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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2018
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MEMORIES OF HAYWARD FIELD | PART 4
HIGH SCHOOL
meets at
HAYWARD
By NEIL BRANSON
For The Daily Astorian
L
ocal high schools have had a
good number of athletes com-
pete in the state meet at Hay-
ward Field. My apologies to
the many athletes that I don’t
remember. So many of you have had stellar
performances at Hayward.
High on my list of memories was watch-
ing Seaside High School’s Shawn McCord
win the javelin in 2000 and 2001.
He threw very early in the day, one of the
first events, so spectators were sparse save
for all the Seaside kids who got up early in
order to watch McCord put on a show.
His vocals were on fine display after
each throw.
In McCord’s second year, Adrian Ander-
son won the 3,000 meters. He was the first
state champion I coached. That same year
Alix Daggatt thrilled her teammates and the
fans with her last jump for a come-from-be-
hind victory in the long jump spanning 17
feet, 5¼ inches.
The 2010 boys 1,600-meter relay team
of freshman Brett Willyard and seniors
Cory Rice, Henry Broderick and Zeke
Smith stunned league rival Banks, which
came into the meet with a time five seconds
faster than the Gulls, as the lads ran wild to
pick up the win.
Willyard netted another four titles in two
years, winning the 3,000 and 1,500 in 2012
and repeating in the 3,000 and adding the
800-meter title in 2013.
It was not so much that he won, but the
way he dominated. In his first 3,000 vic-
tory he ran with the field until 900 meters
remained, then he simply left his compet-
itors in arrears like the roadrunner when
being chased by Wile E. Coyote.
Observing Jackson Januik win his third
consecutive state title in the 800 was thrill-
ing, not only for the win, but the way he
took the measure of the field and executed a
plan that made victory possible.
This year it was a joy to watch Gretchen
Hoekstre, in her second trip to Hayward,
picked up a win and a second in the shot
put and discus, respectively.
Bridgette Blakesley from 2012 through
2015 ran the 1,500 four times and the 3,000
twice, and medaled four of those times. It
was her 2014 season that sticks in my mind
because, although she also qualified for
both the 1,500 and 3,000 that year, she gave
up her spot in the longer race so teammate
Josie Smith could compete at state.
Fresh in my mind are the Astoria High
girls, powered by so many athletes, with
their three-peat of state championships in
2015, ’16 and ‘17, racking up an amazing
109.5 points in 2016. The Cummings girls,
Natalie and Gracie, brought in big points.
Though they did not win this year, I
would say the Astoria girls were every bit
the team as those of the past three years in
that they scrambled for every point possi-
ble. Watching Darian Hageman in the ver-
tical and horizontal jumps was a sight to
behold. It was rewarding to see her earn the
girls’ high point athlete of the meet at this
year’s state championships.
Over the years I have watched amazing
races on all levels where an athlete simply
overpowers the competition, as Rory Coon
of Tillamook did in last year’s 100 and 200
meters, or Maya Rayle of Catlin Gabel,
bound for Harvard, as she posted the fastest
time in the state, all classifications, in the
3,000 and handily won the 1,500 in domi-
nating fashion.
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Former Astoria thrower Nathan Stinnett gets ready to launch the javelin on the
Hayward Field infield during the 2006 state meet.
It was not just the winners at Hayward
who were thrilling. It was kids who got a
personal record to take a spot on the podium.
This year I served as a volunteer umpire
at state, and in the distance races helped sep-
arate eighth-place runners to the podium,
from ninth place and no medal.
In one of those races, a young lady,
exhausted from her effort, was beside her-
self with joy when we told her “keep mov-
ing toward the podium.”
Between efforts to get some air in her
lungs, she announced and/or asked over and
over again, “I got eight? I got eight?”
Because of construction at Hayward, the
venues for the state high school champion-
ships next year are in the process of being
decided.
No matter where they go, the meets
will be well-orchestrated. Yet I am a bit
sad for those kids who do not get to com-
pete at Hayward Field — the Taj Mahal, the
Louvre, the Mecca of track and field in the
United States.
Neil Branson is a longtime cross-coun-
try and track coach at Seaside High School.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
PREVIEWS
OREGON STATE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Coach Smith a feel-good story
for Beavers after tough year
Ducks clearly need to keep
Herbert healthy this season
By ANNE M.
PETERSON
Associated Press
By ANNE M.
PETERSON
Associated Press
Jonathan Smith is a feel-
good story for an Oregon
State team that really needs
one.
The former Beavers quar-
terback filled the head-coach-
ing vacancy left by Gary
Andersen, who abruptly
parted ways with the program
last October after a 1-5 start.
Cornerbacks coach Cory Hall
served as interim head coach
for the rest of the season, and
the Beavers finished 1-11.
Oregon State won just seven
games during Andersen’s
2½-season stint.
It was a markedly differ-
ent Oregon State team from
the last one Smith played for.
Originally a walk-on,
Smith was a four-year starter
and helped lead the Beavers
to a Fiesta Bowl victory fol-
lowing the 2000 season under
coach Dennis Erickson.
Smith was MVP of the bowl.
He returns to Corvallis
after a stint at Washington,
where he was an assistant to
head coach Chris Petersen.
He followed Petersen to the
Huskies from Boise State.
