As the sun was setting over the cascades surrounding Hayward Field, hundreds of fans gathered on lane six, banging noise making tubes and cheering on the athletes competing in the mile championships during night two of the Oregon Relays, on Saturday.
Eugene’s own Jenn Randall won the women’s pro mile challenge, completing four laps in 4 minutes and 33.84 seconds. She works as a physical therapist and coaches kids in the community, all while still running professionally for local team, Cascadia Elite.
Three men ran sub 4 minutes during the professional mile race. Johnny Gregorek was the fastest man in the final event of the night, running a 3:58.44.
LeRoy Horton was rocking the baton like a baby after he and his 4×100 meters teammates from Curtis High school set a Washington state record and meet record in the opening race of the elite session. The Vikings got the baton around the track in 42.29 seconds.
Future Duck William Heslam now holds the state’s leading time in the boys 800 meters. The Rosevelt high school senior’s time of 1:49.79 is the fifth fastest in the nation this year. He took advantage of long strides and a strong kick to take control of the race on the home stretch.
“I knew if I put myself in a good position,” Heslam said, “I could put the wheels on in the last 150. This is obviously such a magic place to run and I’m super excited to show what I got – shout out to my grandma.”
In an attempt to add more casual-fan-friendly events, there was a boys and girls high school 40-yard dash championship. Jordan Washington, who also plays running back for Jordan high school, ran a speedy 4.67 to take the boys competition. Soukhanya Waters edged out Olivia Hicks by .0002 of a second to take the win for Federal Way high school in 5.24.34.
“It was easy,” Washington said. “All football players do is work on explosiveness through their 40-yard dash. I hope to make it to the NFL to find out who the fastest is.”
The Wilson High School Bruins from Long Beach, Calif. swept the boys and girls 4×400 meters relays. The girls finished in 3:50.78. The boys seemed to have the race sealed after the first handoff, finishing in 3:15.97. The Bruins took the team trophy with a total of 139 points on the weekend, more than twice the amount of the second place school.
The Ducks will return to Hayward Field for the Oregon Twilights on Friday, May 05.
