DUFUR track and field standout Taylor Darden (middle) stands at the top of the podium after scoring first place in the discus Saturday at the Meet of Champions at Willamette University. Darden just missed on her career-best personal record, but still outdistanced herself from the field of 21 with a toss of 122-feet, 4 inches.
DUFUR track and field standout Taylor Darden (middle) stands at the top of the podium after scoring first place in the discus Saturday at the Meet of Champions at Willamette University. Darden just missed on her career-best personal record, but still outdistanced herself from the field of 21 with a toss of 122-feet, 4 inches.
Facing some of the top female talents from 32 other programs, reigning state champion Taylor Darden had a chance to show her skills at the Meet of Champions Saturday at Willamette University.
Darden dominated the field of 21 discus participants and nearly broke a career-best with a distance of 122-feet and 4 inches for first place, besting her next opponent, Katrina Linenko, by close to 16-feet.
Darden also scored third place in the shotput with a personal-record of 37-7.50.
On the boys’ side, Jake Little, another state qualifier last season, fell short of his personal best of 153-1 with a throw of 143-8 to claim 10th place out of a field of 20.
“Taylor and Jake did great. They continue to get better every day,” said Dufur coach Connie Harvey. “It is nice for them to see how good they are against some good competition.”
Sophomore Kirsten Sorensen was the third Dufur track athlete to perform at Willamette, and she had a top-5 finish.
Sorensen tied a career-best with a height of 4-10 to take hold of fifth place in the standings.
Harvey thinks Sorensen is on pace to meet or surpass the 5 foot marker.
“She is right in tune,” the Dufur coach said. “She’s going to make 5-feet easily I believe. I know she is capable of it.”
The rest of Dufur’s track and field team was in Stanfield Saturday for the Dick Horyna Invitational and the trio of Keith Blake, Kurt Nuevo and Makenzie Dunn each topped top-5 status.
Out of 26 schools, Nuevo set a personal record by five inches with a distance of 130-1 for fifth place.
Blake ended up third in the shotput with a toss of 39-10.5 and he placed 12th in the discus with a throw of 104-6.
Morgen Marcum, a freshman, cut nearly eight seconds off his previous best time in the 1,500 meters with a time of 5:28.23.
T.J. Kennedy, a sophomore, participated in the 100 and 200 meters, and he secured 10th place in the long jump with a leap of 17-1.25.
For the girls, Alexus Outlaw, in her first track meet of the year, had a personal-record time of 14.31 in the 100 meter dash and 30.43 in the 200-meter run.
In her long jump event, Outlaw was in the lead until the final heat with a top jump of 13-11.5, a personal record, but when the final heat completed, she ended up in ninth place.
Dunn had a mark of 14.49 for her personal record in the 100 and added a 28.72 and another PR in the 200. In javelin try, Dunn scored a personal record by 10 feet at 49-0.
“We practice constant conditioning throughout the season,” Harvey said. “It is key for this team. That’s the way I coach and it is my philosophy.
“That’s how they have continued to have all of these PRs.”
Darden is headed to the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field in Eugene on Friday and Saturday at Noon.
The rest of the team heads to Umatilla for the River’s Edge at Milt Durand Fields.
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