The Fast Lane: TDHS Athletes Excel in Distance and Sprints at Recent Meets
Sports Column
By Jill Bell, The Dalles High School Track Coach
The Dalles, Ore., April 22, 2024 – You get a lot of comments when you’re parked along the side of a small town road, waiting for the distance team. Most folks offer to help, assuming that I’ve broken down and my hazards don’t work, or complaining about the younger runners who crossed over the white line. My favorite, though, are comments like the older gentleman up Chenowith Loop road the other day: “man, it’s good to see kids out running.”
We couldn’t agree more.
The past month for Riverhawk Track and Field has been a blur. I’d make some clever excuse about the days going faster than the teams’ PR (personal record), but figured I’d skip it and actually get to catching everyone up on the team’s meets last week at Sherwood and Crook County.
“The race went just like I wanted it to,” commented Alaina Casady, after a smoking hot 3k at the Sherwood Need for Speed Invitational. She tagged along with Westview’s Nicole Taylor, pulling away with 2 laps to go to win her heat at 10:58, a 24 second PR, 17th overall, and her first time under 11. Her face looked relaxed and focused throughout the race, with little evident strain or struggle. Casady matched time drops with freshman teammate Kestley Hodges, who also saw a 24 second PR to finish just above the 12 minute mark at 12:04.
The future looks fast for the rest of the TDHS distance squad as well, with Senior Gabe Castillo running the 1,500 meter, 800 double at Sherwood in 4:48 and 2:18, and newcomer transfer Kitt Lockwood dropping his 1,500M time from 4:47 to 4:36 within three days. Initially quiet, Lockwood was effusive and enthusiastic about his own and his teammates’ success on Saturday, winning both heats. He talked about his favorite workouts, and hopes for the rest of the season.
It has been fun to watch the times drop on the freshman sprinters as well. David McCracken this spring ran 11.45 in his 100m on Saturday, shaving off .05 seconds from his time at Crook County run on borrowed spikes. Fellow freshman Alondra Romero placed second at Crook County with a time of 14 seconds flat. Over in the field events, Ebany Mondragon continues to improve in the triple jump, gaining a PR over 28 feet at Sherwood.
Not to be outdone, junior and senior returning athletes have provided consistent depth and improvement in their events. Vincent Ziegenhagen saw a nearly 2 foot PR at 135’7” at Sherwood, while seniors Lilly Adams (62.44) and Madelyn Harrison (62.40) continue to chisel down their times in the 400m, while Derek Goulart and Julian Morehouse consistently hit top scores in the high jump (6’4”) and pole vault (14’2”).
The joy of midweek meets- like that at Crook County- is the flexibility to try out new events. This led to a number of happy surprises in the 400m particularly: Laura Black and Andrew Wring, typically distance runners, laid down lickety quick splits at 67 and 63 seconds, which translated well into strong 4x400 times for their teams.
On Tuesday April 23 the whole Riverhawk track squad will be at Wahtonka for their final home meet of the season. Come cheer them on and celebrate senior night. Field events start at 3:30 p.m., running events at 4:30 p.m. Their season records and schedule can be found on athletic.net.
Thanks for shouting us out and cheering us on!
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