THE DALLES — The 2025 Tri-Valley Conference district championship meet May 21-22 featured all-time top 10 bests, district titles, and state meet qualifications for The Dalles High School’s track and field team.
The Dalles had three boys district champions, a first-place boys relay, and five boys runner-up finishes, which bodes well for Coach Garth Nelson’s Riverhawks at the May 30-31 state meet in Eugene. The Dalles had three girls runner-up finishers (in four events), a second-place girls relay, and 16 girls placers (top eight) in the six-team district meet. The Dalles boys were third with 119 points and the Riverhawk girls were fifth with 96 points. Crook County won both team titles.
The top two finishers in each event at the meet — hosted by Crook County High in Prineville — and those who met qualifying standards or wild card spots advanced to state.
The district individual champions for The Dalles were senior Taylor Morehouse, who won the pole vault at 14 feet, 4 inches; senior school record holder River McClure, who won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.40 seconds; and junior Derek Goulart, who won the high jump at 6-3.25 (1.91 meters).
The Dalles’ sophomore sprinter David McCracken finished second in the 100 meters and 200 meters, and ran a leg on the Riverhawks’ school record-setting and district champion 4x100 meter relay. McCracken ran lifetime bests in the sprints of 10.92 (No. 2 all-time, TDHS) and 22.73 seconds (No. 6 all-time TDHS). He was joined on the relay by McClure, Morehouse, and Goulart.
Distance runners Tyson Long and Aiden Erickson finished second in races; Long ran the 800 meters in a PR 1:59.01 (No. 6 all-time, TDHS), and Erickson PR’d in the 3000 in 9:27.47 (he also was seventh in the 1500 in 4:33.27). Long joined McClure, Noah Preston, and Vincent Ziegenhagen to finish second in the 4x400 relay in 3:28.26 (No. 4 all-time, TDHS).
The Dalles earned 11 other boys places (21 overall top-eight finishes) that contributed to the team point total. Shea Anderson was third in the high jump (6-3.25, 1.77 meters); Anthony Santana was eighth in the triple jump with a PR (40-8.25, 2.4 meters); Goulart was seventh in the 100 in 11.5 seconds; Patrick Rankin was eighth in the 200 (24.14); Preston was third in the 400 in a PR 51.42 (No. 7 all-time TDHS); Egan Ziegenhagen was sixth in the 400 in 54.61 and eighth in the javelin (PR 134-2, 40.9 meters); Tyler Irving was sixth in the 110 hurdles in 17.07 (PR); Vincent Ziegenhagen was fourth in the 300 hurdles in a PR 42.41 and fifth in the javelin at 147-7 (PR, 44.98 meters); and Logan Mitchell was fourth in the pole vault in a PR 11-4 (3.45 meters).
Preston’s 400-meter time was fast enough to earn a 4A state meet wild card berth.
Top finishes and automatic state qualifying efforts from The Dalles’ girls team included: two-event district runner-up and senior Alaina Casady, who was second in the 3000 on the first day at district in 10:58.36, and second in the 1500 in 5:07.39; senior Laci Hoylman, who was second in the javelin at 111-11.75 (PR, 34.14 meters); Willow Ziegenhagen, who was second in the high jump in a PR 5-0.5 (1.54 meters); and the 4x400 relay of Ziegenhagen, senior Sydney Newby, freshmen Marie-Louise McCracken, and sophomore Ebany Mondragon.
Among the other district placers for The Dalles were: McCracken, fifth in the 100 (PR 13.07) and fourth in the 200 (PR 27.40); Laura Black, fourth, 400 (PR 1:02.80) and fourth in the pole vault; Abigail Pope, eighth, 800; Rowena Benjamin, eighth, 100 hurdles (17.45, season best) and third in the pole vault; a fifth-place by the 4x100 relay of Mondragon, McCracken, Newby, and Ziegenhagen (season-best, 52.82); Ziegenhagen, who was third in the javelin; Kestley Hodges, who was fourth in the javelin (PR 99-10, 30.43 meters); Newby and Norah Macnab, who were third and eighth in the high jump; and sophomore Olivia Prado, who was fourth in the triple jump at 33-6.75 (10.23 meters, No. 7 all-time TDHS) and seventh in the long jump.
Newby’s high jump mark of 4-10.25 (1.48 meters) earned her a 4A wild card berth to state.
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