PREP TRACK: Crater cruises to MWL boys title

Danny Penza, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
·14 min read

May 15—Coming into the second day of the Midwestern League track and field championships, the Crater coaching staff knew they had the chance to build off a positive opening day 48 hours earlier.

With their most notable names leading the way, the Comets certainly did just that.

Led by Tyrone Gorze and Jeffrey Hellman and a bevy of other contributions up and down the roster, the Crater boys captured the MWL team title at Eagle Point High on Saturday afternoon.

It was also a successful day for the Comet girls, who finished third behind Thurston and North Bend and got a pair of individual wins, including another impressive showing from high jumper Clara Bennett.

"It's exciting to win a district title after not having much going on for a while," said Crater head coach Kierra Huggins, alluding to there being no MWL meet in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. "It's exciting to not only win districts but also have such a young team moving forward."

With only a handful of seniors on their roster, the young Comets showed their wide range of abilities Saturday.

Gorze, a junior, reasserted himself as one of the most notable names to watch heading into next weekend's state meet at Hayward Field in Eugene. After winning the boys 3,000 title on Thursday, Gorze rolled to another comfortable win in the 1,500 Saturday with a time of 3 minutes, 56.42 seconds.

As was the case two days earlier in the 3,000, Crater freshman Josiah Tostenson was runner-up in the 1,500 at 4:04.49.

The Comets also had a 1-2 finish in the boys 800, as sophomores Hellman — who missed the 5A state cross-country meet due to injuries he sustained in a car accident — and Caleb Doddington took the top two spots. Hellman ran under 2 minutes for the fourth time this season, finishing in 1:59.96, while Doddington was close behind at 2:00.77.

"This is Jeffrey's first track experience being out last year and then getting in a car accident in November," began Crater assistant coach Justin Loftus, "so just bouncing back from three months in a brace and a lot of adversity is pretty incredible."

"They ran amazing," continued Loftus. "They've been doing an amazing job and putting in the work day to day, so I'm proud of them and how they finished. They definitely ran smart, and the guys looked good on the distance side."

Bennett entered the district meet already with 5A's top high jump mark of 5 feet, 2 inches under her belt.

She ended up recording a personal-record jump for the second time in less than two weeks, winning the MWL title after clearing 5-4.

"Going into this season we really weren't sure because it seemed like she was stuck at 5-1," said Huggins, "but everything just kind of came together today and it was a huge PR at 5-4. The last meet was 5-2 and up until then she was just stuck at 5-1. I think just having the longer season has helped her improve."

The Crater girls also got an individual title from sophomore Lindsay Siebert in the 800 at 2:27.77. Freshman teammate Emma West also qualified for state with a personal-best time of 2:31.39.

Ashland recorded a pair of wins Saturday, with the Grizzlies' 4x400 boys relay team — which entered the day with the top time in Class 5A this season — getting the win with a time of 3:26.56. The Grizzlies' Patrick Allan Latham also qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles.

Ashland senior Grace Yaconelli also made it two wins in two days with a title in the girls 1,500, finishing in 4:54.47 — half a second ahead of Siebert in second place.

Crater's Carson Le Bel, who won the pole vault, also qualified for state with a second-place finish in the high jump (6-0). Crater junior Scott Price also finished second in the triple jump at 44-0.

Eagle Point's lone win came via Ana Avila with a personal-record mark of 108-9 in the girls discus.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: Crater 155, North Bend 110.5, Churchill 102; Thurston 70, Willamette 62; Ashland 56, Springfield 45, North Eugene 43, Eagle Point 18.5.

100 — 1, Jason Padgett, North Bend, 11,37; 2, Dwayne Fotta, Springfield, 11.45; 3, Jermaine Richards, Willamette, 11.60.

200 — 1, Tanner Crosswhite, Thurston, 22.46; 2, John Efraimson, North Bend, 22.73; 3, Jason Padgett, North Bend, 22.88.

400 — 1, John Efraimson, North Bend, 49.75; 2, Tanner Crosswhite, Thurston, 50.72; 3, Vincent Senn, Ashland, 50.87.

