Oregon high school state track and field preview: Storylines, favorites, what to watch (boys)
By René Ferrán
A classification-by-classification look at this weekend's OSAA boys track and field state championships
Photo (2022) by Leon Neuschwander
OSAA state championships
Where: Hayward Field, University of Oregon, Eugene
When: Thursday — 3A/2A/1A Field Events, 10 a.m.; 3A/2A/1A Running Events, 12:30 p.m. Friday — 6A/5A/4A Running and Field Events, 9 a.m. 3A/2A/1A Field Events, 2:30 p.m.; 3A/2A/1A Running Events, 4 p.m. Saturday — 6A/5A/4A Field Events, 9:30 a.m.; 6A/5A/4A Running Events, 12:30 p.m.
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Class 6A
2023 district champions
Lincoln (PIL); Sunset (Metro); Glencoe (Pacific); Barlow (Mt. Hood); Lakeridge (Three Rivers); West Salem (Central Valley); Sheldon (Southwest)
Returning 2022 champions
Central Catholic (team); Andrew Walker, Sr., South Medford (100, 200); Demari Thompson, Jr., North Salem (5A 100, 200); Micah Perry, Sr., Barlow (110 hurdles); Terek Logan, Jr., Sheldon (3A pole vault); Austin Stampflee, Sr., Glencoe (Long jump).
What to watch
Team race
If Sheldon is to win a third title and first since 2016, it will complete much of its work away from the spotlight of the track. The Irish will score the bulk of their points in the field events — especially the jumps, where Logan and junior Owen Phillips should rack up big points. Lincoln, which won its only title in 2007, received a boost with the return of senior Alexander Rhodes, jumping into the contender pool with Grant, Sunset and Jesuit.
Superstar sprinters Walker, Thompson will face stiff competition
The reigning 6A and 5A state champions in the 100 and 200 meters — South Medford’s Walker and North Salem’s Thompson — have yet to face each other on the track during their high school careers. That should change this weekend, but while their mano a mano will be fascinating, other runners hope to crash the party and upset the duo. West Salem junior Mihaly Akpamgbo beat Thompson in the Central Valley district finals in both events, and Grant senior Noah Zucker threw his hat in the ring with dominant victories at the PIL district meet.
Two all-time 400 runners set to meet at Hayward
Westview senior Fuad Omer will also contend in the 200, but his speciality is the 400, where he moved to the state’s all-time top 10 last week by running 47.46 seconds to win the Metro district title. Rhodes went 47.65 in the PIL district final (No. 11 all-time), and their duel in Saturday’s final should be one of the highlights of the meet.
Perry to take his shot at sweeping hurdles titles
Perry has won the past two 110 hurdles titles, running the fourth-fastest time in state history in last year’s prelims as he chases becoming the second Oregon boy to break 14 seconds in the event. This season, he added the 300 hurdles to his repertoire, and in his fourth career race, he won the Mt. Hood district title. With state leader Boden Hanley of South Eugene out for the remainder of the season because of injury, Perry is well-positioned to become the first hurdler to sweep the hurdles titles since Julian Body of Jesuit in 2016.
Trio of 160-foot discus throwers to battle for supremacy
It will be worth your while to saunter across the access road behind Hayward’s west entrance to watch the discus competition Friday afternoon. The top three contenders — seniors Nywaun Campbell of Roosevelt and David Fuiava of North Medford and junior Lander Marak of Sandy — are within 31 inches of each other, all over 160 feet this spring, with no one else in the field within seven feet of the trio. It could be fun watching the lead change hands several times between these closely matched competitors.
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Class 5A
2023 district champions
Wilsonville (Northwest Oregon); Crater (Midwestern); Central (Mid-Willamette); Summit (Intermountain)
Returning 2022 champions
Silverton (team); Jeffrey Hellman, Jr., Crater (800); Tyrone Gorze, Sr., Crater (3,000); Logan Robertson, Sr., Redmond (110 hurdles); Nathan Wachs, Sr., Redmond (High jump); Collin Moore, Jr., Summit (6A high jump); Treyson Wakefield, Sr., Canby (6A triple jump).
What to watch
Team race
Silverton edged Crater for the Foxes’ first title last spring, but the 800-pound gorilla in the field this spring is Summit, which returns to 5A loaded for bear in its pursuit of a sixth title and first since 2017. The Storm advanced 33 qualifiers, including one in every event, and could challenge the meet-record 88 points they scored 11 years ago. Crater will rely heavily on its dominant distance crew in a bid for its first title since 2010, while Central (last title: 1968) will score big in the sprints.
Cutting into Crater’s distance dominance
Speaking of Crater’s dominance in the distances, it goes much deeper than Gorze, one of the top distance runners ever to come through the state’s high school ranks. Hellman and sophomore Josiah Tostenson allowed the Comets to become the first school since 1971 to sweep the distance events since the OSAA added a third race in 1964. To that mix, they added 800 district champion Caleb Doddington, junior classmate Shaun Garnica and sophomore Tayvon Kitchen, giving them nine runners in the three races. Tostenson, who won the 1,500 last year, dropped the race this spring and will run the 800 and 3,000 instead. Who could break up the Comets? Perhaps Wilsonville senior Carter Cutting, who moved to No. 5 all-time in the 800 this spring and is No. 25 in the 1,500.
Can we have another close finish in the 400?
It took timing to the thousandths of a second to separate Ridgeview’s Jeremiah Schwartz and Bend’s Treyden Lucas before the Ravens senior was declared Intermountain district champion in the 400 last weekend. Imagine a similar duel with the Hayward stands buzzing. Then, throw in Central senior Jack Burgett, the Mid-Willamette district champion who could easily make it a three-way photo finish.
