‘A good way to go out.’ Powder Valley senior Kaiden Krieger has a weekend to remember at Hayward Field
By Dan Brood
Three races.
Three victories.
Three state championships.
In other words, it was a heck of a day for Kaiden Krieger.
Krieger, a Powder Valley senior, triumphed in all three of his events — the 400-meter dash, the 110 high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles — on Friday at the Class 1A track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
“It went really well,” said a smiling Krieger, who also took fourth place in the high jump competition Thursday. “Yeah, it’s a good way to go out.”
Maybe the best way.
In addition to his three victories, Krieger was the top point-scorer for the Class 1A boys state meet.
“Well, I didn’t even think about it until I won those three events,” Krieger said. “It was a goal, but I just tried to run my race instead of focusing on that.”
Well, he ran his race to perfection as he went 3 for 3 in his events on the track at Hayward Field.
Krieger’s first victory of the day came in the 400. He won that race in a time of 50.79 seconds, putting him comfortably ahead of second-place finisher Qwentyn Petty of Pacific, who had a time of 53.35. Krieger’s teammate, Powder Valley junior Jackson Chandler, finished third with a mark of 53.40.
“I think I’m best at the 400, but I don’t necessarily like the 400,” Krieger said.
Next for Krieger was the 110 high hurdles.
“The 110 hurdles I just started a few weeks ago, to see what I can do,” Krieger said.
What he could do was win a state championship, as he ran to victory in the 110 high hurdles in a personal-best time of 15.55. Once again, Krieger won by a good margin, as Adrian senior Riley Griffin was the runner-up at 17.08.
Krieger capped his huge day by running to victory in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a time of 39.90.
“The 300 hurdles, I’ve been working hard at that since my freshman year. So, to win that meant a lot to me,” he said. “It went pretty good, except for that last hurdle. I knew I was ahead, and I was just thinking, ‘Don’t fall.’ It felt good, crossing the finish line. I was very excited.”
What made Krieger’s three victorious races even more special was that he got to run them at Hayward Field.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “It was a great opportunity, and I loved it.”
In addition to his three wins, Krieger cleared 5 feet, 10 inches, to tie for fourth place in the high jump.
Krieger finished the meet with 34.5 points — all by himself.
His total helped the Badgers finish in second place in the Class 1A boys team standings with 52.5 points. Adrian won the team title with a score of 74.
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