800 — 1, Jeffrey Hellman, Crater, 1:59.96; 2, Caleb Doddington, Crater, 2:00.77; 3, Desmond Scott, Springfield, 2:06.21.

1,500 — 1, Tyrone Gorze, Crater, 3:56.42; 2, Josiah Tostenson, Crater, 4:04.49; 3, Nathan Stein, Ashland, 4:07.97.

110 HURDLES — 1, Nathan Fields, Churchill, 15.13; 2, Jakob Wilson, Churchill, 16.87; 3, Jack Sandlin, Crater, 17.23.

300 HURDLES — 1, Nathan Fields, Churchill, 41.06; 2, Patrick Allan Latham, Ashland, 43.33; 3, Jack Sandlin, Crater, 43.74.

4x100 RELAY — 1, North Bend (Nathaniel Folsom, John Efraimson, Brody Justice, Jason Padgett), 43.81; 2, North Eugene, 44.50; 3, Springfield, 44.62.

4X400 RELAY — 1, Ashland (Caden Negra, Cole Beneventi, Nathan Stein, Vincent Senn), 3:26.56; 2, Thurston, 3:27.18; 3, Crater, 3:29.44.

DISCUS — 1, Javin Petry, Churchill, 141-11; 2, Austin Mills, Churchill, 133-1; 3, Alex Willoughby, Willamette, 130-1.

HIGH JUMP — 1, Jermaine Richards, Willamette, 6-1; 2, Carson Le Bel, Crater, 6-0; 3, Taylor Carpenter, Thurston, 5-10.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Nathan Fields, Churchill 45-3.5; 2, Scott Price, Crater, 44-0; 3, Ben Yarno, Willamette, 40-4.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: Thurston 130, North Bend 94, Crater 91.5, Churchill 85, Willamette 73, Ashland 57, Springfield 50, Eagle Point 43, North Eugene 39.5.

100 — 1, Tori Houg, Willamette, 12.98; 2, Kylie Jones, Thurston, 13.04; 3, Keia Morris, North Bend, 13.12.

200 — 1, Breanna Raven, Thurston, 25.17; 2, Tori Houg, Willamette, 26.41; 3, Keia Morris, North Bend, 27.05.

400 — 1, Jailyn Arleth Becerra-Brigido, North Eugene, 1:01.33; 2, Isabella Dreiling, Willamette, 1:01.46; 3, Michelle Bierman, Churchill, 1:03.29.

800 — 1, Lindsay Siebert, Crater, 2:27.77; 2, Emma West, Crater, 2:31.39; 3, Maya Willis, Willamette, 2:34.26.

1,500 — 1, Grace Yaconelli, Ashland, 4:54.47; 2, Lindsay Siebert, Crater, 4:55.03; 3, Artana Nice, North Eugene, 4:55.22.

100 HURDLES — 1, Drew Hood, North Bend, 17.12; 2, Lorelei Rinehart, Churchill, 17.13; 3, Flannery Lundgren, Ashland, 17.49.

300 HURDLES — 1, Lorelei Rinehart, Churchill, 50.08; 2, Lennon Riddle, North Bend, 50.62; 3, Kate Harnois, Crater, 50.67.

4x100 RELAY — 1, Thurston (Kylie Jones, Rainey Simmons, Morgan Casley, Breanna Raven), 50.36; 2, North Eugene, 51.97; 3, Churchill, 52.85.

4X400 RELAY — 1, Churchill (Marley Dotts, Lorelei Rinehart, Michelle Bierman, MaeAni Dotts), 4:19.27; 2, Eagle Point, 4:19.51; 3, Crater, 4:23.62.

DISCUS — 1, Ana Avila, Eagle Point, 108-9; 2, Kylie Rankins, Springfield, 108-6; 3, Stella Hall, Thurston, 103-3.

HIGH JUMP — 1, Clara Bennett, Crater, 5-4; 2, Quealey Carpenter, Thurston, 4-10; 3, Morgan Casley, Thurston, 4-10.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Breanna Raven, Thurston, 38-1; 2, Drew Hood, North Bend, 33-9.5; 3, Iman Burks, Churchill, 33-6.

