Here are some of the highlights from the two day Oregon Relays:
Friday
Now that high school meets are run in metrics, the Oregon Relays gave athletes the chance to run the 2-mile (with 3200 and 3000 En Route times). In the girl’s 2-mile it became a battle between Canada’s Ruby Broadbent of Parkland and Oregon’s Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley. With two laps remaining in the race, Broadbent pulled away with the win in 10:19.10. Broadbent will return to the state of Oregon next school year and run for Oregon State. Much of the focus in the boy’s 2-mile was on Crater’s Tyrone Gorze. The state record in the 2-mile is held by running legend Steve Prefontaine. Since Oregon races the 3000-meters, this was a rare opportunity for Gorze to attempt the record. Racing alone for most of the race, he was on pace after the one mile. Ultimately, Prefontaine’s record stands as Gorze finished in a time of 8:46.50.
NXN fifth place finisher Mt. Prospect girls of Illinois brought a number of athletes to Eugene and they established themselves as the leaders of the DMR. At the 1600-meter part of the race Air Academy’s Bethany Michalak eventually took the lead. Air Academy finished seventh at NXN. Air Academy won in 10:52.57, Jesuit, who finished 12th at NXN, finished second and Mt. Prospect finished third. Bishop Blanchet of Washington took the lead early in the boy’s DMR. At the 1600-meter portion of the race, Jesuit’ Jacob Nenow ran even with Bishop Blanchet’s Will Schneider. Jesuit beat Bishop Blanchet a few weeks ago at Arcadia in the 4 X Mile, but this time Bishop Blanchet came out on top with a time of 10:10.11.
Photo Gallery for Friday Women’s Races are HERE
Photo Gallery for Friday Men’s Races are HERE
Saturday
The girl’s 4 X 800 came down to two NXN qualifiers from 2022, Summit of Oregon and Mt. Prospect of Illinois. Georgetown bound Barrett Justema of Summit ran a strong last leg of the relay to win in 9:20.40. Bishop Blanchet of Washington won Friday’s DMR and fell behind Menlo Park of California, but climbed into the race in the third leg. Menlo’s Justin Pretre ran a 55 second last lap to help his school win in 7:49.13.
Canada’s Maya Baechler of Kitsilano ran a 64 second last lap to take the win in the 800-meter race at 2:11.36. Maya will be attending Oregon State in the fall. In the boy’s 800, Wilsonville’s Carter Cutting came off the turn with the lead and Will Heslam of Roosevelt finished strong to win in 1:49.79. This is Heslam’s second big win in two weeks, as he won the mile at Arcadia earlier in April. Heslam will be on this track next year running for the University of Oregon.
Bethany Michalak of Air Academy took a big lead in the mile. Michalak finished third at NXN and had the credentials to back up the lead. Ruby Broadbent reeled in Michalak to win her second race of the meet in 4:47.71. With Baechler’s victory in the 800 and Broadbent’s win in the 2-mile, Canadian athletes swept the individual distance races at the Oregon Relays. Brody Hartley of Walla Walla led the mile for three laps and Crater’s Tyrone Gorze won his second race at the Oregon Relays with a 57 second last lap to win in 4:08.30. Gorze set the meet record in the mile. Newbury Park’s Aaron Sahlman ran in the pro mile with the hope of breaking the legendary four-minute mile barrier. Despite Sahlman’s 58 second last lap, he came up short with a time of 4:00.30.
Photo Gallery for Saturday Women’s Races are HERE
Photo Gallery for Saturday Men’s Races are HERE