By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– The 200-meter District Title race became an instant classic on Saturday between Cascade’s Josiah Hawkins and Sweet Home’s Dillan Davis.
Both sprinters had their quirks. Their strengths. Davis had his strength in the turn, something that he took full advantage of to keep up with Hawkins into his strength of the straightaway.
Both were neck-and-neck. Too neck-and-neck actually. Both came in like that and crossed the finish line.
The system had them in a literal tie at 22.46, both PR’s for the duo. So they had to go down to the decimal point in time to break it.
Hawkins won the race in 22.455, Davis came in at 22.458. We’re talking a win by 0.003 of a second. In a District Title Race.
Davis looked over to Hawkins after they finished going, ‘I almost had you there’ to Hawkins giving him a handshake and a hug in response.
“I was looking for a PR and I knew Jo was quick and I was like, ‘run my race’ and seeing us neck-and-neck, it pushed me farther,” said Davis. “It’s a quick-verse-quick. We’re both top guys and it’s an instant rivalry, we’re boys though.”
“It was insane. I’ll give it to Dillan, he has one of the best corner starts in the State through all levels, no matter what he is one of the best in that,” said Hawkins. “But the straight’s, that’s all me, so I was able in the last 30-meters…that was the big difference in the 200 is getting that extra lead.”
It was one of two District Titles for Hawkins in the race. Hawkins won the 100-meter dash, breaking the Meet Record in the process with his PR time of 10.94 while qualifying for State in the Long Jump and helping the Cascade 4×100-meter team finish District Runner-Up.
Davis went on to win the 400-meter race, helping the Huskies 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay teams take the District Titles on Saturday. The Sweet Home Boys Track and Field team won the Team District Title with 165 points with Philomath finishing second.
Speaking of PR’s, North Marion’s Vinny Arnold had one to win the District Title in the Javelin on Saturday. The senior threw an 186-feet–8.5-inche throw to clinch the District Title, a PR for Arnold as he won the event by six-feet over Josiah Peters of Philomath.
“It felt really good, I felt really confident because I worked really hard this year. I had a lot of faith in God and he carried me through there at the end,” starts Arnold. “I tried to stay calm. When I throw too hard I usually fail, but I had really good coaches and my friends came out to support me and again, God was there to support me too.”
“I’m going to focus on staying fluid and staying calm, especially with my throws and my release. This next week in practice is going to be very, very detrimental or beneficial to my future in sports.”
Sweet Home’s Bryden Driver finished second in the 400-meter race, Sweet Home’s Ryker Burr rallied from behind, trailing Parker Hunt of Cascade by a few seconds to win the event in 2:02.77 with Styaton’s Miguel Ceballos finishing second. Hunt finished third in the event with a PR time of 2:06.20
“I definitely had the mentality that I was going to win the last 150-meters, I didn’t anticipate that Cascade kid would build quite the lead, but I just remained composed with my form. I might’ve been panicked in my head, but I just gave it my best effort and just kept climbing,” said Burr.
Newport’s Avery Chandler won the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter races with Philomath’s Leo Pausch finishing second in both races. Philomath’s Bryce Hruska and Cascade’s Blake Baker went one-two in the 110-meter hurdles, Baker won the 300-meter hurdles with Sweet Home’s Brayden Driver finishing second. Sweet Home’s Gavin Tyler and Jamin Peters of Philomath went 1-2 in the Shot Put. Peters finished second in the Discus, finishing behind Stayton’s Carter Sorenson who won the event.
Philomath’s Samuel Herndandez and Sweet Home’s Samuel Barringer went one-two in the High Jump. Philomath’s Blake Hauck and Cascade’s Enrique Suarez went one-two in the Pole Vault. Newport’s Aaidyn Bokuro and Philomath’s Kaden Howard went one-two in each the Long Jump and Triple Jump.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
