>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

HUSTLING HURDLER: La Grande runner Nur Sofe won the 300-meter hurdle event at the Greater Oregon League Meet Saturday. Observer photo/PAUL HARDER

The La Grande boys track and field team secured its fifth straight Greater Oregon League Title Saturday.

But again, the real question is how many more will follow?

“We’ve got a chance of at least three to four,” Tigers head coach Duane Smiley said. “There are a lot of young medalists in this group.”

Take Nur Sofe for example. Everything he touched turned to gold.

Sofe, a sophomore, competed in four events, and walked away with four first-place medals.

Walking is all the runners wanted to do before or following events. Either that or find a small slice of shade to relax in.

“It was hot,” Sofe said, of the back-to-back days in the 90s. “The key was to keep drinking, and rest when you could.”

Sofe didn’t let the competition rest during the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.

He won the short hurdles by more than a second. In the long hurdles, Sofe ran his two best times of the season.

His 40.60 mark in the preliminary round was his season best. Sofe followed that with a 40.88 time on Day 2 of the meet.

“I just felt good,” Sofe said. “It’s hard to put into words how good this feels.”

He also ran the final leg of both relay events.

During the 4x400-meter relay, the Tigers appeared to playfully toy with their opponents.

Colton Winkler and Bradley Thompson made for a small deficit after the first lap.

Then, Thompson handed off to Sofe with a 10-meter gap on the final leg — a sure lock, right?

Mac-Hi’s Casey Smith took the baton for the final leg.

“He’s one of the best 400-meter runners around,” Smiley said.

It appeared Smith had closed the gap. But on the final corner Sofe found another gear, and closed out the meet, in the final event, in convincing fashion.

The continuing youth movement wasn’t the only story to emerge from the two-day event.

Zach Gray showcased the meaning of determination.

In the 3,000-meter run, Gray lost a shoe during the race. He ran five laps with no barrier between the flesh on his foot and the sizzling track.

He left a wake of blood behind him to the finish line. Gray also left enough competitors behind him to secure a spot into the state meet. He finished second with a time of 9:54.73.

Levi Wiseman pulled off the most impressive feat of the meet.

The senior punched a ticket with a personal record. No it wasn’t a matter of heaving the metal ball a few inches further in the shot put. Wiseman smashed his previous mark by 3 feet, 1 inch.

He finished second with a toss of 43 feet, 9 inches.

“It was great to see him make it to state,” Smiley said. “He’s worked hard every day to get there. To see that kind of improvement at this time of the year is amazing.”

The girls team found its stride before the league meet.

Running laps as a team brought the Tigers runners closer together.

Led by captain Cathy Monahan, La Grande will compete in eight events at the state meet.

“It will be nice to have a lot of girls going,” Monahn said. “You get a little extra energy when your teammates are there with you.”

Monahn punched her ticket in the 3,000-meter run, taking first in 11:40.07.

Just like the boys team, the girls treated the crowd to a handful of surprises.

The girls took the top-three spots in the 300-meter hurdles.

“That was a great way to finish,” Smiley said. “We weren’t expecting that.”

Rachel Harris led the Tigers to the finish line with a time of 51.74.

Emily Christensen (55.75) and Jessica Conklin (57.29) finished second and third, respectively.

Carlene MacKay also picked the right time to set a personal record.

MacKay’s 4 foot, 6 inch leap in the high jump beat her previous mark by two inches. She finished second.

La Grande will send 29 total athletes to the state meet in Eugene Thursday — another school record.

“It’s great to see all these athletes making the trip,” Smiley said. “It’s only going to help us be more competitive next season.”

