This Weekend in Track: April 29 & 30
Updated: Jun 14, 2022
Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays - April 29
Jesuit High School - Portland, OR
Like a lot of invitationals, the Nike Twilight Relays will be competed for the first time since 2019. Many of the top distance runners from the Northwest will be in Portland to compete.
The showcase distance event is the elite mile. The favorite in the girl's elite mile is Jesuit's own Chloe Foerster who has a seed time of 4:40 set a few weeks ago at the Arcadia Invitational. Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep raced Chloe last week in the 800 at the Oregon Relays and has the next seed time. Kaiya Robertson of Franklin is the Sherwood Need For Speed and Chehalem Classic 1500 champion. Eliza White of Curtis (WA) finished second last week at the Oregon Relays mile. Sophia Nordenholz of Albany travels north from California and won the Division IV cross country state title. Kate Peters of Lake Oswego is also entered in the elite mile and will be a threat. The boy's mile is deep with Tyrone Gorze of Crater with the top seed time of 4:07 and Aiden Emerson, who is coming off a fine showing at the Arcadia Invitational, has the second fastest seed time. Jesuit's John Schuler also ran in the invitational Arcadia mile with Aiden and is seeded next. Caleb Lakeman of Tualatin won last weekend's Oregon Relays 3000 and Isaac Teeples of Kamiakin, who is the Washington Gatorade Cross Country athlete of the year will be looking for the win. The boy's field includes 16 athletes with 4:13 mile seed times or better.
A new event added to the Twilight Relays is the 3200. Ella Thorsett of Summit, Sydney Collier of Skyline and Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley have the top seed times in the girl's 3200. The top three seed times for the boy's 3200 include Logan Law of Milwaukie, Max Giradet of Central Catholic and Grayson Wilcott of Kamiakin.
The distance relays are also another highlight of the evening events. Summit is bringing their A team to the 4 X 800 and Tualatin boys are hoping to break the eight minute barrier. Jesuit girls will be pushed by Washington schools Seton Catholic and Tahoma in the distance medley relay. Portland area schools of Sherwood, Jesuit, Ida B Wells and Central Catholic look to take home the distance medley title.
Payton Jordan Invitational - April 29
Stanford University - Stanford, CA
Payton Jordan offers professional and collegiate athletes and opportunity to achieve standards for US and World Championships later this season. Stanford's Charles Hicks, Ky Robinson and Cole Sprout highlight the men's 10,000 and American marathon record holder Keira D'Amato highlights the women's 10,000. Bowerman's Vanessa Fraser, Tumbleweed's Eleanor Fulton, Adidas' Taryn Rawlins will race a host of collegiate athletes in the 5000. Stanford alum Rebecca Mehra of Oiselle is listed in the 800. Olympian steeplechase athlete Val Constien is in the 3000 steeplechase along with trail running champion Grayson Murphy.
Shoreline Invitational - April 30
Shoreline Stadium - Shoreline, WA
One of larger invitationals that includes teams from both sides of the Cascades in Washington is the Shoreline Invitational. The top seed in the elite 1600 is junior Zack Munson of Sehome. He will be challenged by future Gonzaga Bulldogs Jacob and Luke Alfonso of Stadium. Isabela Alvarado of Eisenhower is the top seed in the girl's elite mile and Katherine Yahn of Issaquah and Emily Van Valkenburg of Eastlake.
Look for Connor Hom of Eastlake to be in contention for the 800 victory with Ben Archer of Liberty, Keith Arashi Hunter of Franklin and Owen Schneider of Lincoln in pursuit. Kara Mickelson of Eisenhower has the top girls 800 seed time of 2:13 and she will be challenged by freshman Alexa Matora of Lake Washington.
Zack Munson of Sehome returns to the track as the top 3200 seed and Cruize Corvin of Lakes has the second seed time. It could be a battle between freshman Lily LaPorte of Bishop Blanchet and senior Claire Archer of Roosevelt in the girl's 3200.