Blustery weather returned to the state to challenge athletes and fans on Wednesday. Although there were brief respites, when the Sun poked through the clouds and it was actually pleasant, the weather offered an additional challenge to those, who were on hand. Throughout the afternoon it went from drizzle, to sleet and it even included a brief downpour but the biggest challenge was a rather stiff brief, which rarely abated. Gracie Todd of Eugene, running unattached, wisely chose to run in the large boys’ 1500 Meter field, which allowed her to tuck in behind someone bigger to shield her a bit from the wind. Although she finished in the middle of the pack she still ran a fine 4:56, which easily would have won the girls’ race. Jackson Haselnus of Barlow topped the guys with his mark of 4:21, while Zach Holloway of Central Linn placed second in 4:26. Morgan Coxen of Silverton earned third with 4:29. Murdoch of Salem led the girls’ with 5:19.
The wind seemed to pick up during the course of the afternoon, which made the 800 Meter Run more problematic. Given the conditions it was quite impressive the way that Brigid Behrens of Corvallis powered her way around the track to finish in 2:22. Creswell ’s Olivia Powell garnered second with 2:26, while Gracie Todd came back to take third in 2:30. Hannah Jossi of Portland Christian was fourth with 2:33. Colton Ansberry of Lakeridge topped the guys with his mark of 2:02, as Fletcher Hazlehurst of Franklin & David Harris of Westside Christian secured second and third respectively with versions of 2:03.
Action in the 400 Meter Run saw Gabe Collins of Molalla edge Dean York of Barlow: 53.3 to 53.6. A Molalla runner also claimed the girls’ 400, as Emily Bever crossed the finish line in 62.4. Cassie Beecher of Newberg ran 63, which was good for second.
Both the 3K & the 5K were run simultaneously and runners of all ages took advantage of the situation. Morgan Anderson of Silverton ran the 3K and finished with a fine 10:27 under the circumstances. Although Morgan Webber of Canby competed with some runners, who stopped at 3K, he continued through to a 5K personal best of 17:24.
In field event action of note Kyleigh Young of Lakeridge tossed the Javelin 128-09 and Silverton’s Andrew Rogers was the best of the guys with 175-01. Trevor Walker of Central Linn secured the Shot Put title with 47-00. Walker also annexed the Discus award with 121-00. Laura Grube of Crow was the best of the girls in that event with her mark of 115-10. Grube, incidentally, was right behind Young in the Javelin with her 119-08.
Erika Treske of Lake Oswego jumped 5-03 in the High Jump and Sierra Robertson of Portland Christian cleared 9-06 in the Pole Vault. In the men’s Long Jump laurels went to Spencer Russell of Lakeridge, who went 21-00.5.