EUGENE -- Holli Vigue started with a good shot put toss Friday and thought, why not a few more?
That was also the theme for the Coquille girls throughout the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A track and field championships at Hayward Field.
Why not a few more points?
Vigue produced the five best throws in her competition and Coquille got a strong effort all around in claiming the 3A team title.
While in competition, Vigue always had the team in the back of her mind. She also won the discus title Thursday and was 10th in the javelin. "Every throw, this one's for the team, you know. Just get it out there and get some points," she said.
The Red Devils finished with 84.5 points, followed by Catlin Gabel (66), Banks (53), Sisters (48) and Valley Catholic (39) in the top five.
In the shot put, Vigue had the third-best mark of the season among the competitors but had the five best marks Friday, including two throws beyond her previous personal best. Her best mark was 37-8 3/4, more than 22 inches better than her last PR.
"I got my first one pretty good, so I was just like how fast can I can this next one, how far can I get it. It worked out," Vigue said. "I knew I had one coming, I just had to wait for the big event, the big meet to get it."
On Thursday, Coquille also got wins from Melanie Lambson in the long jump and Callie Millet in the javelin. Friday, teammate Reagan Krantz cleared a personal-best 11-7 for a win in the pole vault and in the process moved into a tie for third on the 3A all-time list. After five first-attempt clearances, she cleared 11-7 on her second try, passed at 11-9 and missed on three attempts at 12-1/2.
Banks sophomore Sophie Schoolmeester won the 1,500 and 800 and anchored the first-place 4x400 relay to help her team to a trophy. Hardware is awarded to the top four teams in each classification.
In the 1,500, Schoolmeester pulled away from fellow contenders Lauren Tittel of Oregon Episcopal and Valley Catholic's Jaya Simmons (Thursday's 3,000 champion) to win in 4:46.17. Tittel was next in 4:48.35 then Simmons in a personal-best 4:49.08.
Later, in the 800, Schoolmeester pulled away from Horizon Christian's Mikenzy Rosen for a repeat victory in 2:14.49. She wrapped up her meet by outsprinting Gracie Vohs of Sisters to get her team across the line in 4:05.26. Schoolmeester's season included 3A's all-time best 800 mark at 2:12.4. She sees her results across the board as evidence of what she can do.
"I started going out and executing race plans like I never have and started getting like, wow," Schoolmeester said after her 800 win, adding that her times have shown that she's "competing really well and believing in myself."
3A boys
Catlin Gabel's Joshua Widdows competed in four running events at the district meet and nearly decided it was going to be too much at state. He looked at his 300 hurdles time and it was three seconds off his personal best. Not good.
But he had his team at the forefront of his mind.
Widdows stuck with the plan and got the Eagles a team trophy with 49 points, good for fourth place.
In the team race, Valley Catholic led by a point heading into the 4x400 relay and won that race, in 3:23.49, to win the championship with 74 points. Vale was second with 69, trailed by Siuslaw (68), Catlin Gabel (49) and De La Salle North Catholic (42).
Widdows opened with fourth in the 100 (11.24) then won the 110 hurdles, breaking his own 3A all-time record with a time of 14.23. He was then second in 200 (22.33, PR) and with his shortest break of the day, about 30 minutes, he completed the gauntly with a win and personal best in the 300 hurdles (38.40) that's fifth on the 3A all-time list.
A challenging schedule to say the least, with four races in roughly 2 hours, 20 minutes. But all worth it to Widdows because it was for his team, he said.
"This is the moment, where our team goes on the podium," Widdows said of what coach Gregory Hess told him when they talked of sticking with four events. "Individual athletes are important, but this is also a team sport. Our team's worked really hard to get here. They deserve to be up on the podium. I just wanted to give them that chance."
Widdows saw the quick turnarounds in his two meets as a good way to get him ready for what's ahead. The senior will be attending Biola University to compete.
"It will teach me to push harder because, guess what? Next year in college it's going to be even harder. I'm preparing myself for what's ahead of me," he said.
Earlier this season, Widdows set the 3A all-time record in the 110 hurdles (14.39) and the No. 9 time in the 300 hurdles (39.27). This marked the second straight season that the state's best 3A 110 hurdles time was replaced. Santiam Christian's Jayden Christy set the record last year at 14.69.
Santiam Christian's John Coiner swept the short sprints, winning the 100 in 10.92 and the 200 in 21.67, the second-best time on the 3A all-time list. He also anchored the third-place 4x400 relay (3:27.66). This spring, Coiner ran the second-fastest 3A 100 in history (10.77). Oregon Episcopal's Ronan Gantzos completed the distance double, holding off Valley Catholic's Morgan Amano for the victory in a personal-best 4:04.35. Amano was next across the line in 4:04.67. Gantzos won Thursday's 3,000 in 8:58.94. Valley Catholic's Andrew Klopcic won the triple jump (44-8 1/4) after taking Thursday's long jump (21-8 1/4).
