Karlee Touey closes the book on the Touey Era at North Valley by winning 2 titles, 4 medals at 4A girls track state meet
By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom
The Touey era finally came to an end for North Valley High School this weekend at the Class 4A state track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
First, there was Baylee, who won 11 state titles during her career from 2016-19 before heading to Southern Oregon University, for which she’ll run on two relays at next week’s NAIA National Championships and also plays striker for the soccer team.
Next came Kaylee, who won five state medals as a sophomore and junior before seeing her senior season wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The youngest, Karlee, finished her career Saturday by winning two titles — in the 200 meters and 300 hurdles — and taking home four medals to help the Knights finish fourth in the team standings.
“Yeah, I do it for my family, but also for my team and the coaches who support me,” Karlee said.
Touey’s day began with a third-place finish in the 100. She got off to a poor start and was unable to catch Cascade senior Emma Gates, who won in 12.37. Touey finished in 12.63.
That just served as fuel for the fire she’d need to run a grueling gauntlet — finals in the 200, 300 hurdles and 4x400 relay, all back-to-back with only a half-hour between each.
With the loss to Gates still stinging, she got out strong in the 200, edging the University of Arizona signee by four-hundredths of a second in a wind-aided 25.17.
“I just really wanted to beat Emma,” Touey said. “She beat me once. I beat her. And that got me excited for my 300s, too.”
In that race, she was pushed by Philomath’s Ingrid Hellesto but came out victorious in 46.19.
Finally, there was the 4x400, which Touey anchored to an eighth-place finish in the final race of her career.
“It felt good,” she said. “Even just being at this facility was amazing. To experience it is just cool for all the athletes to see this as a high schooler.”
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