Last year’s 6A, 5A high jump champions to square off again
The reigning 6A and 5A high jump champions met at the IMC district meet, with Moore jumping a state-leading 6 feet, 7 inches, to defeat Wachs and carry the favorite’s mantle to Hayward Field. Moore burst onto the high jumping scene last spring, when he won a jumpoff with West Linn’s Adam Maxwell — the first at the state meet in at least four decades.
3 throwers, 9 inches: Who comes out on top in discus?
As closely matched as the top three qualifiers in the 6A discus are, the top three in 5A are even closer — a mere nine inches separate Summit junior Benjamin Hill, Churchill junior Javin Petry and Corvallis senior Cole Seaders. The three have yet to step in the same ring together this spring.
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Class 4A
2023 district champions
Scappoose (Cowapa); Crook County (Tri-Valley); Philomath (Oregon West); Cottage Grove (Sky Em); Henley (Skyline); Pendleton (Greater Oregon)
Returning 2022 champions
Marshfield (team); Micah Matthews, Sr., Philomath (110 hurdles); Jonathan Parks, Jr., Marshfield (Pole vault)
What to watch
Team race
The defending champion Pirates didn’t win their district title, falling three points short of Cottage Grove, but they’ll bring plenty of firepower with 14 qualifiers — although the absence of their 4x100 relay, disqualified at the Sky Em district meet, will be felt. Henley has a meet-high 16 qualifiers, while Crook County, Pendleton and Philomath have 15 apiece and Cottage Grove qualified 13.
Track events
North Bend junior Jason Padgett took second to Thompson in the 5A 100 last spring and enters the weekend as the No. 1 seed in the 100 and 200. Marshfield sophomore Bodey Lutes is the state leader in the 400 and 800, while teammate Alexander Garcia-Silver is the same in the 1,500 and 3,000. Pendleton junior Thaiden Cannin shaved almost a full second off his 300 hurdles PR at the Greater Oregon district meet to take over the state lead; he’ll contend with seniors Carson Henderson of Junction City and Ethan Newton of Cascade. Henderson, Newton and Baker freshman Rasean Jones also will challenge defending champion Matthews in the high hurdles.
Field events
Parks returns as the state leader in the pole vault, having cleared 15-2 to win the district title. The only field athlete who has the top mark in two events is Estacada senior Cody White, who is No. 1 in the shot put and javelin and No. 2 to Pendleton’s Nathan Neveau in the discus as he looks to become the first boy to sweep the throws titles since Jordan Aldredge of Gladstone in 2007. Pendleton junior Nolan Mead won district titles in the long, triple and high jumps — he is the state leader in the triple and will go up against Seaside’s Kyler McCleary in the high jump and Klamath Union’s Tony Matheney and McCleary in the long jump.
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Class 3A
2023 district champions
Valley Catholic (District 1); Banks (District 2); Santiam Christian (District 3); Siuslaw (District 4); Cascade Christian (District 5); Vale (District 6)
Returning 2022 champions
Catlin Gabel (team); Joshua Widdows, Jr., Catlin Gabel (110 hurdles); Caleb Ness, Sr., Santiam Christian (300 hurdles); Benjamin Lammers, Sr., Westside Christian (Javelin); Jayden Christy, Sr., Santiam Christian (High jump)
What to watch
Three schools that dropped from 4A this season — Valley Catholic, Banks and Siuslaw — join Catlin Gabel and Santiam Christian as title contenders this spring. Catlin Gabel senior Malcolm Grant, runner-up in the 200 and 400 last year, will run the 100, 200 and 400 and is the state leader in all three. Two especially tight field event fields are the javelin, where the top three are within 27 inches, and the long jump, with the top four jumpers within four inches.
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Class 2A
2023 district champions
Kennedy (District 1); Blanchet Catholic (District 2); Waldport (District 3); Weston-McEwen (District 4)
Returning 2022 champions
Bandon (team); Aidan Morgan, Sr., East Linn Christian (110 hurdles)
What to watch
There will definitely be a new champion this spring — Bandon qualified only one athlete out of the District 3 meet, leaving the title race wide open. Weston-McEwen qualified a meet-high 17 entries, while Blanchet Catholic will send 16 — but only two won district titles: Isaac Edo, the state leader in the discus, and Jackson Mucken (javelin). Delphian advanced 13, all on the track, including 300 hurdles state leader Lucas Curry.
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Class 1A
2023 district champions
St. Paul (District 1); Triangle Lake (District 2); Horizon Christian (District 3); Union (District 4)
Returning 2022 champions
Adrian (team); Jace Martin, Sr., Adrian (100, 200); Bo Ledbetter, Sr., Union (2A 300 hurdles); Andreas Villanueva, Sr., Myrtle Point (2A javelin); Ray Gerrard, Sr., North Douglas (Discus, javelin); Sawyer Dean, So., Trout Lake (Pole vault); Keith Gaskell, Sr., Days Creek (Long jump)
What to watch
Adrian’s chances of repeating boil down to how many points it racks up in the sprints, where Martin (the top seed in the 100, 200 and 400) is among seven qualifiers in the three races plus the 4x400 relay. Union, which dethroned the Antelopes as district champion, sends 15 to state, with Adrian advancing 12 and Imbler (with 110 and 300 hurdles state leader Trevor Treat leading the way) and St. Paul 10 apiece. Gaskell is the state leader in the long and triple jumps, and Myrtle Point junior Mason Detzler is the state leader in the shot and discus — 6½ feet farther than defending champion Gerrard in the latter.
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