Your guide to the Oregon 6A girls track and field championships: Favorite, contenders, darkhorse for every event

Here’s an event-by-event look at the 6A girls meet.

René Ferrán | May 25, 2023

Your guide to the Oregon 6A girls track and field championships: Favorite, contenders, darkhorse for every event /

By René Ferrán

The OSAA track and field state championships take place this weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene. Here’s an event-by-event look at the 6A girls meet.

Photo (2022) by Leon Neuschwander

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100

Favorite: Mia Brahe-Pedersen, Jr., Lake Oswego

Contenders: Sophia Beckmon, Sr., Oregon City; Victoria Forst, Sr., Tigard; Olivia Hicks, Sr., Mountainside; Malaya LeSueur, Sr., Benson

Darkhorse: Aster Jones, Fr., Roosevelt

Brahe-Pedersen smashed the state record running in a mixed-gender race this month in Bend. Now, she aims to become the third high school girl to run sub-11 seconds legally.

200

Favorite: Mia Brahe-Pedersen, Jr., Lake Oswego

Contenders: Sophie Beckmon, Sr., Oregon City; Victoria Forst, Sr., Tigard; Aster Jones, Fr., Roosevelt; Emma Townsend, Jr., Glencoe

Darkhorse: Olivia Hicks, Sr., Mountainside

Brahe-Pedersen owns the eighth-fastest time ever in this event with the state-record 22.61 she ran in a mixed-gender race at the Summit Invitational. She needs to shave just .03 to match Marion Jones’ junior outdoor record set 31 years ago for Thousand Oaks, Calif.

400

Favorite: Josie Donelson, Jr., Lake Oswego

Contenders: Sophia Castaneda, Fr., Newberg; Ellis Heslam, So., Roosevelt; Isabella Kneeshaw, Sr., Tualatin; Emelia Puerta, Sr., Nelson

Darkhorse: Autumn Dobbs, Jr., Lincoln

Donelson is the defending champion in the event and tied for fifth on the all-time state list, but she will face serious challenges from Castaneda — No. 2 on the all-time freshman list — and Heslam.

800

Favorite: Emma Bennett, So., Jesuit

Contenders: Amalie Beil, Jr., Jesuit; Kaia Schmidt, Sr., West Linn; Jane Mattson, Fr., Jesuit; Lillian Herman, Sr., Tigard

Darkhorse: Sophia Malinoski, So., Lincoln

The Crusaders have three contenders looking to follow in the footsteps of four-time champion Chloe Foerster, led by Bennett, who nearly knocked off her heralded teammate in last year’s final.

1,500

Favorite: Emma Bennett, So., Jesuit

Contenders: Lauren Ayers, Jr., Tualatin; Sophia Malinoski, So., Lincoln; Ella McGillis, Jr., Central Catholic; Ana Peters, So., Lake Oswego

Darkhorse: Sabine Kim, Jr., Tigard

Four district titlists — Bennett, Ayers, Malinoski and McGillis — figure to comprise the lead pack in what should be a taut race.

3,000

Favorite: Lauren Ayers, Jr., Tualatin

Contenders: Ana Peters, So., Lake Oswego; Erin Cosgrove, Sr., Southridge; Liliana Hudnut, Jr., Jesuit; Maggie Bennett, Sr., Jesuit

Darkhorse: Josie Fale, Jr., Ida B. Wells

Peters is the reigning state cross country champion and looks to follow in the footsteps of older sister Kate, who missed her senior season because of injury but is entered in the Brooks PR Invitational on June 14 in Renton, Wash. Ayers should be fresh for this race — it will be just her third career 3K, but she beat Peters by five seconds at the Three Rivers district meet and is the only runner in the field to break 10 minutes this spring.

100 Hurdles

Favorite: Avery Coker, So., Ida B. Wells

Contenders: Savannah Johnson, Jr., West Linn; Jackie Bier, Jr., North Salem; Lauren Robinson, Jr., Grants Pass; Simone Sideris, Fr., Nelson

Darkhorse: Iman Foster, Fr., Jesuit

Coker is the only hurdler in the field to break 15 seconds this season, doing so in winning the Jesuit Twilight Relays last month. Johnson went 15.01 to win the Three Rivers district title.

300 Hurdles

Favorite: Savannah Johnson, Jr., West Linn

Contenders: Josie Donelson, Jr., Lake Oswego; Avery Coker, So., Ida B. Wells; Xian Hartenstein, Sr., Westview; Cameron Gatlin, So., Jesuit

Darkhorse: Sarah Money, Sr., South Eugene

It’s the veterans vs. the neophytes — Johnson, Coker and Hartenstein have two-plus years of experience in the race, while Donelson and Gatlin picked up the event this spring.

