Jesuit Twilight Relays 2023: Top highlights, best performances, memorable moments

The 21st Jesuit Twilight Relays took place Friday, April 28, at Jesuit High School in Southwest Portland.

By René Ferrán 

The 21st Jesuit Twilight Relays took place Friday, April 28, at Jesuit High School in Southwest Portland. 

Here's a look back at some of the best stories and memorable moments. 

Earlier: 

Sophia Beckmon's 22-4 long jump — No. 2 all-time nationally — highlights 21st Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland

Photo by Taylor Balkom  

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Packing away titles: Led by Elite 100 champion Brahe-Pedersen, Lake Oswego girls sweep sprint relays

If any Lake Oswego High School student is in desperate need of a backpack this week, they might want to seek out a member of the Lakers’ girls relay teams.

Between Riley Ha, Mia Brahe-Pedersen, Josie Donelson and Marina Turpen, the quartet exited Cronin Field after Friday’s 21st Jesuit Twilight Relays with a combined 12 backpacks awarded to event winners.

Brahe-Pedersen alone lugged four backpacks out of the stadium after successfully defending her championship in the Elite 100 meters in a wind-aided 11.07 seconds — moving her to No. 4 all-time nationally for high school girls in all conditions — and running legs on the victorious 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

Donelson, who also ran all three relays, chuckled about her haul.

“That’s what we came to do,” the junior said before quickly adding, “Just kidding.”

But in reality, the 40 points earned in the relays played a big part in the Lakers winning the team title, and the foursome will also play a big role next month when Lake Oswego returns to Hayward Field in Eugene to defend the OSAA 6A state title it won last spring. 

“All of us have been working really hard, really trying to just fill our potential as a team and as athletes,” Donelson said. “Every week, we see it as an opportunity to do just that. And I’m just really proud of us.”

The Lakers tweaked their lineups in the relays earlier in the spring, but they’ve settled on orders in the 4x100 and 4x400 they hope can challenge Benson’s 20-year-old marks of 46.53 and 3:49.97 by season’s end.

“I mean, from the looks of it, things seem to be working pretty well so far,” Donelson said. “But we’ve also had some new coaching this spring, so a lot of it has been just exploring different ways of training and different orders. So, with that, we’re just going to definitely see how this goes and works with the big meets coming up.”

Brahe-Pedersen added that the biggest takeaway so far is “just kind of realizing that we have to always have each other’s back and support each other. We’re not always going to have perfect races, but we have to support each other regardless and just come together as a team, no matter what the circumstances, even if they’re not always in our favor.” 

The only circumstance that was against Brahe-Pedersen earlier in the meet was the wind that picked up just as she entered the blocks for the Elite 100. So, while she lowered her personal best in the event (she ran wind-aided 11.09s twice last season at Hayward Field), her state-record 11.17 run at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational in early April still stands.

“The expectations are pretty high coming in just because of my sophomore season,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “But this year, I’m feeling strong. My training over the offseason has given me a lot of confidence, and it’s starting to reflect in my times. Last year, I ran 11.09, and that was wind-aided, and obviously this was, too, but I feel like I proved today that I can do it again.”

Brahe-Pedersen and Lakers coach John Parks, who also serves as her personal sprints coach, have worked this spring on ironing out some technical flaws, especially with her starts.

“It’s still not great, but it’s getting there, which any progress is good progress,” she said. “So, I’m just excited. I’m finally getting strong enough and powerful enough to really push out of the blocks, and it’s showing in my times.” 

‘It’s super realistic.’ Barlow’s Perry on track in his chase of one of state’s oldest records

After running the fastest 110-meter hurdles by a junior in state history last spring, Micah Perry could set his sights on one of the state’s oldest records in his final season wearing a Barlow singlet. 

Perry broke the meet record in a wind-aided 14.11 seconds Friday afternoon and proclaimed himself on track to becoming the second Oregon boy to break the 14-second barrier. 

“I think it’s super realistic,” said Perry, who’s chasing another East County legend — Bob Gray of David Douglas, who set the state record of 13.73 as a senior in 1988. “Once I get to Hayward Field, you know, fast track, good competition, I think it will all come together.” 

Perry was three-hundredths off the 14.08 he ran in the prelims of the OSAA 6A state meet last May en route to defending his title — the fourth-fastest legal time in state history. 

He has not lost a high hurdles race during his high school career, and despite what he called “some rough spots,” he was never in danger of losing Friday as he ran a season-best time to defeat Catlin Gabel junior Joshua Widdows by more than half a second.

“I started off strong, but I felt like I died a little bit toward those last hurdles, so a full race that’s like good hurdles, I think I’m going to go a lot faster,” he said. “It gives me hope for next time.”

While Gray went on to have an All-American career at the University of Oregon, Perry will head east to compete in college, having signed with Boston University.

