TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
SPORTS
CLASS 4A STATE TRACK AND FIELD MEET
CLASS 1A STATE TRACK AND FIELD MEET AT EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
Baker girls 8th Badger boys win state track meet
at state finals
By Davis Carbaugh
The (La Grande) Observer
■ Sydney Keller wins state title in
pole vault; Baker boys finish 22nd
By Corey Kirk
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
Sydney Keller added another state championship
to her resumé at Baker High School, winning the pole
vault at the Class 4A state track meet on Saturday, May
22 and leading the Bulldogs to an eighth-place fi nish in
the girls team standings.
The Baker boys placed 22nd in the meet that took
place May 21 and 22 at Siuslaw High School in Flor-
ence. As with other state competitions during the
pandemic, the meet was not sanctioned by the Oregon
School Activities Association.
“I was just so
ecstatic, and really
relieved honestly,”
said Keller, a senior
who won a state
wrestling champion-
ship in 2020 and
was a member of
Baker’s 2019 state
championship bas-
ketball team. “I’ve
been training really
hard, and going and
training with coach-
es. I’ve done a lot of
work with different
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
coaches in pole vault
and different things Sydney Keller placed fi rst in
and areas to become the pole vault on Saturday,
May 22 at the Class 4A state
better. I’m just re-
track meet.
ally happy it fi nally
clicked.”
Keller cleared 10 feet. Her teammate and fellow se-
nior, Salena Bott, fi nished eighth with a vault of 8 feet, 6
inches, a personal record.
Keller competed in the 400-meter race on Friday, May
21, setting a personal record at 1:05.25 but fi nishing
12th in the preliminaries and not qualifying for the
fi nals.
Though she admits she was frustrated, Keller
returned the following day to compete in three events
— pole vault, triple jump and as a member of Baker’s
4-by-400 relay team.
Baker coach Suzy Cole said Keller thrived on the
hectic day, in which she had to run to the pole vault area
between competing in other events.
“I was pole vaulting, and then after two heights in
pole vault, I would have to run around the entire fi eld
and go over to triple jump, and I got a couple of triple
jumps in, and then run back around to pole vault,”
Keller said.
Keller placed sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 32
feet, 6 inches.
Back at the pole vault, Keller set a personal record at
9 feet, 3 inches, improving the record of 9 feet, 1/4 inch
she set as a freshman.
“It was kind of haunting me since then,” Keller said.
Keller went toe-to-toe with Marshfi eld freshman
Roxy Day, who cleared 9 feet, 9 inches.
Keller then made it over the bar at 10 feet, improving
her previous record by nearly a full foot.
“It was the best feeling ever,” Keller said.
Cole was excited to see Keller fi nish strong.
“She competed tough, that was an exciting way to
watch her go out,” Cole said.
Keller was one of the six girls representing Baker
High during the two-day meet.
Sophomore Jozie Ramos fi nished ninth in the high
jump (4 feet, 10 inches) and 10th in the shot put (29-6).
Junior Emma Baeth fi nished third in the 800 with a
new personal best of 2:26.08.
“She was a little disappointed with her time, (but) I
wasn’t at all, given it was a four-week season,” Cole said.
“It’s just hard to get the speed for all the times. Emma
ran by far her most strategic race of her career.”
Sophomore Anna Belding placed fi fth (1:01.37) in the
400 meters.
Sophomore Sydnee Pierce teamed with Baeth, Beld-
ing and Keller to take second in the 4-by-400 relay,
fi nishing in 4:15.55.
“They ran great. Anna Belding ran our fi rst leg, she
got us out on a really strong lead,” Cole said. “Sydnee
Pierce ran phenomenal, she had a great second leg.
Keller and Baeth as always are super competitive, and
kept us right in the dogfi ght the whole time.”
Boys results
Baker’s 4-by-100 relay team of Kaden Myer, Malaki
Myer, Wyatt Hawkins and Ian Jesenko placed fourth
with a time of 45.49.
Jesenko, a senior, fi nished seventh in the long jump
with a leap of 19 feet, 9.75 inches, and his teammate,
Tate Powell, was 13th with a jump of 16-5.
“He was really hoping to get into the twenties, but
he competed super hard and jumped well,” Cole said of
Jesenko.
Junior Gauge Bloomer placed 13th in the javelin
fi nals and was 11th in the 110 hurdles preliminaries.
Senior Kaden Myer was ninth in the 100 preliminar-
ies.
“He ran really really well. He had a photo fi nish and
unfortunately he fi nished 9th and didn’t make the
fi nals,” Cole said. “I know he was a little disappointed in
that, but I thought he ran great.”
Sophomore Reeve Damschen placed 11th in the pole
vault, clearing 10 feet, 6 inches.
Baker’s 4-by-400 relay team — Diego Quintela, Angel
DeArcos, Kaden Myer and his younger brother, fresh-
man Malaki Myer, placed eighth with a time of 3:38.44.
See Bulldogs/Page 6A
LA GRANDE — It came
down to the last events, but
the Powder Valley Badgers
boys team took home a track
and fi eld state championship
Saturday, May 22 at Eastern
Oregon University.
Powder Valley came from
behind to score 64.50 points
to claim the unoffi cial Oregon
1A State Championship (the
Oregon School Activities
Association isn’t sanctioning
state championship events
during the pandemic-abbrevi-
ated sports seasons).
Even more impressive, the
Badgers won their title with
just six athletes competing on
the boys side.
