MORO, Ore. Nine teams and nearly 100 track and field athletes made the journey to Moro on Saturday looking to extend their seasons for another week.
On the local front, Sherman captured five district championships, four on the boys’ side to rack up 131 points and finish in second place, just two points behind Horizon Christian.
Dufur is sending three athletes to state in five different events, as Ezekiel Stelzer and Cole Kortge are making their first trips to Eugene and senior Keith Blake is making one final run after qualifying in the Shotput and Discus.
The South Wasco County boys’ team had Brody Myers and Ellis Rager claim district crowns, and Ana Popchock led the girls’ team with two titles in the 200 and Triple Jump.
The girls’ team had two relay championships and also had good enough times and marks in four other events to pick up wild card berths.
In all, the Lady Redsides scored 116 points for second place, 49 points in back of district champs, Griswold (165).
“This was such a competitive meet,” said Dufur junior Ezekiel Stelzer. “When you have so many good athletes here giving it their all, it makes it so much more fun and exciting. You want to challenge yourself against the best and I think we saw that from everyone here today.”
SWC girls score four titles
A dislocated knee cap and patella tendinitis injuries this season was not going to stop South Wasco County’s Jacqueline Noland from her drive to excellence and a state trip.
Finally cleared this week for action, the freshman placed second in the 400 and 800, and was also a key component to district titles in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay races to help lead the Redsides to second place as a team.
“I am really glad I got to do track this year, but it has been unfortunate with my knee,” Noland said. “I did not think I was going to be able to compete, but through physical therapy and hard work and doing all of the right things, I was able to compete. I am glad I got to do it. I am very thankful to get this opportunity to come to districts and make it to state in my freshman year.”
Noland placed second in the 400 with her time of one minute and 5.38 seconds and she added another second in the 800 at 2:42.29.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Bailey Hahn, Chloe Huot, Jada Myers and Noland picked up first place in 54.51, and in the 4x400-meter relay, Tatum Hahn, Huot, Myers and Noland went for first place with a time of 4:33.14.
“We have been having really hard practices and we are all going really hard all the time. Because of that, we have had a very competitive relay team,” Noland said. “All of us are really fast and the team is really young. It is good to have competition, so I think we have put together a really good team and we followed through with it and got a win.”
Huot cleared 4-9 for fourth in the high jump to earn her wild card berth.
Kyrsten Sprouse made it to state on the wild card side with her mark of 54.04 for third place in the 300-meter hurdles.
Bailey Hahn is a wild card pick in the 100-meter hurdles, where she was in fourth place with a 17.85.
Popchock won her first district championship in the 200 meters, where she had a time of 27.36, and she added another first-place outcome in the triple jump with a distance of 33-10.
Popchock was a wild card pick in the long jump with her third-place finish of 15-6.5.
Earlier this season at the Condon Invitational on April 30, the sophomore set a new record in the 200-meters with a time of 26.92.
Since this is her second state trip, Popchock is hoping to get better results.
She feels the best is yet to come.
“I really love being able to push myself further than I have before,” Popchock said. “I am really impressed that I have been able to compete at such a high level this year because I didn’t really expect to go this far. I do put a lot of pressure on myself with expectations, but I really just want to do my best. I want to have a really good experience and fun, but also, I want to win. It would be nice to go out there and be successful.”
Brody Myers notched a district title in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:05.41, and fellow senior, Ellis Rager, hoisted gold for his efforts in the shotput with a distance of 44-9.25.
Coming up on the one-year anniversary of the death of long-time coach John Howey, Rager was able to set a personal record earlier this season at 46-1, but he has been dealing with a finger issue that has lowered his average throw to around the mid-44s.
Saturday, he had his best throw in nearly a month, capturing his seventh first-place win of the year.
“It means a lot to me,” Rager said. “It has been hard not really having a coach this year. Howey was a big part of my success. It is all now coming to the realization that it has been one year since I lost my coach. It is a lot different, but I am glad I was able to win shot, so this goes to him. It is a great honor.”
The 4x400-meter relay team of Michael Cuevas, Mathew Gragg, Travis Hayes and Brody Myers grabbed second place and a state berth with final marker of 3:44.86 to give SWC 60 points and fifth place.
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