Springing into action at Crater Twilight

“From my perspective, everybody’s having fun and that’s important,” said Crater track coach Kierra Huggins. “We were lucky with the weather and kids are competing well, which is exciting for everyone’s seasons.”

“There is a lot of talent here,” she added. “It was just a fun meet and I’m glad that we hosted it. It’s early to do this and I think sometimes it can be risky with the weather but, boy, is it nice today and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of energy out here.”

Grants Pass swept the boys and girls team competitions, finishing about 30 points ahead of runner-up South Medford in boys and nearly another 40 points in front of the Panthers in the girls meet.

“Grants Pass made a great showing,” said Huggins. “They have a young man (Jayden Jessee) who won the high jump and won both hurdles, he did fantastic. He really stood out to me.”

Jessee finished first in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.08 seconds and in the 300 hurdles in 42.96 seconds, and also cleared 6 feet, 4 inches in the high jump to become the only three-event winner.

For reigning Class 6A sprints state champion Andrew Walker (in the 100 and 200), Thursday offered a chance to compete again and he put down a blistering 10.3 pace to win the shorter event and ran 21.67 in the latter to easily take down his competition.

Clevenger was strong as well for the Panthers, claiming the 200 (27.02) before winning the 400 in 1 minute, 3.32 seconds.

Tostenson, the reigning 5A champion in the 1,500, carved out an instant lead in the 800 and won without breaking much of a sweat in 1:59.91. Siebert looked just as dominant for the Crater girls, having no one really close to her as she swept the 800 (2:18.62) and 3,000 (10:37.17).

In other notable efforts on the track, Cascade Christian’s Sierra Samhammer (49.28) edged Lauren Robinson of Grants Pass (50.46) in the girls 300 hurdles while South Medford’s Jazz Hernandez (52.39) had a similar close victory over Ben Antley of Grants Pass (52.64) in the boys 400.

Among the boys field events, North Medford senior David Fuiava won the discus with a throw of 118 feet, while teammate Terrell Kim was second in the shot put (47-3.5) to Parker Jarvis of Grants Pass (53-10.5).

Fresh off signing to play football at Linfield, South Medford senior Deacon Edgar was second in the javelin (146-9) to Emmett Kalar of Roseburg (154-7), while Crater’s Gabriel Grant went 21-0.5 in the long jump to edge the Panthers’ Brodie Leslie (19-11).

Cascade Christian’s Autumn Murray won the long jump in 16-6 and was second in the 100 hurdles (16.61), while Crater’s Clara Bennett won the pole vault (9-0) and finished second to teammate Claire Davenport in the high jump on criteria after each cleared 5-feet.

Eagle Point’s Ana Avila finished second to a pair of Caver throwers in the shot put (27-8) and discus (99-11) to give the Eagles a boost.

There were no varsity competitions in the 1,500 or triple jump Thursday night.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: Grants Pass 152.5, South Medford 122.6, Roseburg 82.5, Crater 73, North Medford 63, Ashland 33.2, Hidden Valley 25.1, Illinois Valley 10, North Valley 8, Eagle Point 7, Bonanza 4.1, Cascade Christian 4.

100 — 1, Andrew Walker, SM, 10.3; 2, Grant Gober, Rose, 10.8; 200 — 1, Andrew Walker, SM, 21.67; 2, Benjamin Krebs, SM, 22.86; 400 — 1, Jazz Hernandez, SM, 52.39; 2, Ben Antley, GP, 52.64; 800 — 1, Josiah Tostenson, Cra, 1:59.91; 2, Shaun Garnica, Cra, 2:03.58; 3,000 — 1, Nathan Stein, Ash, 8:44.49; 2, Tayvon Kitchen, Cra, 8:51.59; 110 HURDLES — 1, Jayden Jessee, GP, 15.08; 2, Matthew Jenson, GP, 15.92; 300 HURDLES — 1, Jayden Jessee, GP, 42.96; 2, Andrew Opperman, SM, 44.36; 4x100 RELAY — 1, Grants Pass (Malachi Kinyon, Davion Moseley, Degan Cougle, Gage Blay), 44.93; 2, Crater (Benjamin Higginson, Nicholas Kube, Aidan Chenoweth, Gabriel Grant), 45.56; 4x400 RELAY — 1, Grants Pass (Davion Moseley, Quaid Kelly, Jared Hatt, Mason Bennett), 3:32.66; 2, South Medford (Benjamin Krebs, Jazz Hernandez, Tanner Tuggle, Andrew Walker), 3:40.17.

SHOT PUT — 1, Parker Jarvis, GP, 53-10.5; 2, Terrell Kim, NM, 47-3.5; DISCUS — 1, David Fuiava, NM, 118-0; 2, Joshua Godfrey, Rose, 110-0; JAVELIN — 1, Emmett Kalar, Rose, 154-7; 2, Deacon Edgar, SM, 146-9; HIGH JUMP — 1, Jayden Jessee, GP, 6-4; 2, Grant Gober, Rose, 6-2; POLE VAULT — 1, Carson Morrison, GP, 12-0; 2, Matthew Jenson, GP, 11-6; LONG JUMP — 1, Gabriel Grant, Cra, 21-0.5; 2, Brodie Leslie, SM, 19-11.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: Grants Pass 139, South Medford 99.5, Crater 85, Roseburg 55.5, Ashland 52, Cascade Christian 49, North Medford 30, Eagle Point 29, Hidden Valley 28, North Valley 17, Illinois Valley 1.

100 — 1, Brooke Anderson, GP, 12.17; 2, McKenna Donovan, NM, 12.59; 200 — 1, Katie Clevenger, SM, 27.02; 2, Zanai Vainuku-Johnson, GP, 28.00; 400 — 1, Katie Clevenger, SM, 1:03.32; 2, Loane Adaine, Ash, 1:06.70; 800 — 1, Lindsay Siebert, Cra, 2:18.62; 2, Eleanor Nichol, NM, 2:27.17; 3,000 — 1, Lindsay Siebert, Cra, 10:37.17; 2, Emma West, Cra, 10:51.84; 100 HURDLES — 1, Lauren Robinson, GP, 16.44; 2, Autumn Murray, CC, 16.61; 300 HURDLES — 1, Sierra Samhammer, CC, 49.28; 2, Lauren Robinson, GP, 50.46; 4x100 RELAY — 1, Grants Pass (Zanai Vainuku-Johnson, Brooke Anderson, Callie Brandes, Adison Thorson), 50.80; 2, South Medford (Hadley West, Cameron Christian, Bailee Leslie, Katie Clevenger), 51.86; 4x400 RELAY — 1, Grants Pass (Mia Thompson, Brooke Anderson, Callie Brandes, Ava Hickman), 4:23.04; 2, South Medford (Katie Clevenger, Cameron Christian, Hadley West, Ana Krebs), 4:27.16.

SHOT PUT — 1, Emerson Kolb, GP, 29-6; 2, Ana Avila, EP, 27-8; DISCUS — 1, Addison Hull, GP, 112-6; 2, Ana Avila, EP, 99-11; JAVELIN — 1, Devan Foster, GP, 108-6; 2, Macy McCoy, SM, 102-3; HIGH JUMP — 1, Claire Davenport, Cra, 5-0; 2, Clara Bennett, Cra, 5-0; POLE VAULT — 1, Clara Bennett, Cra, 9-0; 2, Bridget Brooksby, Rose, 8-6; LONG JUMP — 1, Autumn Murray, CC, 16-6; 2, Aja LaPan, HV, 16-1.