“We were ecstatic about
it,” Powder Valley coach Nic
Maszk said. “It was just a
really low athlete count to get
the points that they did, that
was one of the biggest things
to me.”
The state event took place
at Banner Bank Track at
EOU and included athletes
from 34 schools on the boys
side and 30 for the girls.
The Badger boys accumu-
lated points early in the day
through fi eld events, with
Case Olsen placing third
in the javelin, and Kaiden
Krieger taking third in the
high jump. Reece Dixon
added 4.5 points in the triple
jump with a tie for fourth
place.
Distance runner Justin
Ash was all over the track
for the Badgers, starting the
day with a third place fi nish
in the 1,500 meter run with
a time of 4 minutes, 15.66 sec-
onds. Ash later took second
place in the 3,000 meter run
with a time of 9:09.00 and
helped Powder Valley’s 4x400
meter relay team fi nish in
second place.
“He was a key piece,”
Maszk said of Ash.
After a podium fi nish in
javelin, Olsen headed to the
track and ran a 54.02 in the
400 meter dash to fi nish
fourth.
Krieger also had a busy
day, starting his track events
off with a second place fi nish
in the 200 meter dash. He ran
a 23.69 in the 200 and then,
in the next event, fi nished
second in the 300 hurdles in
42.01 seconds.
Harper’s Corbin Palmer
edged out Krieger by a mere
four thousandths of a second.
“He’s just a hard worker,”
Maszk said of Krieger. “He
was probably a second off
of winning all three of his
events.”
Krieger was able to rest
during the 3,000 meter run,
before taking the track once
more in the 4x400. After Ash
scored a crucial eight points
Davis Carbaugh/The (La Grande) Observer
Kaiden Krieger and Reece Dixon of Powder Valley sprint around the fi nal turn as the
duo competes in the 200 meter dash Saturday, May 22, 2021, at the Oregon 1A track
and fi eld championship at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande. Krieger placed sec-
ond in the race, while Dixon fi nished eighth.
Pine-Eagle’s
Brown 2rd
in the 1,500,
3rd in 3,000
Davis Carbaugh/The (La Grande) Observer
Justin Ash of Powder Valley takes the baton for the
second leg of the 4x400 meter relay, the fi nal event
Saturday, May 22, 2021, at the Oregon 1A track and fi eld
championship at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande.
The Badgers fi nished second in the event en route to
securing a fi rst place overall team fi nish.
“We were ecstatic about
it. It was just a really low
athlete count to get the
points that they did, that
was one of the biggest
things to me.”
on a solid group effort.
“I just told them that your
job today is to get every single
guy in front of you that you
can,” Maszk said. “Every
point matters.”
LA GRANDE — Pine-
Eagle runner Caleb
Brown placed second
in the 1,500 meters and
was third in the 3,000 at
the Class 1A state track
and fi eld champion-
ships Saturday, May
22 at Eastern Oregon
University.
The Spartans fi nished
17th in the boys team
standings.
Other Pine-Eagle
competitors:
• Jeremiah Simrell,
11th, discus
• Cooper Gover, 11th,
800
• Seth Butler, 12th, 200
• Grace Davis, 11th,
1,500
Huntington’s David
Hornung placed 10th in
the shot put.
Elgin girls scored 47 points
to fi nish on the podium with
Girls meet
a third place team fi nish.
On
the
girls
side,
Aaliyah
Powder Valley took sixth
— Nic Maszk, Powder Valley
Burton
of
Elgin
fi
nished
her
overall with 41 points.
track and fi eld coach
day as a state champion in
Imbler’s Erin Coston won
a state championship in the
in the 3,000, the pressure was the 100 meter dash (12.89)
pole vault, jumping a height
on the relay team to hold on and the 100 meter hurdles
(15.51). Burton fi nished as
of 8-06.00. The Panthers
to the team’s lead.
runner-up in the 300 meter
scored 28 points and fi nished
Powder Valley’s 4x400
hurdles to Powder Valley’s
eighth in the team standings.
meter team of Dixon, Ash,
Belle Blair.
Full results from the Or-
Olson and Krieger fi nished
Blair also won individual
egon 1A State Championship
with a time of 3:41.01 and
took home second place in the state championship honors in can be found at http://www.
the long jump (15-10.00) and swtiming.com/results/1astate/
event. The eight points they
earned in the event solidifi ed the 400 meter dash (1:01.13). index.htm.
the Badgers’ fi rst place fi nish
over runner-up Damascus
Christian.
JAMES E. DAVIS, M.D.
The Badgers won the team
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
title without having any
OPHTHALMOLOG Y
individual champions, relying
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EASTERN OREGON
2021
PHOTO CONTEST
Official Rules:
Photo Contest open now and closes at
11:59 pm Sunday, June 20, 2021.
Staff will choose the top 10. The public can
vote online for People’s Choice from 12:01
am Monday, June 21 through 11:59 pm
Thursday, June 30.
Digital or scanned photos only, uploaded
to the online platform. No physical copies.
Only photographers from Oregon may
participate.
The contest subject matter is wide open but
we’re looking for images that capture life
in Eastern Oregon.
Submit all photos
online at:
Entrants may crop, tone, adjust saturation
and make minor enhancements, but may
not add or remove objects within the
frame, or doctor images such that the final
product doesn’t represent what’s actually
before the camera.
The winners will appear in the July 8th
edition of Go Magazine; the top 25 will
appear online.
Gift cards to a restaurant of your choice
will be awarded for first, second and third
place.
bakercictyherald.com/photocontest