With the level of competition heightened Saturday, many of the top names from the Big Sky Conference set their sights on performing at an elite level at the 1A Special District 3 championship in Moro Saturday.
For the host Huskies, Blake Evans earned a state trip in four events with his best efforts coming in the 100-meters where a time of 11.90 seconds gave him a district title.
Evans placed second in the javelin with a throw of 152-feet-2 inches, and the senior ran a 24.64 for second place in the 200-meters to earn a state berth.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Evans, Maverick Winslow, Luke Lawrence and Jacob Justesen wound up in second place in 46.44, a season best for this quartet. Reese Blake and Kevin Hart are relay alternates and will make the trip to Eugene on Thursday.
“It is really nice to see everyone do good and set personal records for the season and peak here when it mattered the most,” Lawrence said. “It is all practice and maintaining a strong bond that makes us so well in our relay. We all trust in each other and we go out to try and do our best.”
Winslow also qualified in the pole vault where a height of 11-0 put him in second place.
Coles, a sophomore, picked up district titles in the high jump, triple jump and long jump events, and added a second-place outcome in the 110-meter hurdles.
In the triple, Coles had a measurement of 40-4.5 and he had a leap of 20-0 for top honors in the long jump. He added 5-10 mark for first in the high jump and matched his personal record in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.91.
For the Sherman girls, the 4x100-meter relay team of Brittney Orendorff, Emily Hill, Kiersten Casper and Brianna McKinney claimed a district championship in a personal record time of 55.54.
The same group also hit its qualifying mark of 4:37.43 in the 4x400-meter relay for third place and a state berth. Sabrina Green-Hite and Jasmine Wilson are the two alternates who will make the Eugene trip.
Orendorff, a sophomore, set another personal record in the pole vault with a height of 9-0 for second, and she added a time of 54.59 to earn a state berth.
“It is very exciting. I am very happy that we did so well that we got to state,” said Hill, a sophomore. “All of us have worked so hard to get here and now we see it paying off. There’s a lot more room for improvement, but we are going to keep working hard, so we can set some new PRs at state and hopefully do well there.”
Darden ready to reclaim 1A title
Dufur senior Taylor Darden made it back-to-back district titles in the discus and shotput, and teammates Jake Little and Keith Blake are state-bound after solid efforts in their field events.
Darden had a toss of 37-7 in the shotput for first place over Mitchell-Spray’s Mirna Daltoso (35-6).
Darden’s spread was much greater in the discus, where she had a first-place mark of 118-0, to cruise past the field of 15 participants.
“I am definitely going to enjoy it because it is my last state meet,” Darden said. “I am really excited to compete. I know the competition is going to be tough, so I am going to have to step my game up. I am really excite to experience it all.”
Blake, a junior, hit a qualifying mark in the shotput with a throw of 40-2 and fourth place to earn a state bid, and Little had a state-qualifying throw of 151-8, a season best, to grab third place.
Blake is making his first trip to Eugene, but Little and Darden are headed back for one final stamp on their high school careers on the biggest stage.
“This is really cool and all four years have been very special to me,” Darden said. “It is hard to pick just one, but this one has been the best by far. My teammates and coaches have been so supportive and it is exciting for all of us.”
Redsides find stride in Moro
The South Wasco County Redsides are sending six individuals and three relay teams to state on the heels of six district championships won in Moro.
Loreto Morelli and Ally Muhleman qualified in two individual events, Michael Cuevas and Ana Popchock are set to make their state debuts and Ellis Rager, who is coming off a personal record in the shotput, is the top-ranked thrower in the state heading into action Thursday and Friday.
“Going to state, I expect us all to be pumped up ready to improve even more,” said senior Colton Nannini, who is part of both state-qualifying relay teams. “It’ll be tough, but we will see what happens.”
The 4x100-meter relay squad of Morelli, Nannini, Tristan Gillis and Travis Hayes scored first place in a time of 45.62, a mark that is second-best in the state.
Morelli, Gillis, Hayes and Brody Myers hit their best mark of 3:37.26 for first place in the 4x400-meters and will head to state as a No. 2 seed behind Adrian (3:35.86).
“We kind of saw some potential with the people we had, but then we got Loreto to run it with us. He’s the fastest kid on our team and just made us that much better,” Nannini said. “We will work on our handoffs next week, so we still have a little progress to make, but we are getting there.”
On April 25 in Condon, Cuevas had a time 2:23.10, but the freshman put it all together Saturday for a personal record of 2:15.56 to secure second place.
Rager set his best mark in shotput at 45-2 and soared past his next opponent, Ione’s Jorge Aguilar (41-10.5).
Morelli claimed district championships in the 200 and 400 with a personal record of 50.82 in his marquee event, the 400-meters.
His time in the 200 was 23.78, as he bested Sherman’s Blake Evans by nearly a second.
The Redside girls’ will have a bus full of track participants, led by a 4x400-meter team of Tatum Hahn, Popchock, Allie Noland and Muhleman, who set a personal record of 4:35.89 to claim a district crown.
Earlier this season, the long relay group had a time of 5:06.50, and ran for a 4:58.33 on April 4 in Madras.
Now that team, along with alternate Paris McCartney, have their eyes on catching Camas Valley and Damascus Christian this week.
Hahn scored second place in the 800 meters with her time of 2:40.52 and Popchock set a personal record in the triple jump with a leap of 33-7 for a second-place output.
“I didn’t even think I was going to good at the beginning of the year, but I kept trying my best,” Popchock said. “Now I am here, so I am excited to get this opportunity to go to state. I am try my best and try to get a PR. If I win, I win.”
Muhleman qualified for state in the pole vault with a qualifying height of 8-6 for third place and she added an 18.24 for fourth place and a state trip in the 100-meter hurdles.
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