The Dalles track and field athletes, pictured from left to right, Avery Cardosi, Kayla Seibel, Bailey Nearing, Paige McLeod, Athena Thomas and Emma Mullins soak in the atmosphere at Hayward Field Friday evening in Eugene. Cardosi placed seventh in the long jump, eighth in the 400-meter run and Seibel was ninth in the triple jump. Garth Miller/Contributed photo
The Dalles track and field athletes, pictured from left to right, Avery Cardosi, Kayla Seibel, Bailey Nearing, Paige McLeod, Athena Thomas and Emma Mullins soak in the atmosphere at Hayward Field Friday evening in Eugene. Cardosi placed seventh in the long jump, eighth in the 400-meter run and Seibel was ninth in the triple jump. Garth Miller/Contributed photo
In her final track meet, The Dalles senior Avery Cardosi had one last bus trip, one weekend to break bread with her teammates and a last chance to pick up some hardware at the state track and field event at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Cardosi placed eighth in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:00:99 and earned seventh place in the long jump with a distance of 16-feet in her individual events.
She was the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay team along with Bailey Nearing, Emma Mullins and Athena Thomas that hit a personal record by more than two seconds with a final time of 4:15.33.
Kayla Seibel, a junior and a first-time state qualifier, added a distance of 32-4 ¼ in her triple jump event to give the Riverhawks three team points and 27th place.
Cardosi said she treats all of her teammates more like family, than a just a sports team by the end of the season, because they all get to see each other persevere through setbacks, and get excited for each other when enjoying success.
Capping it with this group made the state experience even more special.
“Being able to go to state with the 4x400 team was so incredible,” Cardosi said. “We were so excited just to make it to state, and getting to PR at Hayward Field made it even better.”
A four-year track athlete, Cardosi has placed in the top-3 33 times in her career, with 16 wins and 14 second-place finishes.
She punched a state ticket in her final two seasons, and ended up with personal record of 1:00.30 in the 400 and added a 16-10 ½ for a PR in the long jump on April 26.
She was also key in getting the relay team to its PR and she had a season-best time of 2:35.48 in the 800.
TD coach Garth Miller called Cardosi a great senior leader for the team this year and said that the program will miss her.
Cardosi has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success on the track, but most of all, she will miss the moments she shared with coaches and teammates.
“I can honestly say I would not be where I am without the support of my teammates and coaches, and I cannot express how grateful I am to have met all of them,”
While Cardosi is set to graduate in less than three weeks, Seibel, Mullins, Nearing, McLeod and Thomas will be back next season looking to meet or surpass this year’s accomplishments.
From afar, Cardosi will be their biggest cheerleader.
“All of the girls on the 4x400 team are exceptionally hard-working and dedicated,” she said. “I know they have an excellent chance of making it to state next year. It was an honor to get to run at state with all of them.”
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