
Also gracing the podium for the HRV boys were sophomore Robby Running in the 300 hurdles (fifth, 41.50, PR), sophomore Chad Klaas in pole vault (sixth, 13-0.25, PR), and junior Jonah Tactay in long jump (sixth, 21-6.25, PR).
Junior Gabriel Campos-Davis, despite setting a PR of 22.79 in the 200 prelims, placed ninth and didn’t make it into the finals, but was a member of HRV’s sixth-place 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Seniors Owen Ramsey and Hunter Klein, along with junior Michael Jones participated in the 4x100 relay and recorded a season-best time of 43.81. Ramsey and Jones were also in the 4x400, along with Running, who combined to run a 3:30.49.
Other highlights for the boys included junior Travis Running’s personal record of 2:01.65 in the 800 finals (10th place) and seniors Wiley’s and Jacob Bromham’s personal record-setting ninth- and 11th-place finishes in the 1500 finals (9:04.09 and 9:11.10, respectively).
For the girls, frosh Lottie Bromham found the podium along with Kennedy, finishing seventh in the 3000 (11:04.80). She also set a PR of 5:03.66 in the 1500, which was good for 10th. Classmate Reed Bauer also scored for the Eagles and set a personal record in the 800, finishing eighth with a time of 2:24.36.
“It was probably only the fourth (800) she’s run all her life and she’s right in the thick of it,” Bertram noted.
Bauer was one of a few track and field newcomers this season who have come as a welcome surprise to Bertram, along with Klein, the Running brothers, and others, who have helped buoy a team that lost a number of athletes last season. Of the boys team that went to state in 2016, Campos-Davis was the only returner. Bertram said the team “took a big step forward” and that he has “a great group of athletes coming up” for the 2018 season.
“It just shows you what kind of athletes we have at this school,” he added.
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