4x100

Favorite: Lake Oswego

Contenders: Tualatin, Nelson, Grants Pass, Westview.

Darkhorse: Mountainside

The Lakers have run 47.15 this season, less than a second off Benson’s state-record 46.53 run 20 years ago. They’ve worked on handoffs the past couple of weeks to make one last run at breaking the record.

4x400

Favorite: Lake Oswego

Contenders: Jesuit, Mountainside, Tualatin, Lincoln.

Darkhorse: West Linn

The Lakers set the state record last week when they ran 3:49.83 to win the Three Rivers district title. Can Jesuit push them enough in the meet’s final event to drop that time even lower?

Shot Put

Favorite: Sydney Brewster, Sr., Sandy

Contenders: Marissa Johnson, Fr., Tigard; Marilyn Ramirez Carmona, Sr., Southridge; Kyeese Hollands, Sr., Central Catholic; Casey Moran, Sr., Lake Oswego

Darkhorse: Bailey Shields, Fr., Beaverton

Brewster has thrown nearly five feet farther than her nearest challenger, going 47-1 in early April. Johnson needs another two feet to break the state freshman record.

Discus

Favorite: Kyeese Hollands, Sr., Central Catholic

Contenders: Sydney Brewster, Sr., Sandy; Marissa Johnson, Fr., Tigard; Casey Moran, Sr., Lake Oswego; Marilyn Ramirez Carmona, Sr., Southridge

Darkhorse: Addison Hull, Sr., Grants Pass

Brewster won the state title last season, but Hollands (a Texas Tech signee) has been on a revenge tour after placing fifth as the top seed. The Rams senior hasn’t lost to an in-state opponent this spring and ranks No. 11 on the all-time state list.

Javelin

Favorite: Kyeese Hollands, Sr., Central Catholic

Contenders: Hayden Williams-Downing, So., West Linn; Havana Alonso, Jr., Roosevelt; Riley Morris-Rexford, Jr., Sunset; Dylan Graf, Jr., Beaverton

Darkhorse: Devan Foster, So., Grants Pass

Hollands won the state title last spring and is undefeated against in-state throwers since April 2022. She is tied for 20th on the all-time state list.

High Jump

Favorite: Kyra Bakke, Jr., Tualatin

Contenders: Amber Walker, Jr., Tigard; Alexa Anderson, So., Tigard; Catherine Phillips, So., Mountainside; Callie Brandes, So., Grants Pass

Darkhorse: Gabriella Feleciano, Sr., Jesuit

Bakke not only has the state-leading jump of 5-8½ at the Wilsonville Invitational last month, but she also has been one of the state’s most consistent jumpers in going undefeated against in-state competition, only once failing to clear 5-4 in 11 meets.

Pole Vault

Favorite: Nicole Prall, Sr., Lincoln

Contenders: Alexa Anderson, So., Tigard; Raynah Cheng, Sr., West Linn; Rhys Allen, Sr., Willamette; Ava Tai, Sr., Mountainside

Darkhorse: Kennedy Blanton, So., Forest Grove

Prall and Anderson needed a vault-off to decide the Jesuit Twilight Relays title last month, with Prall pulling out the victory. The Cardinals senior is the defending champion and the only vaulter in the field who has gone 13 feet.

Long Jump

Favorite: Sophia Beckmon, Sr., Oregon City

Contenders: Elizabeth Graham, Jr., Tualatin; Maleigha Canaday-Elliott, Jr., McDaniel; Anika Sukumar, Sr., West Linn; Olivia Jolivette, Jr., West Salem

Darkhorse: Simone Sideris, Fr., Nelson

Beckmon jumped 22-4 at the Jesuit Twilight Relays last month to move within an inch of the national high school record. She’s always had good fortune at Hayward Field — could she find that inch on the same runway where she first went over 20 feet last spring?

Triple Jump

Favorite: Anika Sukumar, Sr., West Linn

Contenders: Maleigha Canaday-Elliott, Jr., McDaniel; Elizabeth Graham, Jr., Tualatin; Maya Loudd, Sr., Tualatin; Love Uzoekwe, Jr., Westview

Darkhorse: Saskia Dorf, Fr., Westview

Sukumar went 39-11½ to win the state title last spring and has a wind-aided 40-footer on her resumé. Graham and Canaday-Elliott have gone over 39 feet this spring.

Team

Favorite: Lake Oswego

Contenders: Jesuit, Tigard, Lincoln, Nelson

Darkhorse: Grants Pass

The Lakers finished second behind Tigard last week at the Three Rivers district meet, but they figure to have a 70-point floor. No team that has reached that threshold has failed to win the team title in the 54-year history of the OSAA state championships.

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