Lightning at District propels TDHS Track to Eugene Championship today, May 26
By Jill Pearson
Of all the ways I envisioned the track season culminating, it did not include hunkering down in a noisy gym, while hail bounced on the roof and water flooded the 300m corner of Madras’ track. It definitely didn’t include…
BOOM!
…That same gym getting struck by lightning. The first day of the meet was over, after starting a handful of the field events and none of the running prelims, the outlook was distinctly dim. A broken cross country tent and a few marks were all any team had to show for the day, as the head coaches and hosts scrambled to rework a 2-day district meet into a single day, standard order, hot and humid championship.
The delay gave just enough time to reflect on JV districts, in a nearly as humid Gladstone on Monday night. Freshman Rokiah Notbohm led from the gun in the 800 and 1500m, winning at 3:11 and 6:30, while cross country teammate and fellow freshman Noah Preston won the hurdle races with PRs of 18.36 (110m) and 46.19 (300m). The freshman distance boys represented well in the 800m and 3000 particularly, with Gabriel Castillo Quintana finishing at 2:23 and Aiden Nunez with a PR at 2:26. Josef Lutz and Angel Garza pulled the notorious double of 3000 and 4:400 (the events are back to back, at the very end of the meet), with both PR’ing in their relay splits.
Back in Madras, the weather finally cleared, and the podium opened for the thunderstruck varsity Riverhawks.
While the State qualifiers get- and will get- plenty of attention, it’s worth shouting out the third-place finishers at Districts- in some cases, excluded by a fraction of an inch or a hundredth of a second. Sophomore Hannah Adams, after pausing her pole vault for lightning on Friday, ended up vaulting 7 feet even (third), high jumping 4’6” (third), and was a tenth of a second off in the 100m hurdles (18.19). The 800 races were incredibly tight, with junior Ruby Jaimes Mora finishing with a PR at 2:38, and freshman Tyson Long getting boxed in to finish at 2:06, which still broke The Dalles’ freshman record for the event. Senior Leo Lemann finished his high school career with a 9:39 in the 3k, and was characteristically stoic after the event. “It’s not what I wanted, but I can still learn something from it,” remarked Tyson Long, speaking for his teammates as well.
In two lucky thirds, 4A’s single wild card spot- which goes to the fastest third-place finish in the State for each event- went to Alaina Casady in the 1500m (5:10.44) and River McClure in the 300m hurdles (41.72). It’ll be the second time this competition year that Casady has been to State on a wild card- her third-place finish in cross country helped The Dalles girls land a spot at State. The anticipation of that potential wild card kept her hungry in the 3000m race as well, battling Crook County’s Ruby Snider for a nail-biting finish kick at 11:46.52 for second place.
In the same distance races for the men's side, senior Juan Diego Contreras led both races, finishing first in the 1500 at 4:11.21, and again in the scorching midday sun of the 3k at 9:24.67. Eyes set on Hayward field, he looked forward to racing and reuniting with the Oregon distance class of 2023.
It was a good day for hops for the Riverhawk squad, with repeat champion and senior Zoe Dunn winning the long (17 even) and triple jumps (35’4.5”). She was humble, pointing out how 5A- and former competitor, Breanna Raven of Thurston had jumped over 19 feet. Freshman Derek Goulart earned his first trip to state in the high jump at 6 feet even, a little surprised to earn the spot and applause of his classmates. Sophomore Julian Morehouse- younger brother of 2022 state champ Taylor Morehouse- finished his season in first at 14’1”, hoping to improve his height at Hayward this weekend.
As a whole, the District meet was predominantly “ladies first” for the Riverhawks. Once again the Riverhawk girls’ relay team of Lilly Adams, Amyrah Hill, Madelyn Harrison, and Zoe Dunn qualified for state, coming in 2nd in the 4x100 (50.97) and first in the 4x400 (4:13.47), nearly matching their state time from 2022. Individually, Madelyn Harrison pounded the 200m at 26.73, while Lilly Adams ran the 400m race of her life at 61.35, a generous two-second PR. In the spirit of a true mid-distance sprinter, Adams commented “I feel dead- that’s how I know I ran hard enough.” “I did not run hard enough in my anchor leg,” admitted Zoe Dunn. “I wonder how fast we’ll be at State if I did?” There’s only one way to find out…
The Dalles High School Track team left for Eugene and the State Championships on Thursday, May 25.
Photo from TDHS Athletics Facebook Page
Track athletes posing for a shot before departing. Photo form TDHS Athletics Facebook page
From TDHS Athletics
…and that’s on to Hayward! The Riverhawks will be competing in the Friday morning and Saturday afternoon sessions of the OSAA State Track Meet. Come cheer them on, and follow their times and marks on athletic.net
Thanks to our great community for supporting the track and field team this season- buying popcorn, measuring throws, and braving the elements to cheer us on. We hope to do you proud.