“I kind of came in with all
eyes wide open,” Smith said
about his first head-coach-
ing gig. “Not doing it before,
I knew I was going to learn
a ton and experience it.
So (I was) expecting the
unexpected.”
One of the first things
he’s been tasked with is help-
ing the team forget the disap-
pointment and upheaval of
last season. Oregon State’s
Just 12 months ago it was
the start of the “Willie Tag-
gart Era” in Eugene. Now it’s
Mario Cristobal’s turn.
The team’s former co-of-
fensive
coordinator
is
embarking on his first sea-
son at the helm of the Ducks.
Taggart, meanwhile, is doing
the same at Florida State after
a one-year tenure at Oregon.
It’s not quite Cristob-
al’s debut. He led the Ducks
in last season’s Las Vegas
Bowl, a 38-28 loss to Boise
State. With a full season
in front of him, Cristobal’s
clearly ready to move on
from 2017’s 7-6 finish.
“This season has nothing
but opportunity in front of it,
and we’ve got to do it. There
is no way to sugarcoat it or
try to dance around it, there
is not. We’ve just got to get it
done,” he said.
Cristobal, who was an
assistant at Alabama under
Nick Saban for four years,
has one of the league’s top
quarterbacks in junior Jus-
tin Herbert, who threw for
1,983 yards and 15 touch-
downs last season — despite
missing five games with a
fractured collarbone. He also
rushed for 183 yards and five
scores.
He was replaced as starter
by freshman Braxton Bur-
meister and the Ducks went
1-4 over the course of his
absence. Burmeister threw
for 324 yards with two
touchdowns and six intercep-
tions during the span, while
Andy Cripe/Corvallis Gazette-Times
Jonathan Smith at a news conference announcing his
hiring.
last game was a 69-10 loss to
Oregon in the Civil War.
He said he hasn’t dwelled
too much on the bad parts.
“I wanted to come in with
a message of, ‘I’ve experi-
enced it here. I’ve sat in those
seats. I’ve gone through a
coaching change when I was
a player,’” he said. “It’s been
done before. We can do it
again. So trying to be authen-
tic that I’ve lived it, and I want
to help them do the same.”
Other things to know as
Oregon State prepares to
begin the 2018 season:
LOOKING TO LUTON:
Oregon State had high hopes
last season for quarterback
Jake Luton, a junior col-
lege transfer, but his time as
starter lasted just four games
after he sustained a thoracic
spine fracture in a 52-23 loss
at Washington State. He fin-
ished the season with 853
passing yards with four TDs
and four interceptions.
Darell Garretson stepped
in and took over, throwing for
1,465 yards with six touch-
downs and eight intercep-
tions. He’s since graduated.
Luton is back this year
and ready to pick the reins up
again. He is being challenged
in fall camp by Conor Blount,
while Jack Colletto and Nick
Moore push for playing time,
but the job is Luton’s to lose.
GOTTA RUN: Oregon
State’s running game is in
rough shape with the depar-
tures of Thomas Tyner, Trev-
orris Johnson and Ryan Nall,
who left school early and is
now with the Chicago Bears.
The top returner is Arta-
vis Pierce, who ranked sec-
ond on the team behind Nall
with 323 yards rushing and
one touchdown. Calvin Tyler
is the only other rusher with
experience. Freshman Jermar
Jefferson impressed during a
fall camp scrimmage.
RETRO BENNY: Much
like Smith, the old Benny
Beaver is making his return,
too. Oregon State will revive
the mascot with special
homecoming uniforms on
Oct. 20 against Cal.
Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal.
also rushing for 106 yards
and three scores.
The key will be keeping
Herbert healthy, while also
making sure he has a backup
who is ready to step in. And
in this case, Burmeister took
his lumps last season.
Herbert has done his part
by bulking up over the off-
season and now weighs in at
some 240 pounds.
“It’s not just how he looks.
It’s the mindset that comes
with it, the confidence that
comes with it,” Cristobal
said. “The ability to cre-
ate a galvanizing effect for
the guys in the locker room,
because you know you’re
preparing and holding each
other accountable.”
The Ducks averaged 52
points with Herbert on the
field last season, so the lon-
ger he stays there, the better
for Oregon.
WHO’LL CATCH HER-
BERT?: With the departure of
versatile WR Charles Nelson,
a lot of attention has gone to
Herbert’s targets. The Ducks
return their top receiver from
last season, Dillon Mitchell,
who caught 42 passes for 517
yards. Then there’s fellow
wideout Brenden Schooler,
who switched from safety,
and tight-end Jacob Breeland,
who caught five TD passes
last season.
TWO-WAY PLAYER?
Bryan Addison could also be
a welcome addition to Ore-
gon’s receiver corps. He
somewhat surprisingly joined
the Ducks in July. Originally
committed to UCLA, he was
granted his release after his
admission was delayed.
Addison, who is a 6-5
prospect out of Gardena, Cal-
ifornia, could see time at both
wide receiver and defensive
back — both positions where
the Ducks could use some
help.
Cristobal didn’t hide his
enthusiasm for Addison at
the league’s media day: “He’s
played both ways. He has spe-
cial teams value. He is intelli-
gent, he’s tough, he’s athletic.
Great balance and body con-
trol. Explosive. Incredible
ball skills.”