“One of my coaches at Barlow has a connection there,” Perry said. “It’s a super good academic school, so it just all lined up for me.”

Wells sophomore Coker wins taut battle in girls 100 hurdles

Two of the state’s top 100-meter high hurdlers took center stage in the first race Friday. 

Ida B. Wells sophomore Avery Coker and Bend junior Sara Rivas lined up side-by-side in the middle of the Cronin Field track, and nary an inch of space separated them as they raced down the front straightaway.

At the end, Coker eked out the victory in 14.88 seconds, just two-hundredths ahead after finishing a tenth of a second behind Rivas a week earlier at the Oregon Relays.

“It was a big checkpoint when I ran 14.99 at the Oregon Relays,” Coker said. “I knew I could run these times, and now, this just shows I can run 14.8. It finally happened, and it’s all just coming together. Everything’s going as planned.” 

Coker just missed qualifying for the OSAA 6A state meet as a freshman, finishing third in the 100 and 300 hurdles at the PIL district championships.

But after winning the USATF 15-16 regional title during the summer, she came back for the indoor season this winter and finished second at the Washington High School Invitational by thousandths of a second to World U20 heptathlete JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Emerald Ridge in Bethel, Wash., boosting her confidence heading to this season.

She’s dropped a second off her personal bests in the highs and 300s this spring.

“I mean, time-wise, anything’s possible now,” Coker said, eying the 14.64 qualifying standard for Nike Outdoor Nationals. “That’d be super cool. But the goal is really to get through districts, then go do what I need to do at state.” 

‘Way more scary than any other race.’ Crater’s Gorze needs out-of-the-box thinking to finish second in Elite Mile

With one lap remaining in Friday’s Elite Mile, Tyrone Gorze found himself in uncomfortable surroundings. 

The Crater senior was boxed in along the rail, stuck in eighth place, fighting to get himself out.

“I would say getting boxed in the mile is scary,” Gorze said. “Way more scary than any other race.”

Gorze worked his way to Lane 3, then charged down the backstretch, easing himself alongside leader Tyler Sainsbury of Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho) as they turned for home.

Sainsbury — who won the Idaho 1,600-meter title last spring — managed to hold off the national 5,000 indoor record-holder by six-hundredths of a second, winning in 4 minutes, 5.41 seconds, and leaving Gorze with several lessons as he looks ahead to the high school season’s final month. 

“I wasn’t in the front, and I didn’t get the position I wanted at the start,” the University of Washington signee said. “When you’re in a 5K and you’re in a pack, you’re going slower, so you’re able to position yourself better. You’re able to make a move whenever you want, really. But in a mile, it’s not like that.

“But I mean, that’s a part of it. I’m still learning. It’s still high school, so some of those tactics come later in your running. Overall, I would say it was a pretty good race, but I just feel like I had a little bit more left. I feel like I could have gotten him if I’d made my move a little bit earlier. And to come up a little bit short like that, I mean, it’s still April, so I’ve got time left. I’m so proud of what I did today.” 

Gorze had plenty of time to think about his strategy for Friday’s race. Meet organizers moved the Elite Mile races to the end of the schedule to avoid the 85-degree temperatures that lingered into the early evening.

He spent that time relaxing at the hotel, reading a book and finishing some homework. He ended his day having run a personal-best time and moving to No. 7 among the state’s milers all-time.

“I mean, I haven’t done too many outdoor races, so I’m kind of just getting back into the hang of it,” he said. “I did the 3K and the 5K indoor, so honestly, a mile is like a short distance for me. So, to come out and run a good mile last week (at the Oregon Relays) and then another good mile this week has been really cool.”

Lincoln’s Prall wins vault-off with training buddy to defend Twilight title 

An ankle injury finally healing and the sun finally shining meant a big day for Lincoln senior Nicole Prall.

The Grand Canyon University signee took home a second consecutive girls pole vault title Friday, winning a vault-off with Tigard’s Alexa Anderson after both cleared 12 feet, 3 inches, on their first try. 

When each missed three attempts at 12-6, that left them tied for first on total misses. They each missed another try at 12-6, then when the bar went down to 12-3, Prall made it again while Anderson — who spent the afternoon racing from the high jump apron (she jumped 5-4 to place fourth) to the pole vault runway — missed.

It was a season-best vault for Prall, who injured herself in the fall, costing her most of her indoor season, then sprained her ankle at practice in early March just as the outdoor season kicked off.

“I had to come back from that because I had to take a little bit of time off,” Prall said. “It didn’t really mess with me at all, but I definitely had to overcome physically, getting stronger from it afterward.”

Prall is a two-time Class 6A state champion and three-time All-American — twice indoors, where she’s cleared 13 feet — but she was coming off a ninth-place finish at the Oregon Relays, where she went just 11-5¾.

