McKenzie Sports Report - May 23

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Spring Sports 2024 season has concluded. McKenzie School District will host the Middle & High School Academic/Sports Awards Eighth Grade Promotion Ceremony on Thursday, June 6. The event is scheduled for 6:00 pm and will be held in the Old Gymnasium.

Griffin Withalm Second and Third At State

Eagle Senior Paces McKenzie To 18th Place Finish

McKenzie's Griffin Withalm finished second in the 2024 OSAA Track and Field State Championships Class 1A 100-meter dash and the Eagle senior also earned a third place finish in the 200 m. dash. The State Championship meet, held at Hayward Field in Eugene and presented by NIKE, featured the State's premier High School Track and Field athletes from all OSAA classifications, 1A - 6A. The three-day Championship competition was held on Thursday, May 16 through Saturday, May 18.

Only Thomas Ferren of Myrtle Point, who had the fastest time of the meet in 11.19 seconds, topped Withalm’s second-place finish in the 100 m. dash timed at 11.31 seconds. The two athletes held to the form chart as they also finished 1st and 2nd in the Special District 2 Championships the prior week. Withalm ran the fastest time in the 100 m. dash Preliminaries at Hayward, posting an 11.25 second time and Ferren was in second with 11.33 sec.

Ferren earned his second State Championship by winning the 200 m. dash, finishing in 22.59 seconds. Henry Giefing of Ione snuck a second-place Finals time of 22.86 seconds in between Ferren and Withalm, the latter taking home a third-place time of 22.97 sec. The three speedsters finished the Preliminaries qualifying race in the same order, with Ferren posting a 22.51 second time, Giefing at 22.88 seconds, and Withalm at 22.96 seconds.

The only other McKenzie State qualifiers, the Eagle 4x100 meter relay team, consisting of sophomore Allen Acevedo, senior Withalm, freshman Atom Fetterhoff, and senior Salomon Acevedo, was disqualified in the team's race due to an Exchange zone violation.

Withalm's finishes scored all of McKenzie's 14 points in the Boys State meet, which placed the Eagles in a tie for 18th with Nixyaawii and North Lake.

Adrian Wins Class 1A Girls T&F State Championship

Imbler Finishes First In 1A Boys

The 2024 Class 1A Track and Field State Championship blue trophies earned by the top teams in the State both reside east of the Cascade Range. Adrian from Malheur County, representing the High Desert League, won the Girls Championship trophy, and Imbler, representing the Old Oregon League, and Union County, earned the Boys Championship trophy. Adrian scored 68 points to narrowly defeat, guess who, Imbler, who earned 64 points.

Powder Valley finished the Championship in third place with 42 points and Joseph followed in fourth with 40 points. The top Western Oregon school finish was fifth place earned by Damascus Christian. Sixth place went to Harper Charter, out of the Old Oregon League, and New Hope Christian, Skyline League, was the highest District 2 representative (which McKenzie belongs to), finishing in seventh. Triangle Lake, another District 2 rep., finished in a tie for ninth with Union, out of the Old Oregon League, behind eighth-place Crane, of the High Desert League.

The Imbler Boys Championship teams outscored second-place Myrtle Point, 77-50, and Joseph earned 42 points for third place. St. Paul, with 35 points, held off Southwest Christian for fourth place, the latter scoring 34.5 points. Cove finished sixth with 32 points and the Adrian boy’s team rallied for seventh with 31 points scored.

McKenzie, courtesy of Griffen Withalm's second and third-place finishes in the 100 m. and 200 m. dash races respectively, earned the Eagles their highest State finish in many seasons, an 18th-place tie, with Nixyaawii and North Lake.