‘A good way to go out.’ Powder Valley senior Kaiden Krieger has a weekend to remember at Hayward Field

With wins in all three of his races, Krieger leaves as the top scorer in the 1A boys meet with 34.5 points.

By Dan Brood

Three races.

Three victories.

Three state championships. 

In other words, it was a heck of a day for Kaiden Krieger. 

Krieger, a Powder Valley senior, triumphed in all three of his events — the 400-meter dash, the 110 high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles — on Friday at the Class 1A track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.

“It went really well,” said a smiling Krieger, who also took fourth place in the high jump competition Thursday. “Yeah, it’s a good way to go out.” 

Maybe the best way.

In addition to his three victories, Krieger was the top point-scorer for the Class 1A boys state meet.

“Well, I didn’t even think about it until I won those three events,” Krieger said. “It was a goal, but I just tried to run my race instead of focusing on that.”

Well, he ran his race to perfection as he went 3 for 3 in his events on the track at Hayward Field.

Krieger’s first victory of the day came in the 400. He won that race in a time of 50.79 seconds, putting him comfortably ahead of second-place finisher Qwentyn Petty of Pacific, who had a time of 53.35. Krieger’s teammate, Powder Valley junior Jackson Chandler, finished third with a mark of 53.40.

“I think I’m best at the 400, but I don’t necessarily like the 400,” Krieger said.

Next for Krieger was the 110 high hurdles.

“The 110 hurdles I just started a few weeks ago, to see what I can do,” Krieger said.

What he could do was win a state championship, as he ran to victory in the 110 high hurdles in a personal-best time of 15.55. Once again, Krieger won by a good margin, as Adrian senior Riley Griffin was the runner-up at 17.08.

Krieger capped his huge day by running to victory in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a time of 39.90.

“The 300 hurdles, I’ve been working hard at that since my freshman year. So, to win that meant a lot to me,” he said. “It went pretty good, except for that last hurdle. I knew I was ahead, and I was just thinking, ‘Don’t fall.’ It felt good, crossing the finish line. I was very excited.”

What made Krieger’s three victorious races even more special was that he got to run them at Hayward Field.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It was a great opportunity, and I loved it.”

In addition to his three wins, Krieger cleared 5 feet, 10 inches, to tie for fourth place in the high jump.

Krieger finished the meet with 34.5 points — all by himself.

His total helped the Badgers finish in second place in the Class 1A boys team standings with 52.5 points. Adrian won the team title with a score of 74. 

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