Oregon Relays 2022: Mia Brahe-Pedersen, Lily Jones close in on state records

By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom 

If this weekend’s Oregon Relays at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field were a preview of the state meets a month from now on the same track, several state records will be in jeopardy of falling.

Lake Oswego sophomore Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Roosevelt senior Lily Jones continued their assault on the 54-year-old state record in the girls 100 meters, with Brahe-Pedersen lowering her personal best to 11.34 seconds in Saturday’s final — just four-hundredths off Margaret Johnson-Bailes’ mark set for Churchill in 1968.

“I was completely overjoyed,” Brahe-Pedersen said by phone Saturday evening. “I saw my time and was like, ‘That’s amazing.’ But then, once the adrenaline went away, I realized that I’m so close.”

Jones was one-tenth of a second behind Brahe-Pedersen, with her 11.44 run third-fastest in state history.

Both will take their pursuit of Johnson-Bailes’ record to Southwest Portland this week when they run in the Elite 100 at the Jesuit Twilight Relays.

“It’s so great having her right there, having someone not only push me, but someone to chase out of the blocks,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “But even better, we’re friends off the track, so it’s great that we get to go through this together. It’s nice to have someone to go through it with.”

Brahe-Pedersen earlier anchored the Lakers' 4x100 relay team to victory in 46.58, beating reigning California Division I champion Wilson of Long Beach. The quartet of Quinn Greene, Josie Donelson, Dakota Webb-Hawkins and Brahe-Pedersen were five-hundredths off the state record set by Benson in 2003. 

Another record that appears ready to fall is two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp’s mark in the 3,000 set in 2004 while he ran for Central Catholic.

Rupp ran 8:03.67 that year, but Tualatin senior Caleb Lakeman moved to fourth on the all-time list Saturday, winning in 8:10.91 to lead a group of 13 runners who all climbed into the all-time top 50.

Lakeman sat in fourth entering the final lap but chased down Crater’s Tyrone Gorze, an Eastbay All-American during the cross country season, with a 59-second final lap.

Gorze (8:11.60) climbed to fifth on the all-time list, with Sherwood’s James Crabtree right behind at 8:11.83 to move to sixth all-time.

Another runner who moved into the top five in his event was South Medford junior Andrew Walker, who won Friday’s 200 in 21.27 — just 0.24 off Micah Williams’ state record set three years ago at Benson. 

In Friday’s girls 200 final, Brahe-Pedersen lowered her career best to 23.23, drawing her within 28-hundredths of a second from Johnson-Bailes’ record 22.95 also run in 1968 for Churchill.

West Linn junior Anika Sukumar became the fourth girl in state history to jump 40 feet in the triple jump, but her effort — good for second place behind Federal Way’s Esther Akinlosotu — was wind-aided. She later jumped 39-2¼ with a legal wind, moving her to No. 8 on the all-time list. Benson’s Sara Callier holds the state record of 40-7¼ jumped in 2005.