E AST O REGONIAN TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A10 LOVERCHECKS CASH IN STATE Pendleton girls fi nish 5th in team standings By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian E UGENE — Reilly and Kelsey Lover- check scored the lion’s share of the Pendleton girls team points at the 5A State Track and Field Championships that ended Saturday, May 21, at Hayward Field, Eugene. Their efforts helped the Bucks to a fi fth-place fi nish in the team standings with 39 points, one back of fourth- place Corvallis. Crescent Valley won the team title with 67 points, one point better than North Salem. “That was the fun part,” Pendleton coach Larry Brizendine said of the girls team. “They competed out of their minds. We didn’t expect that.” Reilly Lovercheck started her state meet with a fourth- place fi nish in the long jump May 20. The following day, she placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 36-2 ¼. “She was second until the girl from The Dalles (Zoe Dunn) knocked her to third with her last jump,” Brizen- dine said. On the track, she raced to a third-place fi nish in the 300 hurdles with a personal best time of 45.84. She also placed Kathy Aney/East Oregonian Pendleton’s Kelsey Lovercheck watches the bar while pole vaulting Saturday, May 21, 2022, during the 5A Oregon School Activities Association State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field, Eugene. Lovercheck took second with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches and also placed third in the 200 meter sprint. fi fth in the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.88. Kelsey Lovercheck kept pace with her twin sister, fi nishing second in the pole vault with a personal best height of 10-6. She cleared 10-6 on her second attempt, but missed all three attempts at 11-0 as Rhys Allen of Willamette won with a PR height of 11-3. Lovercheck ranks second on the school’s pole vault lead- erboard. The school record is 10-9. Kelsey Lovercheck also sprinted to a third-place fi nish in the 200 with a time of 26.10, just under her personal best of 26.05, which she ran May 20 in the prelims. “It’s just their second year of track,” Brizendine said of the Loverchecks. “They played tennis the first two years. We wish we could have had them all four years.” Muriel Hoisington added to the team points with an eighth-place fi nish in the 400 with a time of 1:02.30. In the boys meet, Nolan Mead soared to new heights in the high jump, clear- ing a personal best 6-3 to fi nish second for the Bucks. He cleared 6-3 on his fi nal attempt, then missed all four attempts at 6-4. Redmond’s Nathan Wachs cleared 6-4 on his fi nal attempt to win the title. “I could see him from where I was, but I couldn’t see what the height was,” Brizen- dine said. “When he went over the bar, he jumped up and went running. I knew it must be good. It was 6-3. That’s a great height for him.” The Pendleton boys were hit with a little bad luck during the last day of competition. Javelin thrower Sam Jennings, who has been battling an abdominal strain, attempted just two throws, the furthest being 151-11. He did not make the fi nals and fi nished 10th. In the 110 hurdles, Andy Oja looked to be the favorite after prelims May 20, but he clipped the third to last hurdle and went down. He got up and fi nished seventh in a time of 17.70. Oja redeemed himself FIND MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ONLINE AT: in the 300 hurdles, placing second with a time of 39.41. Teammate Thaiden Cannin was seventh with a 42.22. “The 300 hurdles was a great race, “Brizendine said. “The kid (Nathan Fields) that beat him was legit.” In the 800, James Thatcher ran a personal best 1:59.29 to finish sixth. His best time before May 21 was 1:59.50. The Pendleton boys fi nished eighth in the team standings with 33 points. Silverton won the team title with 79 points, followed by Crater (69) and Wilsonville (65). “We thought the boys might do bet ter, but some unfortunate things happened,” Brizendine said. “Our best guy was down from the beginning, that didn’t help. The kids said they were sorry we didn’t go out on top. It’s not like they didn’t give it every- thing they had. We had an amazing season, it just didn’t turn out like we wanted. I’m still pretty proud of all of them.” In the 4A championships, McLoughlin’s Luis Wolf cleared 6-0 to place third in the high jump, while Michael Doherty fi nished third in the triple jump with a PR leap of 42-7 ¾. For the girls, Mac-Hi’s Kadey Brown fi nished third in the discus with a PR toss of 107-6. T h e M a c - H i b oy s finished 13th in the team standings with 23 points. Marshfield won the team title with 57 points. In the girls team race, the Pioneer were 16th with 11 points. Philomath ran away with the team title with 87 points. District 8 Championships He r m i s t o n’s Ryke r McDonald punched his ticket to the 3A state track meet in two events at Central Valley High School in Spokane. McDonald, who was second in the 100 prelims May 20, came out May 21 with a personal best 11.08 to win the event. He ranks second on the school leaderboard. He also placed second in the shot put with a personal best 51-1 ¼. Teammate Caden Hott- man won the shot put with a heave of 56-4, which equals his personal best. He also won the discus May 20. Hermiston fi nished sixth in the team standings with 57 points. Walla Walla won the team title with 128. In the girls meet, Hermis- ton’s Jackie Garcia fi nished third in the 800 in a time of 2:20.33 to advance to state. She will be joined by Cydney Sanchez, who ran a PR and a school record 5:16.71 in the 1,600 to fi nish second. Bailey Young, who earned trips to state in the shot put and javelin May 20, added the discus to her list of things to do, placing third with a mark of 111-6. The Bulldogs finished third in the team standing with 75 points. Mead ran away with the team title with 157 points. www.EastOregonian.com HEALTH NOTIFICATION! Are You Hard of Hearing? A major name brand hearing aid provider wishes to field test a remarkable new digital hearing instrument in the area. This offer is free of charge and you are under no obligation. These revolutionary 100% Digital instruments use the latest technology to comfortably and almost invisibly help you hear more clearly. This technology solves the “stopped up ears” and “head in a barrel” sensation some people experience. If you wish to participate, you will be required to have your hearing tested in our office FREE OF CHARGE to determine candidacy and review your results with the hearing instruments with our hearing care specialist. 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