SKYLINE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS: At Phoenix, Phoenix's Elwood Hosking and Sophia Stubblefield won their second district titles in as many days at Phoenix-Talent Rising Stadium.

Hosking rolled to a win in the 800 in 1:59.65, three seconds ahead of Hidden Valley's Grant Bohannon.

Stubblefield (5:00.30) and Kyla Potratz (5:08.16) finished first and second in the 1,500, with Potratz setting a new season-best time.

Phoenix's Laurelin Jansen qualified for state with a second-place finish in the pole vault (8-0).

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: Henley 184, Mazama 113, North Valley 112, Hidden Valley 105, Phoenix 82, Klamath Union 53.

100 — 1, Brandon Gailey, Mazama, 10.82; 2, Zachary Moore, Klamath Union, 11.23; 3, Timothy Riordan, Hidden Valley, 11.37.

200 — 1, Brandon Gailey, Mazama, 22.44; 2, Brett Elzy, North valley, 22.90; 3, Austin Willmott, Henley, 23.42.

400 — 1, Brett Elzy, North Valley, 50.91; 2, Victor Alonzo, Henley, 51.18; 3, Theo Bergman, Hidden Valley, 51.74.

800 — 1, Elwood Hosking, Phoenix, 1:59.65; 2, Grant Bohannon, Hidden Valley, 2:02.94; 3, Geovanni Cazarez, Henley, 2:08.48.

1,500 — 1, Grant Bohannon, Hidden Valley, 4:10.76; 2, Justin Ball, North Valley, 4:15.46; 3, Bryce Worrell, Mazama, 4:22.58.

110 HURDLES — 1, Blaine Jeffrey, Mazama, 15.39; 2, Savien Burk, Mazama, 15.91; 3, Edoardo Sfondrini, Hidden Valley, 17.03.

300 HURDLES — 1, Savien Burk, Mazama, 40.98; 2, Blaine Jeffrey, Mazama, 42.43; 3, Shaw Stork, Henley, 42.81.

4x100 RELAY — 1, Hidden Valley (Timothy Riordan, Ronan Hodge, Grant Bohannon, Theo Bergman), 44.54; 2, Mazama, 44.56; 3, North Valley, 45.21.

4X400 RELAY — 1, Hidden Valley Timothy Riordan, Kyle Staten, Grant Bohannon, Theo Bergman), 3:29.44; 2, Henley, 3:29.79; 3, Klamath Union, 3:32.41.

JAVELIN — 1, Victor Alonzo, Henley, 150-10; 2, Spencer Fiske, Hidden Valley, 150-3; 3, Colby Schols, Henley, 144-8.

HIGH JUMP — 1, Jaydon Twedell, North Valley, 6-1; 2, Eli Hayes, Henley, 6-1; 3, Gabe Champion, North Valley, 6-0.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Eli Hayes, Henley, 45-3.5; 2, Joe Suty, Henley, 43-1; 3, Diego Hernandez, Phoenix, 41-5.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: North Valley 167, Henley 146, Phoenix 103, Hidden Valley 69, Klamath Union 68, Mazama 62.

100 — 1, Karlee Touey, North Valley, 12.50; 2, Isabella Heaton, Mazama, 13.03; 3, Jordan Fagert, North Valley, 13.24.

200 — 1, Karlee Touey, North Valley, 25.58; 2, Ryane Mattox, Henley, 27.02; 3, Isabella Heaton, Mazama, 27.34.

400 — 1, Halie McKay, Henley, 1:00.53; 2, Ryane Mattox, Henley, 1:01.76; 3, Haylee Knight, Mazama, 1:03.05.

800 — 1, Halle McKay, Henley, 2:27.03; 2, Olivia Smith, North Valley, 2:28.52; 3, Leah Beachy, Hidden Valley, 2:31.92.

1,500 — 1, Sophia Stubblefield, Phoenix, 5:00.30; 2, Kyla Potratz, Phoenix, 5:08.16; 3, Kelsey Whitaker, Henley, 5:28.96.

