‘What do you mean we have to win?’ Crescent Valley gets it done, clinching Oregon 5A girls track and field team title in meet’s final race
By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom
Crescent Valley coach Tyler Bushnell emphasized to his 1,600-meter relay team the significance of Saturday’s concluding race to the Class 5A girls portion of the OSAA track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Win, and the Raiders win their first team title.
Anything else, and North Salem would repeat as OSAA champion.
“He kept telling it to us, and it made me a little stressed out,” senior Ellie Quintana said. “I said, ‘What do you mean we have to win?’”
As Sasha Kelly approached Quintana to hand off the baton for the third leg, the Raiders were mired in sixth place. Not for long, though, as Quintana shot around the first curve, passing four runners in short order.
By the time she reached Ava McKee, she’d moved to second place, narrowing the gap between her team and The Dalles from 3.7 seconds to one.
“I just wanted to get us into first or second, because I knew Ava was coming in at the back, and she would finish it for me,” Quintana said. “I just had to get us in good scoring position.”
McKee, who earlier Saturday won the 400 and 800 titles, took the lead before she exited the first curve and eventually stretched the margin to more than two seconds, securing the team title.
“It means so much to us,” Quintana said. “This is my first year doing track, and it’s our first win in like forever, so I’m happy for us.”
The Vikings nearly added a third title to their trophy case in large part thanks to junior Jordan Koskondy, a 15-16 All-American heptathlete who became the first four-event champion in 5A history, winning the 100, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and shot put and earning athlete of the meet honors.
“I always hope for the best and just trust the process, trust myself, and trust my coaches even more,” Koskondy said. “So, just pushing myself to the extent I did after the 300 really proved my point that I can really do it if I put the effort in.”
Thurston junior Breanna Raven almost was a four-event champion as well, adding titles in the 200 and triple jump to the long jump title she won Friday. She also anchored the Colts’ 4x100 relay that lost by seven-thousandths of a second to Corvallis in the day’s first race.
Willamette junior Rhys Allen cleared a personal-best 11 feet, 3 inches, in the pole vault to become her school’s first girls state champion in the past 31 years. Other champions Saturday were West Albany’s Haley Blaine in the 1,500 and Crook County’s Grace Brooks in the discus.
Team scores
Top 10
Crescent Valley 67, North Salem 66, Thurston 57, Corvallis 40, Pendleton 39, Crook County 34, The Dalles 29, Wilsonville 26, Crater 25.5, West Albany 24
State champions
4x100 meters
Corvallis, 50.22 seconds
4x400
Crescent Valley, 4:09.86
100
Jordan Koskondy, North Salem, 12.49
100 Hurdles
Jordan Koskondy, North Salem, 14.65
200
Breanna Raven, Thurston, 25.43
300 Hurdles
Jordan Koskondy, North Salem, 44.04
400
Ava McKee, Crescent Valley, 58.86
800
Ava McKee, Crescent Valley, 2:18.19
1500
Haley Blaine, West Albany, 4:46.07
3000
Emily Wisniewski, Crescent Valley, 10:03.76
Discus
Grace Brooks, Crook County, 123 feet, 4 inches
High Jump
Clara Bennett, Crater, 5-3
Javelin
Zowie Nunes, Ridgeview, 138-2
Long Jump
Breanna Raven, Thurston, 18-0
Pole Vault
Rhys Allen, Willamette, 11-3
Shot Put
Jordan Koskondy, North Salem, 43-3
Triple Jump
Breanna Raven, Thurston, 37-5 3/4
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