2A girls
Daisy Lalonde thought going into her freshman year of high school at East Linn Christian that she was going to play soccer. Less than three years later, she's a five-time individual state champion.
Friday, Lalonde completed a double-double on the track as she won the 1,500 to give her two wins in the 1,500 and 3,000 in two straight years.
"I'm really happy that all my work has paid off, and thankful that my coach has trained me so well. I'll even admit, it was work doing speedwork," Lalonde said.
Her efforts helped the Eagles to 64 points, 33 behind champion Bandon (97) and three back of runner-up Enterprise-Wallowa (67). Blanchet Catholic was fourth (49.5) and Salem Academy fifth (45.5).
Friday, Lalonde got the win in the 1,500 in 4:46.41. Averie Peterson of Santiam was second in 4:47.84. Lalonde finished her day by taking sixth in the pole vault with a personal-best clearance of 7-9 3/4. Lalonde also won a small-school cross-country state championship as a sophomore.
Lalonde says she had no idea what she could accomplish in distance running. But as she learned how to run and got more coaching, she realized there's always a higher bar to set and better times to be run.
Enterprise-Wallowa's Owyhee Harguess had a busy schedule on the track Friday. She started her day by running the third leg on the winning 4x100 relay (50.97). She then was third in the 400 (59.15), fourth in the 200 (26.61) and anchored her team to second in the 4x400 relay (4:08.3).
2A boys
Delphian raced to a win in the meet-ending 4x400 relay to claim the team title. Delphian entered the race seven points back of eventual runner-up Weston-McEwen, which also had a team in the relay. But Weston-McEwen finished in non-scoring ninth place. In the end, Delphian needed to win, for 10 points, or take second, for eight, to win the meet.
Delphian scored 68 points, followed by Weston-McEwen (65), East Linn Christian (51), Knappa (42.5) and Salem Academy (41).
Reedsport's Clayton Wilson completed a season of tremendous improvement and achievement with his win in the 1,500 (4:10.23), just off his personal best. That followed Thursday's win in the 3,000.
"It's awesome that I got the double. I was really pushing for it," Wilson said. "I didn't do as well as I wanted today but I think I still put out a really good time and I'm happy with it."
After a cross-country stunted by injury, Wilson turned to swimming and rehab to help him run fast times on the track. This spring, he took more than 17 seconds off his 1,500 personal best and more than 10 seconds in the 3,000. He has the 2A classification's fastest times of the season in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000.
"I've really been putting in the effort these last few months. I've just been putting it in, wanting it more," Wilson said. "I think I've always known that I could do that. So I just had to do it and Hayward's an awesome place to do it at."
Mannahouse Christian's Austin Snyder helped stack up some big points for his team. He won the 100 (11.09), followed by second in the 400 (49.83) and another win in the 200 (22.19). Mannahouse's 4x100 relay team, which included Snyder, was disqualified.
1A girls
Adrian's Addy Martin carried her team to the team title with a big day. Martin won the 100 (12.82), 400 (1:00.99) and 200 (personal-best 26.01) then ran the anchor leg on the second-place 4x400 relay (4:12.86).
Adrian finished with 68 points, four ahead of Imbler (64) and trailed by Powder Valley (42), Joseph (40) and Damascus Christian (37).
Damascus Christian's Tayanah Balensifer made it two state titles with a win in the pole vault (11-3 3/4) after taking Thursday's high jump (5-1 1/4). She cleared her first attempted at 9-8 1/2 and passed at 9-11. Balensider had three more first-attempt clearances and four more passes before missing on three attempts at 11-9, which would have been a new personal best. It was some redemption after no-heighting at last year's state meet. Last week, Balensifer won the Special District 1 meet at 11-6 1/4, good for second on the 1A all-time list.
Sherman's Sophie Hulke won the shot put (38-8 3/4) after also winning the discus (119-4) Thursday. Harper freshman Lindsay Talbot got the win in the triple jump at 34-9 1/2. Earlier in the season, Talbot jumped 37-5 3/4, which is one-quarter inch off the 1A all-time record.
1A boys
Imbler had a strong meet on its way to a team title with 77 points. Myrtle Point was second (50), followed by Joseph (42), St. Paul (35) and Southwest Christian (34.5).
Myrtle Point's Mason Detzler nearly had his second all-time top mark of the season with his win in the discus. His final toss of 171-7 fell one inch short of the mark set by Ray Gerrard of North Douglas in 2023. Detzler already had the second-best throw in 2A history at 169-8. Earlier this season, Detzler destroyed the previous 1A shot put all-time mark (54-6 3/4) with his mark of 58-11 1/2. He won Thursday's shot put final at 54-0.
Condon's Grady Greenwood got his second 1,500 title with a win in a personal-best 4:02.0. Joseph's Jett Leavitt, who won Thursday's 3,000 final, was second in 4:03.18. Leavitt set the 1A 1,500 all-time record earlier this season at 4:00.36. Imbler's Trevor Treat defended his 110 hurdles title with a win in a personal-best 15.13.