Her only previous high school defeat also came at the Oregon Relays last year, but she followed that result with her win at the Jesuit Twilight en route to her second state title.

Now, she’s hoping for a similar finish to the season, where she’ll likely have Anderson as one of her top challengers.

“We have a very good chance of going head-to-head again at state,” Prall said. “We’re buddies. We’ve trained together. So, I’m looking forward to seeing how both of us do at state this year.”

‘We can work as a team.’ Goodrich’s win in triple jump caps Summit boys’ title

Noah Goodrich saw his sophomore track season cut short last spring following the Oregon Relays. 

The Summit junior is making up for lost time this season. In the past two weeks, he’s improved his personal best in the triple jump by more than five feet and taken over the state lead in the event. 

His jump of 46 feet, 2 inches, on his last jump Friday made him the only Summit boy to win a title and put an exclamation point on the Storm’s team championship. 

What does that say about Summit’s chances at the OSAA 5A state meet this month at Hayward Field in Eugene? 

“That nobody has to perform great,” Goodrich said. “We can work as a team. We all do well.”

Storm coach Dave Turnbull predicted last year that Goodrich had the potential to become one of the state’s best triple jumpers, but it took time for him to realize that potential.

“I’ve been working toward this,” Goodrich said. “I kind of thought about it coming into the meet, but I wasn’t totally sure if it was going to happen. But that last jump, I got the clap going and just went big.”

Denied showdown in boys Elite 100, North Salem’s Thompson lays marker ahead of state meet

A year ago, North Salem’s Demari Thompson won the OSAA 5A state titles in the 100 and 200 meters as a sophomore, then made a bold proclamation.

He knew the Vikings were moving up to 6A this year, where he’d run against another double champion in South Medford’s Andrew Walker.

“We’re moving up to 6A next year, and it’s going to be no different,” Thompson said that day. “I’m going to be dominating, absolutely.”

The two sprint giants were slated to meet for the first time on the track in Friday’s Elite 100, but Walker — the defending champion in the event — was a late scratch.

That left the stage for Thompson alone, and he delivered a bravado performance, running a state-leading 10.59 seconds to win the race and move to 13th on the all-time state list. 

When he ran 10.75 to win the state title at Hayward Field in Eugene, “I was jumping around and joyful,” but he knew in the back of his mind that he was capable of faster times. 

“I just had to put in the work and just get there,” Thompson said. “I’m never satisfied. So, this just reassures me that even though I might run some bad times here and there, I’m still getting there, still developing. It just really reassures me that I’m on the right track and doing the right things to be successful.”

Thompson’s only regret was not getting a chance to run against Walker, who recently accepted a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Oregon to play football.

“I’ve never stepped on a track with Andrew lined up in one of the lanes to my left or right,” Thompson said. “It’s always just been a time trial, racing against each other, where, oh, he ran this time there, I ran this time there. 

“It’s just trying to put one and one together and actually being on a track with him, because it’s a different environment when you’ve got someone as decorated as him to push you. I’m really excited to face off against him.” 

‘It just all came together today.’ Sherwood javelin thrower signs with Oregon, pops big throw in same week 

Sherwood senior Austin Milton found the perfect way Friday afternoon to celebrate a big moment in his track and field career.

Two days after Milton signed with the University of Oregon, he moved to the top 20 on the state’s all-time list in the javelin with a 209-foot throw.

“There’s a lot of emotions with this week,” said Milton, who placed third in the discus. “The decision was probably made a month before signing, but I just didn’t say much about it. So, it’s kind of more official. Everybody knows now, but just doing this the same week as signing, it’s unbelievable.” 

Milton took the lead in the third round of the competition, then launched a throw of 207-1 in the first attempt of the finals that was 4 feet farther than his previous personal best. 

He saved his best for Round 5, with a throw that is No. 2 in the nation this spring and No. 19 all-time in the state.

Like many competitors Friday, he credited finally getting some warm weather with his breakthrough performance.

“I wasn’t wearing a ton of layers and wasn’t focused on staying warm,” he said. “And then, we figured out a problem with my form earlier this week and have been working on it. My left foot, my block foot, right before I threw, I’d step out way left and lose a bunch of power.

“So, it was just basically putting everything forward and straight, and once that happened, it just all came together today.” 

‘I was going to be relaxed but hit a big one.’ Hollands does just that in throwing PR to add javelin title to discus win

Kyeese Hollands has never had much luck with the discus ring at Jesuit High School’s Cronin Field. 

The javelin runway, though? That’s like a second home for the Central Catholic senior.

A year ago at the Jesuit Twilight Relays, she rebounded from a disappointing discus showing by throwing a personal best to win the javelin title.