100 HURDLES — 1, Kaylen Avila, North Valley, 16.94; 2, Lainie Wheeler, North Valley, 17.16; 3, Angela Hawkins, North Valley, 17.61.

300 HURDLES — 1, Karlee Touey, North Valley, 49.76; 2, Kaylen Avila, North Valley, 49.86; 3, Dana Scott, Henley, 50.72.

4x100 RELAY — 1, North Valley (Kaylen Avila, Addi Smith, Lainie Wheeler, Jordan Fagert), 52.10; 2, Henley, 52.27; Phoenix, 52.38.

4X400 RELAY — 1, North Valley (Kaylen Avila, Olivia Smith, Karlee Touey, Lainie Wheeler), 4:13.28; 2, Henley, 4:13.81; 3, Hidden Valley, 4:21.22.

SHOT PUT — 1, Sydney Moore, North Valley, 35-3; 2, Skylar Willey, Hiiden Valley, 33-6; 3, Destiny Rowley, Klamath Union, 33-4.75.

DISCUS — 1, Destiny Rowley, Klamath Union, 107-2; 2, Skylar Willey, Hidden Valley, 103-1; 3, Sydney Moore, North Valley, 95-6.

POLE VAULT — 1, Angela Hawkins, North Valley, 9-0; 2, Laurelin Hansen, Phoenix, 8-0; 3, Citlali Ramos, Phoenix 7-3.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Lanie Cox, Henley, 34-4.5; 2, Aja LaPan, Hidden Valley, 34-4; 3, Mada Lee, Mazama, 33-9.25.

3A DISTRICT 4 CHAMPIONSHIPS: At Harrisburg, St. Mary's sprinter Gavin Cougle recorded wins in the 100, 200 and 4x400 relay to lead the Crusaders to the boys team title while Cascade Christian finished atop the girls standings at Legends Stadium.

Cougle, a senior, bested Brookings-Harbor's Miguel Ramos in the 100 (11.07) and the 200 (22.05), while running the anchor leg of the Crusaders' relay win at 3:43.53.

Cascade Christian's Jake Sorani also won a pair of individual titles in the 800 and the 1,500.

The Challengers' 4x100 girls relay team of Jerushah Purrier, Sierra Samhammer, Elliana Vanlandingham and Autumn Murray also prevailed, while Saige Griffin advanced to state with a second-place finish in the girls 800.

St. Mary's Mackenzie Walker comfortably won the pole vault with a leap of 11-6 and qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 400. Sidney DeBoer (35-10) was tops in the girls triple jump ahead of teammate Emma Johnston, and DeBoer also qualified for state in the 200.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: St. Mary's 135, Douglas 124, Harrisburg 122, Brookings-Harbor 90, Pleasant Hill 84, Creswell 81, Cascade Christian 68, South Umpqua 56, Sutherlin 17.

100 — 1, Gavin Cougle, St. Mary's, 11.07; 2, Miguel Ramos, Brookings-Harbor, 11.45; 3m Cohen Elrod, South Umpqua, 11.56.

200 — 1, Gavin Cougle, St. Mary's, 22.05; 2, Miguel Ramos, Brookings Harbor, 22.84; 3, Cohen Elrod, South Umpqua, 23.67.

400 — 1, Miguel Ramos, Brookings-Harbor, 50.76; 2, Bryson Baird, Douglas, 54.65; 3, Owen Hammond, Pleasant Hill, 55.25.

800 — 1, Jake Sorani, Cascade Christian, 2:07.96; 2, Jake Beaman, Brookings-Harbor, 2:11.59; 3, Jaden Peek, Creswell, 2:14.44.

1,500 — 1, Jake Sorani, Cascade Christian, 4:44.54; 2, Jaden Peek, Creswell, 4:44.50; 3, David Noble, St. Mary's, 4:45.16.

110 HURDLES — 1, Jack Nguyen, Creswell, 16.27; 2, Kyan Myers, Brookings-Harbor, 17.77; 3, Spencer Patten, St. Mary's, 18.86.

300 HURDLES — 1, Jack Nguyen, Creswell, 44.17; 2, Kyan Myers, Brookings-Harbor, 45.22; 3, Matthew Wanamaker, Douglas, 46.60.

