Riverhawk's Julian Moorehouse takes fourth in Pole Vault at State Championship today
The Dalles, Ore., May 17, 2024 — Results are already returning from the 4A Oregon State High School Track and Field championship that started today in Eugene at Hayward Field.
Julian Moorehouse reportedly took fourth place in the pole vault with a height of 13’05,” according to TDHS Athletics Facebook Page.
Alaina Cassidy also grabbed a fourth-place finishe in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:46:49.
More scores are yet to come as the meet continues.
In the meantime, Coach Jill Bell, gives us a rundown on how TDHS athletes earned their right to compete at the championship.
By Jill Bell
Districts…and on to State!
“The end of the season feels like a 400,” remarked one of the runners at practice last week. “On the one hand, it feels like it’s been building up forever…and on the other, it feels like it’s over before it’s started.” The Riverhawks went into their district meets like the finish kick: some finishing on empty to complete their season, and a few earning themselves the chance to race again at State.
JV Districts
Monday’s JV district meet in Prineville was cold and bitterly windy; however, the hail and rough weather couldn’t prevent the Riverhawk athletes from finishing their seasons strong.
Grace Dubose nabbed one of the girls team’s only personal best, a 69.9 3rd place in the 300m; while Conner Hakek threw the only boys’ PR: a 2nd place in the shot put at 38’ even, eight inches behind the winning throw. In the jumps, junior Kati Strain saw a half foot PR in the triple jump at 25’11” for third place, as well as a new sub 15 second in the 100m (14.99)
While their times and marks were average, the placing was strong: wins in the women’s 400m, 3k, and long jump helped the squad place 3rd with 62 points, behind Crook County and Molalla. On the men’s side, a first in pole vault, as well as second in the 3k, and discus placed them in fourth with 52 points.
One thing that cannot be overstated for the Riverhawk JV athletes: if their team was mediocre, they would likely be varsity athletes. Comparing varsity times from later in the week, Nayeli Vergara’s winning and solo 3k time of 13:41 would have placed her well within the field of competition, right behind Crook County. Likewise, Angel Garza, and Steven Pereira, who raced in the 2:30s for their 800, would have been neck and neck with Gladstone’s varsity runners. There’s nothing “junior” about the junior varsity: they’ve been doing the same workouts, same late nights from meets, and shown the same dedication and hard work as their teammates. We as coaches could not be more proud.
Varsity Districts
By the end of the week, the mercury had climbed over 30 degrees, for a sweltering 85 on Friday afternoon for some field events, sprint prelims, and the 3000 meters. The temperatures, coupled with illness, made for some disappointing finishes for some of the Riverhawk athletes, who gave their races everything they could. “I held solid for the first mile,” commented Aiden Erickson, who finished third in the boys’ 3k at 9:41, “but when the pace picked up I couldn’t maintain.” “It’s a hard strategy to pull off,” agreed Alaina Casady, who started gapping the pack on lap 5 to win the girls’ 3k with a time of 11:22. Teammates Kestley Hodges (12:45) and Marley Perry (12:39) stuck with the pack the first mile, finishing on the podium in 7th and 6th places, respectively. Perry’s dogged determination paid off the next day as well; racing to a 5 second PR in the 800m at 2:41 and back to the podium in 8th place.
Over in the field events, despite the confusion of OSAA switching the field events to metric measurements, the Riverhawks saw notable PR’s.Senior Andrew Wring’s long jump at 14’ 6.75” (4.44m) and javelin at 116’3” (35.45m) Finish!! On the women’s side, newcomer Alondra Romero placed 6th in the long jump, a 4 inch PR at 14’6”. While a recent illness limited Kestley Hodges’ running events, she came back to place 4th in the javelin at 95’2”, a nearly three foot PR. “It’s her first time throwing- she’s a hard worker and definitely inserting herself into the competition,” commented coach Julian Hernandez. “I’m excited to see what she does next year, too.”
Two field events managed to qualify for the State meet, with Julian Morehouse coming in second in the pole vault at 14 feet, right behind Crook County senior Joel Rice. Morehouse narrowly missed his jumps at 14’6”, his foot grazing the bar to the disappointed “ohh” of the audience. On the other side of the track, Derek Goulart handily won the men’s high jump at 6’2.75”, a little over two inches above Crook County’s PR.
For most of the meet, though, my heart was on the track. Lilly Adams and Madelyn Harrison pulled off an exceptionally stacked combination of events: the 100m, 200m, 400m, and leading and anchoring the 4x400 relay. Normally, there are multiple heats of events in between these races; however, at a district meet, not only do you have to race them well in prelims to qualify for finals, but you have to race them back-to-back with very little rest. Lilly Adams qualified outright for the 200m at 27.22 right behind Harrison’s PR of 26.59, and was awarded 4A’s only wild card spot for the 400m at 61.85; the wild card is the best “at large” third place time in the State (after coaches have entered athletes).
Speaking of wild cards, the boys’ 4x100 relay team found out late Saturday evening that they had punched their ticket for State after all. With a third place finish of 44.18, they will race Crook County and Madras again at Hayward. Captained by senior Anthony Jara, the relay team adds an extra event to high jumper Derek Goulart, intermediate (300m) hurdler River McClure, and sprinter David McCracken. A freshman, McCracken also qualified for the 100m with a second place PR at 11.22, and again in the 200m for another second place PR at 22.98. It will be exciting to see them race at Hayward and beyond.
One of the best things about track districts is the element of surprise. Regardless of rankings, earlier times, or projections, it really comes down to who has the better race on that particular day- who can battle back in the home stretch, and who will leave their guts on the track, as Steve Prefontaine used to say. Alaina Casady’s finish in the 1500m was one such race: with 100m to go, Emily Picard from Madras had started passing Casady; with 50 to go, Casady battled back to win just under 5 minutes for the first time at 4:59.76; for perspective on how tight the race was, Picard finished .03 seconds later at 4:59.79.
The other exciting finish came in the boys’ 800, with Tyson Long (2:00.82) and Noah Preston (2:01.68) leading from the gun and battling for massive 4 second PR’s to land in 3rd and 4th place. After gritting it out for 2 laps, Long collapsed at the finish line, nonetheless earning a coveted wild card for the event in Eugene. Later that day, Long and Preston, along with Vincent and Egan Ziegenhagen, led the boys’ 4x400 relay from the gun to finish a quarter second behind Crook County with a PR at 3:34.07. “We knew if we raced for second we might not make it,” was the consensus. “So we raced to win.” The girls’ team: Lilly Adams, Laura Black, Ebany Mondragon, and Madelyn Harrison- employed a similar strategy, ending a half second behind Crook County at 4:13.93. They will get their rematch on Saturday.
The Riverhawk athletes finished their season with their hearts- like mine- on the track. Even the ones whose didn’t finish as fast as they wanted, or couldn’t throw as far as they’d like- had their heads high with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I gave myself every chance- I made it here- and I finished it like a 400.
Thank you for supporting us this season- your encouragement means the world to these athletes. You can watch the Riverhawks race at Hayward field this Friday and Saturday, or follow the live times on athletic.net.
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