At Friday’s 21st edition of the state’s most prestigious high school meet, she again had trouble finding her mark in the discus, her winning throw of 132 feet, 4 inches, her worst mark of the season and more than 23 feet shorter than at last weekend’s Oregon Relays. 

But she shrugged off any disappointment she might have had as she walked across the infield toward the javelin runway. Once there, on her first throw, the Texas Tech signee casually tossed the spear a career-best 153-11 — a single, slight fist pump marking the occasion.

“Honestly, it wasn’t too frustrating because being here last year, I kind of knew how the ring was, and not a lot of people performed well in that ring,” Hollands said. Only one of the 47 competitors hit a personal best. 

“So, it wasn’t a total loss. I was kind of upset about being that low off my PR, but no, I just moved on to javelin, and I was going to be relaxed but hit a big one.”

Hollands said she threw with 85% effort on that first attempt hoping to grow into her series, but after popping her big throw, she took two more before calling it a day.

“I’ve been here since noon, so it’s been a long day carrying things from there to there and stuff like that,” she said. “I was hoping to be in the 160s today for the first few throws, but I’m proud of the consistency I had. So, I was just like, OK, we can cool it for now. I’ll have another opportunity next week, so no need to use it all out today.” 

Big win in shot put gives Tigard’s Johnson new goal: setting the state freshman record

Marissa Johnson hadn’t considered what the freshman state record in the girls shot put was before Friday’s 21st Jesuit Twilight Relays. 

The Tigard ninth-grader was more focused on getting back to her previous form before shoulder surgery last year sidelined her for most of the season.

After throwing a personal-best 42 feet, three-fourths of an inch, to win the title, she can now take aim at Alyssa Hasslen’s freshman record of 44-8 set in 2006 with McMinnville.

“I like to beat records older than I am,” said Johnson, who was born a year after Hasslen’s throw. “I didn’t even know that was the record. That’s a new goal for the year now.”

Johnson was an All-American in the shot as a middle schooler with the Tigard Youth Track Club, and she showed that form again during the indoor season, winning the West Coast Indoor Championships and the Nike Indoor Nationals Emerging Elite division.

She’s lost once this spring — to state leader Sydney Brewster of Sandy at last week’s Oregon Relays, when Johnson went over 40 feet for the first time outdoors.

“It took me a minute to get back into it at the start of the season,” said Johnson, who sat third entering Friday’s finals before uncorking her winning throw in the fourth round. “But for me, I find I perform a lot better when I get nervous and have people to compete against that push me. 

“When I feel the energy of having people that I need to compete against and push me to be better, I most definitely perform better. It puts more power into my throws.”

Santiam Christian senior sets standard for small-school stars with high jump victory 

Several small-school standouts shined in the spotlight that came with competing against their big-school rivals Friday. 

None shone brighter than Santiam Christian senior Jayden Christy, who for the second consecutive week jumped a personal best to win the high jump over a couple of fellow OSAA state champions. 

Christy, the reigning 3A champion who’d never jumped higher than 6 feet, 2 inches, until two weeks ago, cleared 6-6 on his third attempt, then watched as 5A champion Nathan Wachs of Redmond and 6A champion Collin Moore of Summit missed their final tries. 

Christy and Wachs made 6-5 while Moore passed, and Wachs held the lead because he needed only two tries and Christy three to clear 6-5.

“It helped a lot having over 10 people at my previous PR here,” said Christy, who went 6-4 at the previous week’s Meet of Champions in Sweet Home. “It was a good push for me.”

Christy said the difference the past two weeks came down to “working on patience over the bar. I’ve got all the power I need. I can easily clear 6-8, but it’s just working on the patience aspect of it.” 

Catlin Gabel had two boys finish second in their events — senior Malcolm Grant in the Varsity division of the 100 meters and junior Joshua Widdows in the high hurdles, one spot ahead of Christy in a potential preview of the 3A final later this month at Hayward Field in Eugene. 

In the girls meet, Catlin Gabel sophomore Caroline Mauro jumped a personal-best 5-4 to place third in the high jump, and Willamina senior Hallee Hughes took third in the discus and javelin. Oregon Episcopal’s distance medley took third in the Twilight division. 

What’s next in Oregon high school track and field

Two of the state’s oldest invitationals take place this weekend, with the 57th Centennial Invitational and 73rd Grants Pass Rotary being held Saturday.

After that, the focus turns to the postseason. The first 6A district meets come Tuesday, May 16, with the Pacific and Mt. Hood Conference championships kicking off a week of qualifying for the OSAA state meet.

The OSAA state championships then return to Hayward Field in Eugene, with the 3A/2A/1A portion running May 25-26 and the 6A/5A/4A going May 26-27.

Three weeks later, many of the top finishers at the state meet will take part in the Nike Outdoor Nationals, with the U.S. U-20 championships three weeks afterward — both at Hayward Field. 

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