The highlight of the local weekend for area track fans will be the Portland Track Festival, which offers a little something for everyone. Runners of almost all levels will be racing this weekend from professional athletes to Middle School runners still dreaming of high school competition. The PTF will actually take place over two days and over three venues, so there will be much to take in during the period. The first day of action will be this evening (Friday) at 7PM and at the track of Lincoln High School. The guys of North Central High School in Spokane will attempt to establish a new record in the four by one-mile relay. As one of the premier cross country powers in the northwest, they should be able to make it very interesting. Following the relay the Open Women will contest the 10K.
The weight events in the Field will be conducted at the Concordia Throws Center in northeast Portland. All the action will take on Saturday between 10 AM and 5 PM. The rest of the action will be again at the track of Lewis & Clark College on Palatine Road in Portland on Saturday. The National Anthem will be sung at 5PM and the action will ensue immediately. As noted there will be a variety of levels of racing along with distances but for the most part we will focus on the high athletes. The Boys’ High School mile is a great place to start for it has prep runners from a number of states. Leading the way at least on paper is Marcus Dickson of White River, who won the Border Duel 800 Meters in 1:52. His time going into the race is 4:12 but that mark is barely ahead of Chris Brewer of Rancho Buena Vista of California. Idaho’s Erik Harris, who won at Simplot, comes in with a 4:13 clocking. Dickson had stated that his goal will be sub-4:10, which is certainly believable. Challenging that trio will be Beaverton’s Dan Oekerman & David Orth, Ian Burgess of Franklin Keith Williams of North Central plus his team mates Austin Frostad & Kai Wilmot. Wolfgang Beck of Gig Harbor will also be competing. It is a very solid field.
There is no Mile just for high school girls, so the open women’s 1500 will be quite intriguing. Lauren Fleshman has the top time coming into the race but Katie Knight of North Central is one of the finest prep runners in the nation. She placed second in the 3A level in Washington with a time that was under the old record for the division. Erin Clark, 6A champion from South Eugene will also compete along with her team mate Paige Kouba, who just won the Border Duel 800 Meter. Erin Bergmann of St. Mary’s Academy will also challenge the others. Erin Bedell of Adidas will be another formidable pro to watch.
The Open 5K for men includes Ian Burgess of Franklin & Jacob Smith of Wenatchee. Desiree Davilla is a professional runner, who comes in with one of the top times, but California standout Sarah Baxter is aslo one to watch in the Open Women’s 5K. Sarah is a State champion in California with numerous impressive times. The men’s Open 800 MetersMeters should have North Medford’s Stetson Smith (6A champion) working to improve his time in the event.
There will be a Two Mile Run for high school girls but the leading time belongs to Chloe Pigg, a seventh grader from Jacoby Creek Middle school in California. If her name sounds familiar that is because she placed second in the Oregon Twilight Middle School 1600M two months ago after a memorable duel with Sara Tsai an 8th grader from Eugene. Grace Todd of Sheldon comes in with a time of 10:50 (ten seconds behind Chloe), while Idaho’s Emily Nist & Rebecca Lassere of Bishop Kelly will battle along with Priscilla Timmons of Skyview. Paige Rice of St. Mary’s Academy has had a fine freshman campaign and will also be a threat. Jami Bethea of Kodiak, Alaska, who ran well in the Concordia Puma Classic last fall, will return for action in Portland.
One of the highlights of the day has been the races for the Middle School Mile and this year should be no exception. Tristan Peloquin, whose brother Conner now competes for BYU and will run the Open 10K, is one of the favorite in the boy’s race. He has a solid time of 4:44 to his credit, while Aaron Roe has run 4:45. Andrew Vandine of North Central has run 4:50, while Mark Sussman has clocked 4:55. Hazel Carr is the only girl to have broken five minutes this far, so she would appear to be the favorite. Brooke Starr & Kat Copeland have come close to the Middle School barrier and also of note are Kennedy Allen, Brenna Peloquin & Nicole Griffiths.
The evening of racing will offer some quality racing on all levels plus a chance to see some former prep favorites like Ian Dobson, Jordan McNamara & Conner Peloquin return to the local track. Come out and see what the PTF has to offer & while you are at it make it a part of your 2011 Rose Festival.