Haley Crouser of Gresham took advantage of rather balmy conditions to throw 181-02 in the Javelin. There have been few nice days the past few years in Oregon during spring and the athletes need to take advantage of the few good ones, when they surprisingly appear. Haley Crouser of Gresham certainly had more than propitious timing, when she shattered the meet record. She accomplished much more than that, however, as her mark established a new National Record in the event. The mark, which was verified by making another measurement with a steel tape measure (55-22 in meters), was accomplished so early in the season that one has to wonder what more is in store and Crouser is only a junior.
It was quite a day in the javelin for sure and it should not be overlooked that Stephanie Wells of Silverton did some record-breaking in the event as well. Stephanie had come into the day hoping to break 140 in the event and managed that in her first throw. Her mark of 147-08 established a new Aloha meet record. She did not have long to treasure her record for Crouser followed a few minutes later with a toss of 166-05. As fine as that mark was, Crouser really launched her next throw into uncharted territory on a national level.
Cody Danielson of Newberg, who is only in his first year of competition in the javelin, put his name into the national discussion with a very fine mark of 201-11. The mark is of such quality it might have been a meet record if only Haley’s brother Sam had not made an impression in this meet two years ago but it still was a special throw.
Haley Crouser continued her record-setting in the Shot Put, when she launched the implement 45-11 becoming the first female to break 40 at Aloha. Michelle Ellis of Hillsboro etched her name into the meet record books, when she jumped 5-06 in the High Jump. That effort tied the meet best established by Christine Rice of Mountain View (Wa) in 2008. Ellis attempted 5-08 but failed yet her clearance at 5-06 suggests that the next height is well within her reach. Michelle is the defending Oregon 6A champion in the event. Ellis had both a busy and a successful day wining both the Long Jump (16-07) and the Triple Jump (35-03). She had plenty of competition in both events, as Madison Cronin of Gladstone was just behind with 16-06.75 and Paula Slezak of Franklin went 1606.25. Gresham’s Ify Onyima soared 34-03 in the Triple, while Kendall Schumaker of Gladstone & Kyla Rust of Corvallis went 33.
There was a spirited battle in the guys’ Shot Put with Alex Balducci of Central Catholic getting the nod with 55-03. Jonathan Treloggen of Gresham placed second with 53-06, while Isaac Seumalo of Corvallis & Jacob Crivellone of Newberg both went 53 & 5 respectively. Treloggen came back to score in the Discus with 162-02. The girls’ Discus was won by Sydney Johnson of Hillsboro, who topped Donna Robinson of Hillsboro 12401- to 120-05. Chase Milner of Silverton won the boys’ High Jump with 6-02, although the victory might be listed with an asterisk. Grayson Anderson cleared 6-01 and then had to leave to compete in the 100 Meter Dash, which was won by Sheldon Prince of Aloha in 10.92. Once he returned he was allowed little time to recover and ended up well below his PR of 6-06.
In Action on the track Tee Tee Martin of heritage got the nod over Ify Onyima of Gresham in the 100 meter Dash with both being credited with 12.64. Sheldon Prince of Aloha claimed the guys’ title with 10.92. The Aloha meet feature a Distance Medley, an event that ought to be included in the State championship, and the Corvallis ladies scored in the event. The team of Justine Feist, Kindra Gott, Brigid Behrens & Malika Waschman won with a time of 12:58. Franklin topped the guys’ version with its team of Jackson Baker, Fletcher Hazlehurst, Chris Black & Jackson Packham. The Corvallis girls won the four by 400 Meter Relay with a time of 4:08, while the Aloha boys’ earned the victory in their event with 3:31. Central Catholic scored in the four by 800 Meter Relay, yet another event which ought to be at State to lessen the impact of the sprints, with their time of 8:30. The girls’ 3200 Meter relay was an interesting and competitive event, that appeared to be going into the Corvallis win column until Morgan Anderson of Silverton received the baton. Morgan was well behind, when she started and closed quickly on her rival. She soon swept past for a rather surprising victory for a time of 10:07 to Corvallis’ 10:19.