By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SWEET HOME, Ore.–  Gervais’ Izzy Boyd put up some solid numbers in the shot put pit Saturday afternoon at the Meet of Champions meet at Sweet Home High School.

Uncertain if she would hit thirty-feet, Boyd was holding steady with that range Saturday while PR-ing in the event with a throw of 34-feet-six-inches.  Good enough to finish fourth in the event three-inches off Amity’s Haley Vanderzanden for third-place at the 1A-4A based Meet.

“That was great, I haven’t broken thirty (feet) in a little bit.  I wasn’t expecting much today, but it was really awesome to go out there and all six of my throws were in the thirties,” Boyd said.  “I was like ‘I’ll be lucky to hit thirty again and ‘34’ and oh!  I was so excited.

“It was great to see all this competition and it was a lot.  Higher stakes than at my previous meets, especially with that Monroe girl (Laura Young) throwing 40’s…that was awesome to see some of those girls.”

Young won the shot put (41-feet) and Discus (122-feet-six-inches).  For Boyd, she finished seventh in the Long Jump and eleventh in the Triple Jump with a PR of 30-feet-0.75-inch jump.

In the same shot-put field, Santiam’s Emma Longfellow too picked up a PR.  With a 33-feet-one-inch PR, the Wolverine junior finished seventh in the shot to go with a second-place finish in the Discus (108-feet-8-inches).

“That was great, it was something that I needed today.  It was something I was looking forward to,” laughed Longfellow about her shot-put PR.  “I’m so happy to be here and compete against them.  A lot of practice (ahead).  A lot of watching, analyzing, and practicing on what I need to do.  Being more explosive and connecting with the shot put.”

For Cascade’s Spencer Horne, who finished eighth in the javelin Saturday with a throw of 143-feet-three-inches, he knows there’s a lot of work ahead of him despite the podium spot in a field of 18

“I just got to get over the hump and get that PR and we’ll see how it goes from there,” Horne said.  “To get over this hump I’ll try not to get discouraged.  Today was differently a discouraging day, but I have to stay positive from here on out and learn the whole technique.

“The form for javelin is really complex to get to a ‘T’ and I got a lot to learn on it to get that PR.”

Delphian’s Zahar Rotman finished second in the 100-meters, Cascade’s Thomas Boyer PR’d in the 400-meter with 54.25 time.  Santiam’s Gage Twede was sixth in the event.

Regis’ Cameron Diacetis (45-feet-2-inch PR) and Cascade’s Coleton Urquhart (41-feet-8-inch PR) were second and fifth in the shot put, the Cougars Samuel Horne was sixth.  Urquhart was fifth in the Discus with a 127-feet-1-inch PR.

The Rams Tim Crowell was fourth in the Pole Vault.

On the girls side  Cascade’s Emma Gates won the 100, 200 and High Jump events.  The Cougs Cami Oliva finished third in the 400-meter.  Santiam’s Averie Peterson was sixth in the 400-meters.

Blanchet Catholic’s Emma Lutz PR’d in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 11:41.85.  Scio’s Athena Lau was sixth in the 3,000-.meters.

Regis’ Lauren Crowell won the 100-meter hurdles (17.23 PR).  Amity’s Olivia Farrior and Lilly Actherling were fourth and fifth.  Actherling PRd in the 100 hurdles (17.87) and 300-meter hurdles (51.42, finished sixth).  Delphian’s Portia Binfold was second in the 300-meter Hurdles (a 49 second PR).

Cascade’s 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays finished second in their respective races.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald