The HRV track and field teams both had a strong performance in the Viking Relays April 14 at North Salem High School. The teams combined for 15 top-five finishes as the 40 Eagle athletes faced tough competition among the 11 other 5A and 6A squads that participated in the meet.
The Eagles, guided by first-year head coach Brandon Bertram, will be seeking to demonstrate even more improvement when they compete again in their next meet in the Summit Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m. at Summit High School in Bend.
“It was fun to see both of our teams perform at such a high level and really run well in the distance medley relays (DMR),” said Bertram. “We usually only have a DMR about once a year and the boys kind of had their eyes set on doing a good job in that event, so it was really fun for them. Katie Kennedy had another good meet and Celia Acosta and Lottie Bromham had a strong performance in the 3000. It’s encouraging at this point of the season to see those two performing as well as they did in the 3K. Celia and Lottie are both ranked near the top of the Columbia River Conference in the 3K.”
HRV’s defending 5A state champion boys squad saw a number of athletes set personal records in their events, notching five top-five finishes and taking seventh in team scores with 54 points.
Eagle sprinters provided numerous highlights with the quartet of Jesse Wiley, Braxton Wilson and brothers Robby Running and Travis Running timing in at 8 minutes, 33.86 seconds, to take third place in the 4x800 meter relay.
The Eagles also notched a fourth in the DMR (11:08.99) with Travis Running, Wilson, Wiley and Jacob Bromham running strong. HRV took fifth in the 4x200 relay (1:36.08), led by Gabriel Campos-Davis, Owen Ramsey, Hunter Klein and Chad Klaas. HRV set school records in both the 4x800 and the DMR.
Campos-Davis, Robby Running, Patrick Estes, Erik Siekkinen and Marshall Bailey all had strong efforts in setting personal records in other events as well. Robby Running took sixth in the 300 hurdles (43.55) and Bailey was 15th (48.73). Campos-Davis was 12th in the 110 hurdles (17.83) and Siekkinen was 13th (17.91). Michael Jones took 11th in the 400 with a season best time of 55.80 and Estes was 20th (57.95). Siekkinen also had a PR in the triple jump to take 10th (38-10.25).
“This is the first year of track for both Travis and Robby Running and they’re both doing a good job,” said Bertram. “For them to come out for track after enjoying success with our soccer team is exciting and they’ve been a pivotal part of our squad this year. Robby has his eyes set on going to the state meet. It was good to see us place well in both the boys and girls 100. Gabriel Campos-Davis (seventh, 11.59), Owen Ramsey (eighth, 11.64), Yahaira Chavarria (fifth, 13.17) and Audrey Marble (seventh, 13.36) each did a fantastic job in that event.”
Klaas had an outstanding effort in field events as he set personal records in the javelin at 142-foot-3-inches to take sixth place. Klass also set a PR in the pole vault at 12-6 and took 10th. Junior Jonah Tactay had a solid performance with two top-fives. Tactay leaped over the bar at 5-10 to take fifth in the high jump and he was fourth in the long jump at 20-0.5.
HRV’s girls squad was led by Kennedy and Yahaira Chavarria, who each recorded three top-fives. The girls notched a total of 10 top-fives and took fifth in team scoring with 65 points. Kennedy took second in the 100 hurdles with a PR of 16.23 and she was fifth in the long jump at 15-3.25. Abby Kinoshita took eighth in the 300 hurdles (54.40).
“Abby is one of our senior leaders and it’s good to see her healthy now after coming back from an injury and running strong and with a lot of confidence,” said Bertram. “We didn’t place as well as a team compared to some of our other meets. However, everyone really performed much better than they did in our last two meets. We competed against bigger 5A and 6A schools and also against teams that we’re seeing for the first time this year, so the level of competition was much stronger than we’ve had recently.”
Kennedy combined with teammates Marble, Emily Curtis and Chavarria to take fifth in the 4x100 at 51.94. The quartet of Curtis, Marble, Chavarria and Kinoshita took fourth in the 4x200 (1:53.59). Eagle sprinters Reed Bauer, Chloe Clark, Bromham and Evelyn Nunez also took fifth in the 4x800 (10:33.12). HRV took third in the DMR relay, led by Acosta, Bauer, Bromham and Andrea Quintana. Acosta had a strong run in the 3000 with a PR of 11:24.71 and a fourth-place finish.
Horizon Christian Hawks have solid performance at Banks invite
The Horizon track and field teams had a strong overall performance in the 14-team Rob Frank Invitational meet Saturday at Banks High School. The 1A Hawks, guided by coach Emma Petshow, competed well and notched 14 top-five finishes, while facing solid teams from the 2A, 3A, and 4A classification levels.
“It was a great meet overall and it was the first one with lots of sunshine, which really seemed to help the athletes to have a strong performance,” said Petshow. “We as a team overall are getting healthy and getting in shape and the nice weather (on Saturday) allowed the athletes to really test what they could do.”
Horizon’s boys squad, led by senior Quinn Roetcisoender (three top-fives), totaled 11 top-fives in their events. Roetcisoender took third in the 300 hurdles with a PR of 44.86 and also took second in the pole vault (10-6). Roetcisoender combined with teammates Bailey Holste, Andrew Hung and Luke Holste to win the 4x100 relay (46.63).
“The boys continued to cut down time in the relays even while we’re still shuffling in and out athletes who are coming back from injuries,” said Petshow. “They are looking to head back to state and finish what they started last year. Andy Hung is coming back from a minor pulled muscle and he ran great in the 200, so I’m happy to have him back out there running. Quinn had one of his best meets of the year and he moved in front of Luke Holste in our 300 hurdles team standings. It’s friendly competition like this which motivates and pushes athletes to be better, work harder and improve and it’s fun for me to watch as their coach.”
Hung ran a season-best time of 24.75 for second in the 200 and Bailey Holste was eighth with a season-best 25.73. Holste also had a solid effort in the long jump, taking fourth (18-09.50).
Horizon‘s girls notched three top-fives, highlighted by a 4x400 relay second-place finish, as Haley Becnel, Kaitlin Wenz, Savanna Hawk and Paulina Finn timed in at 4:40.06. Hawk also took third in the pole vault (6-6) and Finn was third in the high jump (4-8). Wenz ran a PR of 52.72 to take sixth in the 300 hurdles. Finn also sprinted to a season-best time of 14.33 to get seventh in the 100. Amy Requa and Claire Wu ran season-best times in the 3000. Requa took ninth (13:53.91) and Wu was 12th (14:35.02).
“The girls killed it with their work effort, gutsy performance and overall improvement,” said Petshow. “I have not had a girls team as dedicated as this before and I’m excited to see where it’s going to take them as we progress throughout the season. The girls left it all out on the track in the 4x400. They’ve put themselves in good position to continue to improve upon as they get more comfortable running the race.”
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