In the first showcase of the track and field card, The Dalles, Dufur, Sherman and South Wasco County were able to strut their stuff at Sid White Field in The Dalles Thursday for the Mullen-Leavitt Invitational.
This event featured 13 teams and there were several former district champions, state champions and state qualifiers on display.
“It is always fun to finally compete in our first track meet against some good competition,” said The Dalles senior Andy Felderman. “It’s good to get a time in and see where you need to improve. Now, we can build from here. It was a good meet.”
Top Hawks take track flight
Reigning district champion Katie Conklin started her senior campaign in impressive fashion with a trifecta of wins in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump.
In her hurdles event, Conklin crossed the wire in 16.92 seconds. For her high jump effort, she had a final height of 5-feet and she soared through the air at 33-03 feet for top billing in the triple jump.
Felderman, another senior, had a career-best in the 1,500 meters with a time of four minutes and 33.63 seconds for first place, and he tacked on second place in the 3,000 meters with a rally of 10:13.49.
Long distance standout Emily Morin notched a win with a time of 5:34.49 in the 1,500 meters, and posted second-place honors in the 800 meters in 2:49.24.
Also on the girls’ side, TD state qualifier Yasmin Hill had a height of 9-06 to reel off first-place honors in the pole vault and added another gold medal in the long jump event with a leap of 16-08.
In the triple jump, The Dalles’ Josiah Abrams claimed a title for first place with a distance of 36-03.50
In the shotput, The Dalles senior Riley Bardes scored first place in 49-01.00 and had a 130-06 to claim second place in discus.
Antonio Morales had a 12.10 in the 100 meters for second place, Ian Corey grabbed second place in the 110 meter hurdles with a 18.68 and was good for a height of 5-06 to pick up second-place recognition in the high jump.
TD’s Joe Linebarger took second in the shotput with a toss of 42-07 and Hannah Schechtel ended up in second place the discus event with a distance of 91-04.
Ivorie Taylor had a 30.49 for third place in the 200 meters, Caela Dunagan motored home in 2:51.14 for third place in 800 meters and picked up third place in the 1,500 meters in 5:49.90.
Glenn Breckterfield was in third place in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.85, Joey Duong placed third in discus with a throw of 127-03 and Javier Marinez tallied third place in the triple jump with a 33-00.50.
The Dalles hits the track again for the East County Classic in Gresham at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 3.
Sherman looks for steady progress
For the defending Big Sky Conference champion boys and girls of Sherman High School, there were a handful of solid performances on the day, with Blake Evans doing his best work in the 200 meters for first place in 24.82.
Evans also secured a 12.13 for third place in the 100 meters and had a third-place toss of 143-00 in the javelin.
Lexi Grenvik had second place in the 3,000 meters in a time of 14:27.76, Kiersten Casper rapped out third place in the 400 meters at 1:07.50 and Brittney Orendorff hustled home for third place in the 100-meter hurdles in 19.14.
The Sherman 4x100 meter relay team of Casper, Sabrina Green-Hite, Orendorff and freshman standout Brianna McKinney placed third with a time of 1:06.00.
Rounding out the Huskies was senior Janet Guzman, who claimed a third-place ribbon for her efforts in discus with a distance of 83-07.
“I think our team is very talented. We have a lot of good returners and some new kids here that will accomplish a lot,” Blake Evans said. “If we can keep working hard and doing a little bit more every day, there is no limit to what we can do. It’s still early, but we are looking pretty solid.”
Evans and the Huskies host the Sherman Invitational at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 4 in Moro.
Redsides are in mid-season form
Staked by the blistering times of Travis Hayes, Loreto Morelli and Ally Muhleman, the South Wasco County Redsides appear to be a team that is on the upward swing.
Hayes rattled off a 56.53 in the 400 meters for first place and Morelli, a former district champion and state placer, competed in his fourth 800-meter run and topped out at 2:09.77 for first place, just a few ticks off a personal record.
The South Wasco County 4x400 relay team of Hayes, Brody Myers, Morelli and Michael Cuevas took home first-place honors with a marker of 3:47.37
Muhleman took home second place in her 100-meter hurdle event in 18.24 and Tatum Hahn, a former state qualifier, crossed the tape in fourth place with a time of 2:52.61 in the 800 meters.
The South Wasco County 4x400 meter relay team of Ana Popchock, Paris McCartney, Hahn and Muhleman picked up third place in 5:06.50.
In his first season on the track team, sophomore Nick Ward garnered eighth place in the 1,500 meters with a time of 5:06.28.
As an underclassman, he is soaking in all of the knowledge passed on from head coach Jim Hull and some of his veteran teammates.
“You can learn so much from them. They have been there before, so you just watch them and use it when you prepare,” Ward said. “I am excited. This team has a lot of potential. We can only get better from here.”
South Wasco County has 11 calendar days until heading to Culver for the Culver Invite at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31.
Darden leads way for Dufur
Defending state champion and Dufur High School senior Taylor Darden showed why she is among the favorites to put out another top season, posting a pair of wins in the shotput and discus.
Darden grabbed first place in the shotput with a distance of 37-00.75 and she earned first place in the discus event with a toss of 122-05.
Reigning state placer Jake Little came out swinging in his first meet of the spring by nearly equaling his career-best distance in the javelin.
The senior had a distance of 145-feet to score second place.
Keith Blake had a distance of 40-02 for third place in the shotput and he added a 110-10 for fourth place in the discus.
Kirsten Sorensen carded third place in the triple jump with a top flight of 27-11.75.
Sophomore Ethan Wetherbee had a time of 27.99 in the 200 meters and went for 13.35 in the 100.
With a smaller team expected for this season, he is looking forward to more detailed coaching as he vies for district supremacy.
“When you have a smaller team, you get more one-on-one time, which is huge,” Wetherbee said. “We have great coaches here and we can learn a lot. I want to take it all in and make myself a better athlete.”
Dufur travels to Moro for the Sherman Invite on April 4, and then on April 11, the team is in Stanfield for the Dick Horyna Invite with a start time of 11 a.m.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.