Good friends Mia Brahe-Pedersen of Lake Oswego, Lily Jones of Roosevelt still 1-2 (in that order) after epic duel in Elite 100 race at Jesuit Twilight Relays

Both sprinters hope to chase down Margaret Johnson-Bailes’ 54-year-old state records in the 100 and 200.

Author:
René Ferrán
Publish date:
May 2, 2022 9:30 AM EDT

By René Ferrán | Photos by Taylor Balkom

For a split second, it appeared as if an upset had occurred in the girls Elite 100 on Friday night at the 20th annual Jesuit Twilight Relays.

The established pecking order between good friends Mia Brahe-Pedersen, a Lake Oswego sophomore, and senior Lily Jones of Roosevelt was about to be overturned.

Brahe-Pedersen hadn’t lost to an Oregon rival since her debut last April during her steady march toward her seemingly inevitable breaking of the state’s 100- and 200-meter records.

This spring, however, Jones has pushed Brahe-Pedersen to even better performances. A week ago at the Oregon Relays, Brahe-Pedersen dropped her personal-best time to 11.34 seconds, with Jones right behind in 11.44 — the second- and third-fastest times in state history.

But for 99 meters Friday, it looked like Jones would beat her bestie.

As the two leaned at the line, neither was sure who won.

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“Probably right around there (pointing to the Jesuit High School painted on the homestretch stands), I was like, ‘Hmm, I’m a little bit too far behind to catch this,’” Brahe-Pedersen said. “But then, I was like, ‘I always do this.’ I just relaxed and I did that.”

“That” was to find a way to just edge Jones at the tape, breaking it in a meet-record 11.45 to beat the Roughriders senior by one-hundredth of a second.

“Usually, I have a really good finish for like the last 40 meters,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “Today, I wasn’t as strong. It was an overall more even race, whereas usually I start slow and really speed up. In the future, when I have my usual race, it’ll be a bit more of a gap in the end.”

Jones thought back to their duel at the Spokane HS Indoor Invitational on a snowy Sunday in January, when she earned her only victory (so far) by the same one-hundredth margin in the 60-meter dash.

“We were so close to each other,” Jones said. “It’s just a product of having amazing competition, pushing each other. I’ve learned that it’s not just about winning. It’s really about improving my best time, and whoever wins, wins. I’ve already proved myself.”

Even a year ago, when Jones finally broke 12 seconds for the first time, she never envisioned having a season like what she’s had this spring — even while the University of Oregon signee still splits time between track and her first love, softball, where she’s a standout shortstop for the PIL-leading Roughriders.

“How I ran at the end of last year, it was really just crickets for a while,” Jones said. “Now, I’ve really shaved off a lot of time, and I think quitting volleyball this year and focusing on indoor track made all the difference for me.”

It’s also made a difference for Brahe-Pedersen, who now has a rival who won’t let her rest on her laurels.

“I’m not used to having that much competition,” she said. “But now that I have her around, it’s like the best feeling. I love it, and she’s like one of my really good friends, and I enjoy seeing her. So, even if I lose to her, it’s like, I’m happy to see her succeed.”

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Brahe-Pedersen and Jones now hope to chase down Margaret Johnson-Bailes’ 54-year-old state records in the 100 and 200, set the same year she ran at the Mexico City Olympics.

“I think this season, they’re totally in range,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “I feel like I learned a lot from this race. If I’m a bit more patient, it’ll do me some real good, and I’ll be able to maintain any sort of lead, even relative closeness I have at the start.”

While Brahe-Pedersen received her award, the boys Elite 100 ran with little of the fanfare of Micah Williams’ state-record run the last time it was contested in 2019.

South Medford junior Andrew Walker, also unbeaten against Oregon competition this spring, sped to victory in 10.75, beating Central Catholic’s Stryder Todd-Fields by 0.14 of a second.