By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SWEET HOME, Ore.– Entering the final lap of the 800-meter race at the Meet of Champions Saturday afternoon, Santiam’s Averie Peterson held roughly a one-second lead on Stayton’s Haley Butenschoen.
Over the course of the final 400-meters of the race, Peterson’s lead grew-and-grew. By the end of the race, the Wolverine senior won the race by a little more than three seconds. Peterson’s final time was 2:18.94, and Butenschoen, who finished second, finished with a time of 2:22.01.
“At the end, I kept telling myself, ‘just keep moving your arms’, and that’s all you got to think about because your legs will listen,” said Peterson. “I was like, ‘you just got to go now, and if you don’t, she’s going to get you’.”
It was a grueling day for Peterson. Up to that point, she did the 1,500-meter race. She finished second in that behind East Linn Christian’s Daisy Lalonde, Peterson taking second at the finish line over Coquille’s Ella Henthorn. Peterson did the Long Jump, finishing tenth there before finishing second in the Triple Jump with a PR Jump of 35-feet-1-inch.
“It was great for me. One because my 15, I really hadn’t had any competition so far this season, so it was great to have two other girls out there pushing me. Then the 8, I haven’t run it over three times, and I need to get it down before I get to State,” said Peterson. “It was a lot, especially going back-and-forth from jumping and running, it’s a real strain on my legs, but it’s also really good for me because it keeps me well-rounded so hopefully I can perform better in all the events that I do.”
Colt Twede finished 15th in the Shot Put, and Reese Longfellow finished 12th in the Triple Jump with a PR jump of 32-feet-even.
