By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– Stayton freshman Brandon Wagar had himself a nice little breakout race at the Titan Track Classic Saturday afternoon.
In a field where the Top 3 finishers finished with sub-4:07 times, Wagar finished fourth with a PR time of 4:18. It’s not a bad time for a kid just starting his High School Track and field career.
It was a good motivational race, Wagar said, who is aiming for that 4:10/4:15 time range by the time the season concludes here in a few weeks.
“It’s terrifying, but real motivation to keep looking on what’s ahead of you and keep going. If you stop, it’s not going to benefit you. You just gotta keep running hard,” said Wagar. “(PR-ing) was amazing. It feels great to PR, especially running with the top guys. It’s fantastic.”
Stayton’s Haley Butenschoen has been floating between the 1,500-meter and 800-meter races early on in her senior season, working on her endurance for the 800-meter race where she’s had won the 4A State Title the last two seasons.
But Saturday afternoon’s 1,500-meter race put her against some tough 6A challenges in West Salem’s Mia Rasca and North Salem’s Nelida Dalgas, two 6A State Qualifiers last season. The senior held steady in third-place behind Rasca and Dalgas for much of the race and would ultimately finish fourth in the event with a season-best time of 5:02.66 in the event.
“Just having the perspective of the competition and just being able to persevere even though there’s people who are faster, it kind of brings you along,” starts the Vanguard-signee. “I’ve been focusing on the 15 for a little while now, and it’s a little different race than the 8, so it’s nice.”
Other Eagle notables include Evelyn Welch finishing second in the 300-meter hurdles and the Stayton 4×400-meter relay team of Madleyn Olson, Butenschoen, Kennedy Holm and Welch finishing fourth in the Track events. Molli Emmert finished second in the Shot Put with a PR Throw of 36-feet-4.5-inches, Mila Morely won the Javelin with a PR throw of 120-feet-6-inches, and Ruby Strawn finished fourth in the Pole Vault on the Field events.