4x100 RELAY — 1, Douglas (Gavin Gilmore, Austyn Jones, Alex Metianu, Bryson Bird), 46.30; 2, South Umpqua, 46.41; Sutherlin, 48.88.

4X400 RELAY — 1, St. Mary's (T.J. Flowers, Kent David, David Noble, Gavin Cougle), 3:43.53; 2, Brookings-Harbor, 3:43.62; 3, South Umpqua, 3:43.86.

DISCUS — 1, Britt Murray, Harrisburg, 119-5; 2, Kylar Middleton, Douglas, 118-3; 3, Kyan Hidde, St. Mary's, 114-6.

JAVELIN — 1, Ethan Sumpter, Douglas, 140-1; 2, Ty Morris, Brookings-Harbor, 126-6; 3, Terren Crabb, Harrisburg, 120-4.

HIGH JUMP — 1, Austyn Jones, Douglas, 5-8; 2, Terek Logan, Harrisburg, 5-6; 3, Zachary Seratte, Pleasant Hill, 5-6.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Nate Brown, South Umpqua, 40-6.25; 2, Camron Spicer, South Umpqua, 40-3.25; 3, Jake Beaman, Brookings-Harbor, 40-3.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: Cascade Christian 157, Sutherlin 144, Pleasant Hill 127, St. Mary's 117, Creswell 97, Douglas 65, Brookings-Harbor 55, Douglas 43, Harrisburg 32, South Umpqua 21.

100 — 1, Dakota Hyland, Pleasant Hill, 13.14; 2, Spensyr Gotfried, Brookings-Harbor, 13.15; 3, Kendra Parsons, Sutherlin, 13.20.

200 — 1, Dakota Hyland, Pleasant Hill, 27.18; 2, Sidney DeBoer, St. Mary's, 27.53; 3, Kendra Parsons, Sutherlin, 27.58.

400 — 1, Dakota Hyland, Pleasant Hill, 1:01.45; 2, Mackenzie Walker, St. Mary's, 1:02.41; 3, Rachel Harcus, Harrisburg, 1:04.87.

800 — 1, Katarina Jakits, Creswell, 2:37.89; 2, Saige Griffin, Cascade Christian, 2:40.05; 3, Ellie Epperson, Pleasant Hill, 2:41.10.

1,500 — 1, Harmony Goodman, Creswell, 5:28.11; 2, Ellie Epperson, Pleasant Hill, 5:33.28; 3, Cadence Smith, Harrisburg, 5:37.39.

110 HURDLES — 1, Mallory Turner, Sutherlin, 15.99; 2, Autumn Murray, Cascade Christian, 16.09; 3, Sierra Samhammer, Cascade Christian, 16.20.

300 HURDLES — 1, Sierra Samhammer, Cascade Christian, 47.55; 2, Mackenzie Walker, St. Mary's, 48.92; 3, Autumn Murray, Cascade Christian, 49.79.

4x100 RELAY — 1, Cascade Christian (Jerushah Purrier, Sierra Samhammer, Elliana Vanlandingham, Autumn Murray), 51.41; 2, Sutherlin, 52.91; 3, Pleasant Hill, 53.99.

4X400 RELAY — 1, Sutherlin (Kendra Parsons, Brooklyn Radford, Madison McKinney, Makayla Murphy), 4:27.81; 2, Creswell, 4:32.54; 3, Cascade Christian, 4:36.30.

SHOT PUT — 1, Erica McDonald, Sutherlin, 35-3; 2, Kelsey Dunn, St. Mary's, 31-10; 3, Claire Crawford, Pleasant Hill, 28-8.

POLE VAULT — 1, Mackenzie Walker, St. Mary's, 11-6; 2, Mady Turner, Sutherlin, 8-0; 3, Spensyr Gotfried, Brookings-Harbor, 8-0.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Sidney DeBoer, St. Mary's, 35-10; 2, Emma Johnston, St. Mary's, 32-9; 3, Lillian Copeland, South Umpqua, 31-9.5.