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By René Ferrán 

The Class 6A, 5A and 4A Oregon high school track and field state championships concluded Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene.

State previews: BOYS | GIRLS

EUGENE — Two days spent doing hard labor in the sunshine had left their mark on Mia Brahe-Pedersen’s cheeks.

The Lake Oswego junior would trade a slight sunburn for two state records, a third meet record and a share of the OSAA Class 6A girls track and field state title any time.

“The big thing is that we banded together as a team and trusted our training,” Brahe-Pedersen said Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field after the second of her state records, running the third leg on the 1,600-meter relay that broke the mark it set a week ago at district by finishing in 3 minutes, 48.78 seconds.

“We’re juniors. We’ve gained a lot of maturity over the seasons we’ve had, gained a lot of experience and confidence. That’s been the biggest game-changer.”

Brahe-Pedersen also broke her state record in the 100, running a blazing 11 seconds flat that is No. 3 on the all-time national list, and just missed breaking her mark in the 200, winning in a meet-record 22.65.

The quartet of junior Riley Ha, sophomore Marina Turpen, Brahe-Pedersen and junior Josie Donelson — who came within one-hundredth of a second of breaking the 400 state record — will bring their show back to Hayward Field in three weeks for Nike Outdoor Nationals, where Brahe-Pedersen promised one thing.

“Now, we want to show the nation how Lake Oswego does it here in Oregon,” she said.

In all, 23 meet records were set during the three-day championships and three state records, including Churchill freshman Addison Kleinke clearing 13 feet, 4½ inches, to win the 5A girls pole vault title.

“It means a lot because I’ve put in so much work, so many hours,” Kleinke said. “For all of it to pay off feels super good.”

The Lakers, who won their first state championship a year ago, ended up sharing the title with Three Rivers League rival Tualatin, each finishing with 77 points. The Timberwolves had never taken home a trophy before this weekend.

“Every single person stepped up,” said junior Lauren Ayers, who won the 3,000 on Friday and placed second in Saturday’s 1,500. “The entire season was like, why not us? We knew we could do it. We had so much belief in ourselves. We have such a good team culture, and I think it really motivated everybody.”

The 6A boys team race also came down to the final event, with Lincoln’s victory in the 4x400 relay clinching the program’s first state championship since 2007.

“We were putting in so much work throughout the whole season,” said junior Nathan Davidson, who ran the anchor leg. “We knew we outworked people. Even at district, it showed. Incrementally, we’ve all been getting better and better this year. We persisted, and we knew it was going to happen.”

Summit swept the 5A team titles in its return after competing in 6A the previous four years, with the Wilsonville girls edging Thurston by a half-point for second place.

Marshfield’s boys and Philomath’s girls repeated as 4A team champions.

6A Girls

Saturday morning dawned overcast and cool, which wasn’t what Oregon City senior Sophia Beckmon had hoped. Then came the long line on the long jump runway, with all 17 competitors thrown into one preliminary flight.

The result was after breaking her meet record with a 20-9 on her opening jump, she couldn’t improve upon that mark, leaving her happy about going out a three-time state champion but still a bit dissatisfied.

“When I was on the runway, I started feeling really good, but then after a couple of jumps, it was just all over the board,” she said. “Mentally, I was in my head a lot. It was kind of hard to stay consistent. I usually have a routine that I just couldn’t get down today. I felt good overall; it just didn’t happen for me today, and that’s OK.”

Besides Lake Oswego’s sprinting sensations, the day’s other double winner was Jesuit sophomore Emma Bennett, who won the 800 and 1,500 to follow in the footsteps of Chloe Foerster, who accomplished the feat last year.

“She was incredible, and I don’t think I’d be the place where I am now without her,” Bennett said. “Even just the training runs every day, you’d always have somebody to always look up to. I’m just so grateful to have been able to start off my career with her.”

Central Catholic senior Kyeese Hollands capped her career by adding the discus title that eluded her a year ago to the javelin title she won for a second time Thursday.

Other winners Saturday were Ida B. Wells sophomore Avery Coker in the 100 hurdles and Tigard junior Amber Walker (high jump) and freshman Marissa Johnson (shot put).

5A Girls

South Albany freshman Pharalynn Dickson did Brahe-Pedersen one better — if that’s possible — becoming the first 5A or 6A girl to win all three sprints at the same state meet since Summit’s Kellie Scheuler did it for the fourth consecutive time in 2010.

To complete her sweep, Dickson held off defending champion Breanna Raven of Thurston.

“Honestly, I was really happy she was in my race to push me,” Dickson said. “I was really happy competing with her. I did my best today.”

Raven also was the defending champion in the long jump but lost to Wilsonville’s Caroline De la motte, who beat her on her final jump. Raven did anchor the Colts to victory in the 4x100.

Bend junior Sara Rivas also was a double-winner on the track, taking home titles in both hurdles races.

“This was definitely my goal the entire season, but I don’t know if I really knew it was going to happen,” Rivas said. “I’m really excited about it.”

Summit senior Barrett Justema pulled away around the final curve of the 1,500 to knock off 3K champion Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley, then saw Crater junior Lindsay Siebert pull off the same maneuver on her in the 800 final.

Other winners were Canby’s 4x400 relay, Parkrose senior Ofeina Pulotu in the shot put and Milwaukie sophomore Yazmeen Brown in the discus.

