Riverhawks State Track & Field Championships, Setting Records and Making Memories
By Jill Bell The Dalles High School Track Coach
The Dalles, Ore., May 24, 2024 — Last weekend, 14 Riverhawks competed in their final events of the season at the State Track & Field meet at UO. Compared to Districts, racing conditions in Eugene were about perfect: clear, cool, and with that special dose of “Hayward magic” on the track. Somewhere between magic and hard work, many saw PRs and competitive placings: a satisfying close to a great season.
The State meet- like Districts- is broken into two days. Friday- day 1- is half of the field events, the 3k, and all of the preliminary races. Unfortunately, despite strong times, most of the Riverhawk runners did not make it past prelims. While the top 8 advanced, they typically placed 9th or 11th. Madelyn Harrison (13.13) placed 11th and David McCracken (11.46) 9th in the 100m, while Rowena Benjamin ran a 0.3 off her PR at 17.64 in the 100m hurdles (also 11th).
Harrison later ran 26.75 in the 200m; her teammate Lilly Adams ran 62.39 and 27.15 for 9th and 11th, respectively. In the last events of the afternoon, Tyson Long and River McClure narrowly missed out on finals, Long finishing in 11th in the 2:02 in the 800m, and McClure a season-best in 9th at 41.94 in the 300m hurdles. The lone qualifier for finals was Madelyn Harrison, finishing fifth overall at 60.49.
In a bright spot on Friday, Alaina Casady cruised to 4th place in her 3000m at 10:46.49. While not a PR, the girls’ pack behind La Grande sophomore Brooke Perry (10:30) was a sustained burn the entire race, with the pace picking up on the last 800. Nerves seemed prevalent before the race- like Casady, most of the pack doubled in the 1500 the next day- where they were chatty and relaxed on the starting line. Not a sprinter, Casady started kicking in her 1500m with 300 to go, which gave her just enough time to maintain a podium finish: 8th place, and a two-second PR at 4:57.
Inside the field, Julian Morehouse vaulted to 13’5” (4.09m) to finish fourth in the pole vault. Morehouse passed on the first two heights, launching ing a fair jump at 13’2.25” and foul and a fair jump at 13’5”. After passing the 13’7.75” bar, Morehouse missed his attempts at 13’10.5.” Due to the recent change to metric measurements last week, and after using the 1-3A schools’ prelims as a test run, the height increase increments were changed on the morning of the competition, and again on Saturday. Despite the last-minute changes, TD’s jumpers kept their heads (and hips) above the bar.
Saturday, the early time slot went to boys’ high jump, where sophomore Derek Goulart placed 5th at 6’1.5”, tying with Owen Wilson of Astoria and fellow Tri-Valley athlete Alexander Jarrell of Crook County. Goulart had gone 3 consecutive jumps without a miss, collecting all three scratches at his final attempt at 6’2.75”. Disappointed but resolute, he nevertheless went on to run a strong leg on the boys’ 4x100m relay along with David McCracken, River McClure, and Julian Morehouse. Morehouse, not typically a sprinter, subbed in for the third leg and helped the team finish in 43.84, .001 of a second behind Pendleton’s third place. Despite not being predicted to make the podium, they finished within a half second of Crook County’s winning time, who had beaten them by over a second at districts.
The girls’ 4x400m relay team replicated the sprint relay’s earlier success. With a two-second team PR, Lilly Adams handed off to newcomers Laura Black and Ebony Mondragon. At the same time, Madelyn Harrison brought the baton home on the last lap, for a sixth-place finish at 4:11. While Adams and Harrison are seniors this year. Still, it’ll be exciting to see Black and Mondragon continue in the strong Riverhawk mid-distance legacy next year and beyond.
Individually, Madelyn Harrison finished third in her finals of the 400m, with a gritty finish of 60.04. Next year, she plans to walk on to the track & field team at Cal Poly; it’ll be exciting to follow her events and times in the future as well.
The last event of the whole state meet was the boys’ 400m. Ending on a surprise note, the winning Baker team was disqualified after their anchor leg spiked the baton at the finish. The Dalles finished about 14 seconds behind, finishing 11th in 3:36. “They didn’t race terribly- and were only 2 seconds off their PR,” commented Aaron Long. None of the mid-distance racers are seniors, and they’ll have the chance to create some depth during cross-country season in the fall. Hopefully, they’ll get the chance to repeat at Hayward next year; they know what it takes to return.
The end of the season- like the end of a meet- is a mix of exhaustion, satisfaction, and nostalgia. Those cold and dark February practices through the sunny and muggy district meet; hurdle drills, blockwork, intervals, and abs; high fives and inside jokes. “Now all we have left is to cool down,” joked the 4x4 teams, nodding in my direction (“Did you cool down yet?” is usually my first question after any race). But cool down they did, shoes shuffling off onto the sunlit track.
A huge shout out to the great squad of TDHS track & field coaches this year: Garth Miller, Tim McClure, Steve Thompson, Aaron Long, Julian Hernandez, and Mandi Williams. Thanks to the families who supported their athletes rain or shine, you all as a community, and the athletes themselves. Thanks for a great season-
Now on to the 4th of July run!
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