PR's abound as TDHS Tracksters run toward districts and championship

By Jill Pearson

“I tell you to keep going, not because it's easy. Not because it doesn't hurt. I tell you to keep going because there's no other way. To stop is to die. Life is in motion. In growth. In change. Life is in seeking and in finding. Life is in redemption. Each moment is a new birth. A new chance to come back, to get it right. A new chance to make it better.” -Yasmin Mogahed

The last third of the track season went by fast- literally and metaphorically. While it went out with a bang last weekend for Districts, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize the hard work the Riverhawk squad put in to get it right and make it better these past few weeks:  

First Madras Meet May 3

The Dalles’ showing for the first Madras on meet owas a little lackluster for the distance athletes but allowed the throwers and jumpers to shine on May 12.

Sophomore Hannah Adams won both hurdle races (18.43 for 100m, 55.11 for 300m), while tying for second in the high jump at 4’11” and winning pole vault with a PR of 7’6”.

Sophomore River McClure saw PR’s in both the 300m hurdles (43.96) and javelin( 140’11.2”), while coming in two inches below freshman Derek Goulart (5’8”) in the high jump. The senior throwers also showed strong, with Amy Hernandez winning discus at 84’ and Joe Codding (39’6”) and Marquies Sagapolutele (36’6”) PR’ing in the shot put. 

Rex Putnam Meet

At Rex Putnam that weekend, the runners had a chance to redeem their times, starting with Noah Preston in the 400m, hustling down to 55 seconds flat.

For the JV 800 runners, freshmen Aiden Nunez & Burdock Gerlick saw massive PRs, finishing at 2:17 and 2:23 respectively. Senior Juan Diego Contreras won the 1500 with a season record of 4:07, helping freshman Tyson Long into 4th at 4:22.

Leo Lemann won the 3k handily at 9:37, with Aiden Erickson coming in 2nd at 9:51. On the women's side of the 3k, first and second went to Fiona Dunlop at 12:29 and Nayeli Vergara at 12:50, with another 1-2 in the 800m for Alaina Casady (2:34) and Ruby Jaimes Mora (2:39), and again in the 100m for Lilly Adams (13.44) and Maddie Harrison (13:47). 

Second Madras Meet, May 10

The week before the storm, Madras hosted a “tune up” meet to delineate varsity and JV for districts. Madelyn Harrison was on fire in the sprints, winning both the 100m (13.55) and 200m (26.74).

Alaina Casady and Ruby Jaimes Mora again went one-two in the 1500.

Amy Hernandez won the discus at 87' 4.5”, a full 4 feet ahead of Madras’ Arellya Scott. Due to high numbers and hard work, the distance boys saw strong showings in the 1500m and 800m, with 5 out of the 11 Riverhawks seeing significant PRs in both.