This Weekend in Track: April 22 & 23
Updated: Jun 14, 2022
Oregon Relays - April 22 - 23
Hayward Field - Eugene, OR
University of Oregon hosts a middle, high school, college and professional meet from Friday through Saturday. Here is a preview of the invitational distance events:
Friday
High school distance invitational races on Friday night include the mile and 3000. The mile features Mira Costa's Dalia Frias from California who has a personal best of 4:35. The second fastest seed time is 4:45 from Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep of Washington. Ella ran an impressive 3000 at Arcadia which Dalia won. Chris Caudillo of Clovis has run 4:05 while chasing down the Newbury Park boys and is the top seed. Ethan Peterson of Farmington High School in Utah arrives in Eugene to challenge Chris in the mile. Traveling across the country from Pennsylvania, Viviana Li of Fleetwood High School is the top seed in the 3000 with a time of 9:52. Charlotte Richman of Ida B Wells in Oregon, Emily Van Valkenburg of Eastlake (Washington), Samantha Smith of Boise and Barrett Justema of Summit are one of many athletes who will help make for a competitive invitational 3000. Tyrone Gorze of Crater ran some fantastic indoor times earlier this season and has the top seed time of 8:11. Fellow Oregonians Michael Maiorano of South Medford, James Crabtree of Sherwood and Caleb Lakemen of Tualatin as well as Californian Nathaniel Avila of Clovis will be there to push the pace.
Besides the excellent high school competition, Oregon Relays provides intriguing college/pro races Friday night too. The women's invite 1500 has pros Vanessa Fraser of Bowerman and Angel Piccirillo of Nike OTC Elite heading the field and college athlete Izzy Thornton-Bott of Oregon and unattached athlete Katie Camarena (who raced for Portland State this year indoors). Olympian Cole Hocker is scheduled to race the 1500 with former Oregon teammates James West and Matt Wisner. Cooper Teare, former Oregon Duck, is scheduled to race the 5000 with collegiate athletes of note Olin Hacker of Wisconsin and James Mwaura of Gonzaga. Olympian Mason Ferlic is scheduled to race in the 3000 steeplechase Friday evening.
Saturday
The high school invitational 800 starts off the distance events in the High Performance portion of the meet. Chloe Foerster of Jesuit enters the 800 with one of the top times in the nation at 2:05. Fellow Oregonian Maggie Williams of Summit has the next fastest time of 2:08. The girls DMR has an excellent field of Buchanan (CA), Mira Costa (CA), York (IL), Prospect (IL) Cherokee (NJ), Boise (ID), Lincoln (OR) and Summit (OR). Carter Cutting of Colorado won Arcadia two weeks ago and is the top seed at the Oregon Relays with a time of 1:51 and Marcel Mitchell-Francis of Long Beach Wilson will offer a challenge. The boy's DMR has a strong field of Oregon schools of Franklin, Lincoln, Ida B Wells, Tualatin, Crater and Fresno area schools Clovis and Buchanan.
Pros Marta Freitas of Brooks Beast and Samantha Murphy of Tracksmith will lead a group of collegiate athletes in the 800. Brannon Kidder and Izaic Yorks of Brooks Beasts will be challenged in the 800 by collegiate Luis Peralta of Oregon. The evening ends with a world record attempt in the 4 X Mile with Cooper Teare, Cole Hocker, James West, and Matt Wisner. The audience will be in lane seven to cheer on the attempt.