McKenzie Sports Report - May 9

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Track and Field teams travel to Sutherlin High School on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, to compete in the 1A-SD2 and 3A-SD5 Championships. Field events start at 1:00 p.m., and track events begin at 11:00 a.m.

McKenzie Boys/Girls Close At Home Win End Of The Season Meet At AMJ

McKenzie’s Varsity Boys and Girls Track teams won their last meet at home, held at the iconic Aaron and Marie Jones Community Track and hosted by both the McKenzie Track and Field organization and McKenzie High School. The Eagle boys dominated their Mt. West League opponents, piling up 100 points in the afternoon and easily distancing second place Siletz Valley, which earned 42 points, third place Mohawk with 37 points, and Mapleton, which finished fourth with 31 points. The McKenzie girls' team won their meet with 61 points earned, slipping past second place Mapleton with 53 points, Siletz Valley is third with 26 points, and Mohawk earned 14 points for a fourth-place finish.

Both Eagle teams were scheduled to participate in the Gilchrist Small School Invitational on Saturday, May 4. Still, the meet was canceled due to the weather forecast. McKenzie will spend the next week at the Aaron and Marie Jones Community track preparing for the District Championship meet at Sutherlin High School on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11. Athletes qualifying at the District Championship will participate in the 2024 OSAA 1A State Championships held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon on Thursday, May 16, and Friday, May 17.

Eagles Shine At Chilly/Damp End Of The Season Meet

It was a typical Great Pacific Northwest Spring Day in the McKenzie River Valley. Chilly and damp for some, drier and warmer than expected for a few, and most folks are predicting the day’s forecast wrong! It’s been referenced for many a year that the most accurate local forecasters were the famous weather-predicting Mt. Nebo goat herd down near Roseburg. All that aside, the McKenzie End of the Season track meet ensued as planned, and many thanks to the four teams and dedicated volunteers who participated.

It was a fine day at the Aaron and Marie Jones Community Track, and the collective participation highlighted what is really good when rural folks assemble, work, and support each other while competing. A person might be prompted to say the “day was finer than a frog’s hair split three ways and tapered on the ends.”

Leading the Eagle boys, freshman Rhys Hamlow won three events. Senior Griffin Withalm and sophomore Will Meister earned two first-person event first-place finishes and 1 each in a relay event. And senior Levi Lockard brought home two firsts.

The McKenzie girls were led by frosh Lilana Jones and Grace Weiss. Both finished first in two individual events and shared a first in a relay event.

Hamlow’s wins came in the high jump, the pole vault, and the long jump. He cleared the high jump bar set at 5 ft. 0 in., and sophomore teammate Hayden Harbick finished second at 4 ft. 10 in. Hamlow’s pole vault win was recorded at eight ft. 6 in. his winning long jump was measured at 17 ft. 2 in. Eagle freshman Auden Vailes placed sixth in the long jump, with a mark of 12 ft. 11 in. Withalm’s 100 meter victory, timed at 11.43 seconds, was sweet for the Eagle senior as he out-sprinted Siletz Valley’s Zion Fantroy, who placed second in 11.68 sec. Fantroy has this season’s fastest Class 1A 100 m. time in the State (11.05 sec.), and Withalm owns the second fastest (11.07 sec.). These two students/athletes could potentially face off again at the OSAA State Championships at Hayward Field, and that should be fun to watch.

Other Eagles placed in the 100 m. race were senior Salomon Acevedo, who placed fourth in 12.33 sec., freshman Atom Fetterhoff fifth at 12.27 sec., Harbick ninth at 13.13 sec./Personal Record, Hamlow tenth at 13.37 sec., freshman William Valtinson eleventh at 13.60 sec., and Vailes fourteenth at 14.37 sec. Withalm’s winning time of 23.16 sec. in the 200 m. race established a new Personal Record, and Fantroy finished right behind with a second-place time of 24.21 sec. Harbick took home fourth with a time of 27.28 seconds and another PR. Valtinson finished seventh in 28.63 sec. Meister, the Eagle long-distance specialist, won the 1500 meters with 5:06.26 min. and the 3000 m. race in 11:10.46 min.