4A Girls

Youth was served throughout the 4A girls meet, with nonseniors winning every event — including freshman double-winners Brooke Perry of La Grande (1,500, 3,000) and Sydney Baker of Mazama, who swept the hurdles titles.

“Honestly, I knew I’d work hard enough to be here, but it’s still a surprise,” Baker said.

Scappoose junior Alice Davidson had a big day, winning titles in the 100 and 200 and anchoring the 4x100 and 4x400 relays to victory.

“It was so much better than I thought it would be,” said Davidson, who fought a cold for much of the week. “After the first day, I was feeling good, and when I woke up this morning, I was ready to go.”

Sophomores Natalie Dunn of Philomath (400) and Haley Butenschoen of Stayton (800) rounded up the youth movement on the track. Saturday’s field event winners were sophomore Janice Hellesto of Philomath (long jump) and juniors Elaina Deming of Junction City (pole vault), Lily Meadows of Astoria (shot put) and repeat discus champion Daphne Scriven of Marshfield.

6A Boys

A month ago, fans were denied the chance to see 2022 6A 100-meter champion Andrew Walker of South Medford and 5A champion DeMari Thompson of North Medford finally meet at the Jesuit Twilight Relays when Walker dropped out of the Elite 100 for load management.

Their highly anticipated matchup in the 100 final fell through when Walker sustained a slight injury in Friday’s 200 prelims, causing him to drop out of Saturday’s 100 and 200 finals.

Without Walker in the field, the 100 final turned into a rematch between Thompson and West Salem’s Mihaly Akpamgbo, who beat him in last week’s Central Valley district meet.

Thompson rose to the occasion, getting his revenge by three-hundredths to win in 10.65.

“The feeling right now is just pure excitement,” said Thompson, who also anchored the 4x100 to a runner-up finish to Sheldon. “I could not be happier.”

Akpamgbo came back to win the 200, capping a season that saw him return from a hip injury that slowed his sophomore campaign.

“In the 200, I definitely wanted to come back, fix my mistakes I made (in the 100), and make sure I secured the win,” Akpamgbo said.

Barlow senior Micah Perry capped his career by winning a third 110 hurdles title, then adding his first in the 300 hurdles after picking up the event a month ago.

“I’ve always run the 400, so running the 300 hurdles felt like the 400 minus the stupid backstretch,” Perry said, smiling. “So, I’m just going 100% the entire time, and I love it.”

Roosevelt senior William Heslam also doubled in the 1,500 and 800, gutting out the latter victory on his soon-to-be home track after feeling his legs start to seize with about 300 meters to go.

“After last year, I really wanted to come out with a double,” he said. “And as the season went on, I really realized it was a possibility.”

Other winners Saturday were Lincoln senior Alexander Rhodes in the 400, Sheldon junior Terek Logan in the high jump, repeat long jump champion Austin Stampflee of Glencoe and Sherwood senior Austin Milton in the javelin.

5A Boys

Carter Cutting moved from Wilsonville to Draper, Utah, during the COVID-19 pandemic, competing for Corner Canyon for two seasons before his family returned to the Willamette Valley last fall.

He completed his career by winning a thrilling duel with Crater senior Tyrone Gorze in the 1,500, with both runners moving to the top 10 in state history — Cutting to No. 5 by running 3:47.18 and Gorze No. 9 with a 3:48.67 — and then coming back to win the 800 in 1:50.82 a couple of hours later. 

“This has been the goal all season, the state meet, so it came around nicely,” Cutting said.

Another duel played out on the high jump apron, where a couple of reigning state champions — 5A’s Nathan Wachs of Redmond and 6A’s Collin Moore of Summit — renewed acquaintances after Moore won the Intermountain district title a week ago.

This time, it was Wachs who held the upper hand, clearing 6-3¼ one jump before Moore to give him the tiebreaker when both went out at the ensuing height.

“I definitely had revenge in mind,” Wachs said. “Deep down, I’m rooting for him, but if he misses it, I’ll be all right. It feels good to win again.”

Central won both relays, breaking the meet record in the 4x100. Summit senior Benjamin Strang contributed to the Storm’s team championship by winning the 300 hurdles, knocking off top qualifier Truman Brasfield of Corvallis.

Other Day 2 winners were Putnam junior James Bauman (100), Canby senior Omar Villanueva (200), Bend junior Treyden Lucas (400), West Albany senior Garrett Lee (110 hurdles), Silverton senior Steeley Mucken (long jump), Ridgeview junior Tyas Selby (pole vault) and Dallas senior Avri Bennett (javelin).

4A Boys

While many of the runners attempting the 1,500-3,000 double struggled coming back in the 1,500 this weekend, one exception was Marshfield senior Alexander Garcia-Silver.

Garcia-Silver, who runs internationally for Colombia, followed the same strategy that brought him success Friday, powering to the lead from the start and never faltering, winning by more than four seconds in 4:03.68.

“It’s more special to win the 3K and the 15, he said. “It shows you have a little bit of strength, a little bit of speed, can work through it with both and do something spectacular.”

Garcia-Silver later joined with 400 champion Bodey Lutes to help the Pirates wrap up the meet with a win in the 4x400. South Coast rival North Bend won a third consecutive OSAA 4x100 title, anchored by 100-200 double-winner Jason Padgett.

Other winners Saturday were Hidden Valley senior Grant Bohannon (800), Seaside junior Kyler McCleary (high jump), Scappoose senior Colby Campbell (long jump) and Estacada senior Cody White, who added the javelin title to the discus crown he won Friday.