Meister joined teammates, sophomore Allen Acevedo, Fetterhoff, and Valtinson on the Eagle 4x400 m. relay team, and the foursome won in a time of 4:31.11 minutes. Withalm ran the final leg of the winning 4x100 relay team, joining Allen Acevedo, Salomon Acevedo, and Fetterhoff. The Eagle’s time for the event was 45.72 sec. The Acevedo brothers teamed up to claim the top two places in the 400 m., Salomon winning with a time of 56.99 sec., and Allen second in 58.66 sec. Allen Acevedo also finished second in the 800 m. race, posting a time of 2:22.48 min. Cash Adams of Siletz Valley won the 800 m. event in 2:18.11 min.

Lockard’s dual victories came in the shot put, 35 ft. 5 in. and the discus, 95 ft. 2 in. McKenzie freshman Noah Borden finished seventh in the shot put, 22 ft. 8 in. and fifth in the discus, 66 ft. 6 in. Lockard also placed fourth in the javelin, throwing a mark of 105 ft. 4 in and Borden threw the implement 60 ft. 5 in., good for ninth place. Mapleton’s Alex Burnett won the javelin with a throw of 125 ft. 8 in.

Harbick finished third in the triple jump, landing at 31 ft. 3 in., and Vailes set a new PR mark of 27 ft. 5.5 in., which earned him fourth place. Adams of Siletz Valley won the triple jump at 37 ft. 7 in., also a new PR.

Other event winners were Ewan O’Dea of Mohawk, who set a PR in the 300 m. hurdles with a time of 43.84 sec., and Kyler Adams of Siletz Valley, who set a PR in the 110 m. hurdles with a time of 18.24 sec. Over on the girl's side of the track, freshman Liliana Jones won her 100 m. race in a time of 15.21 sec. Eagle teammates, sophomore Paiten Clevenger finished third in the race with a PR time of 17.31 sec., freshman Sapana Mitchell-Chavez took fourth in 17.71 sec., and senior Riley Morales claimed fifth place in a PR time of 22.35 sec.

Jones second win came in the long jump event, a 10 ft. 9 in., mark and she was followed by Clevenger in second place at 10 ft. 6.5 in., and Mitchell-Chavez in fourth place at 8 ft. 0 in. McKenzie’s sophomore Grace Weiss won the high jump at 3 ft. 0 in., and also took home first in the pole vault with a PR height of 4 ft. 0 in. Weiss and Jones teamed up with sophomore Myra Dion and junior Beckah Short to win the 4x100 m. relay, posting a 1:01.61 min. finish time. Dion was a second-place finisher in the 1500 m. race with a recorded time of 6:32.30 min. and that was a Personal Record. Short won the triple jump, which featured all McKenzie jumpers. Short’s mark was 23 ft. 0 in. Weiss was second with 22 ft. 10 in., and Clevenger was third at 20 ft. 0 in.

Short established a PR mark in the shot put, throwing the iron ball 19 ft. 8.25 in, a sixth-place finish. Morales placed eighth at 16 ft. 4 in. Maddie Goodell of Siletz Valley won the shot put with a throw of 26 ft. 11 in. and the Warrior junior also took home winning honors in the discus with a mark of 73 ft. 6 in. Dion also set another PR in the javelin, throwing the spear 69 ft. 1.5 in., which was good for fourth. Morales finished the event in ninth place at 40 ft. 6 in., a PR for her as well. Safiya Reed of Siletz Valley won the javelin with a throw of 78 ft. 4.5 in. Other event winners were Mapleton’s Natalee Stevens, who won the 400 m., the 800 m., and the 1500 m. Steven’s time in the events were respectively, 1:09.09 min., 3:03.77 min., and 5:59.15 min. Steven’s Sailor teammate Brooklyn Beecher won the 100 m. hurdles in 22.54 sec., and the 300 m. hurdles in 59.89 sec., a PR time. Lucie Burruss of Mapleton won the 3000 m. race in 12:59.98 min.