Greater Oregon League

Boys top-five

100-meter dash — 1. Matt Antony, Ont, 11.37; 2. Wesley Burgess, LG, 11.59; 3. Dylan Whitelock-Wolff, LG, 11.83; 4. Ryder Wilmarth, LG, 11.98; 5. Nick Magill, 12.04, Baker, 12.04. 200-meter dash — 1. Antony, Ont, 23.72; 2. Burgess, LG, 23.45; 3. Magill, Baker, 23.94. 4. Andrew Humphreys, LG, 24.32; 5. Jordan Lang, Ont, 24.24. 400-meter dash — 1. Casey Smith, McLo, 50.82; 2. Kendell Brown, McLo, 53.26; 3. Taylor Thamert,. Baker, 54.00; 4. Nick Hackey, LG, 54.27; 5. Caleb Trisler, LG, 55.23. 800-meter run — 1. Bradley Thompson, LG, 2:05.23; 2. Cameron Thomas, LG, 2:06.15; 3. Winkler, LG, 2:08.70; 4. Davey Garcia, McLo, 2:10.27; 5. Skyler Young, Baker, 2:12.41. 1,500-meter run — 1. Matt Rankin, Ont, 4:15.93; 2. Garcia, 4:24.90; 3. Michael Wanta, LG, 4:24.93; 4. Thomas, LG, 4:34.84; 5. Emerson Hovecamp, LG, 4:38.30. 3,000-meter run — 1. Rankin, Ont, 9:18.23; 2. Zach Gray, LG, 9:54.73; 3. Michael Dennis, Baker, 10:20.36; 4. Brandon Powell, LG, 10:28.90; 5. Conor Wood, LG, 10:29.93. 110-meter hurdles — 1. Nur Sofe, LG, 15.88; 2. Michael Jacobsen, Baker, 17.16; 3. Tad Anzaldua, Ont, 17.26; 4. Tylor Hardwick, LG, 18.04; 5. Jace Salutregui, Ont, 18.90. 300-meter hurdles — 1. Sofe, LG, 40.85; 2. Jacobsen, Baker, 42.32; 3. Hardwick, LG, 45.22; 4. Jayson Rasmussen, LG, 45.69; 5. Salutregui, Ont, 46.39. 4x100-meter relay — 1. LG (Willmarth, Burgess, Sofe, Whitelock-Wolff), 44.73; 2. Ont (Azaldua, Gibbons, Lang, Anthony), 45.29; 3. McLo (Brown, Stewart, Smith, Kerby), 45.52; 4. Baker (Magill, Lohner, Sorenson, Thamert), 46.89. 4x400-meter relay — 1. LG (Sofe, Thompson, Winkler, Hackney), 3:33.54; 2. McLo (Brown, Garcia, Smith, Stewart), 3. Baker (Thamert, Young, Jacobsen, Lohner), 3:36.88; 4. Ont (Hamman, Garza, Zamago, Lang), 3:42.22. Shot put — 1. Nick Vasquez, Ont, 45-04; 2. Levi Wiseman, LG, 43.09; 3. Jordan Martinez, 42-00; 4. Logan Ermovick, Baker, 41.05; 5. Phillip Marker, McLo, 39-08. Discus — 1. Martinez, Ont, 134-11; 2. Ethan Kellog, LG, 126-03; 3. Brandon Partney, LG, 116-11; 4. Wiseman, LG, 115-10; 5. Adrian Gonzalez, McLo, 111-00. Javelin — 1. Carl Osbourne, LG, 162-06; Cody Laurnece, LG, 145-09; 3. Kellog, LG, 139-09; 4. Kennan Richards, Baker, 134-06; 5. Jake Eastland, Baker, 133-03. High jump — 1. Jacob Johnson, LG, 6-03; 2. Brandon Powell, LG, 6-00; 3. Tanner Greene, LG, 5-08; 4. Josh Sorenson, Baker, 5-08. 5. Colton Dillman, 5-04, Baker. Pole vault — 1. Tyler Nice, LG, 12-00; 2. Rassmussen, LG, 11-06; 3. Connor White, 11-06; 4. Cole Owens, Baker, 11-00; 5. Jake Eastland, Baker, 9-06. Long jump — 1. Robert Keys, Ont, 20-03.75; 2. Matt Stewart, 19-11, McLo, 19-11; 3. Lohner, Baker, 19-10.75; 4. Greene, LG, 19-06.25. 5. Anzalda, Ont, 19-04.50. Triple jump — Anzalda, Ont, 41-01.25; 2. Stewart, McLo, 40-09; 3. Keyes, Ont, 40-01; 4. Lohner, Baker, 38-11.5; 5. Green, LG, 38-11.

Girls top-five

 100-meter dash — 1. Denali Cox, Ont, 13.17; 2. Emily Childers, McLo, 13.34; 3. Hannah Prince, Baker, 13.72; 4. Brittney Johnston, LG, 13.90; 5. Elena Hammar, Ont, 13.91. 200-meter dash — 1. Chiders, McLo, 26.70; 2. Cox, Ont, 27.05; 3. Prince, Baker, 28.22; 4. Vianca Carrillo, Ont, 28.515. Keisha Mauer, Ont, 29.21. 400-meter dash — 1. Childers, McLo, 1:00.75; 2. Whitney Phillips, Baker, 1:01.01; 3. Carrillo, Ont, 1:05.88; 4. Childers, McLo, 1:06.31; 5. Carlene MacKay, LG, 1:07.18. 800-meter run — 1. Monice Boyer, Baker, 2:25.85; 2. Shelby Miller, LG, 2:26.75; 3. Hailey Rambo, 5:18.28; 4. Amy Lopez, Ont, 2:41.03; 5. Kelsey Cole, Baker, 2:41.93. 1,500-meter run — 1.Miller, LG, 5:10.28; 2. Melody Haidle, Ont, 5:13.35; 3. Rambo, McLo, 5:18; 4. Cathy Monahan, LG, 5:29.13; 5. Melissa Clarke, 5:29.16. 3,000-meter run — 1. Monahan, 11:40.07; 2. Clark, Baker, 11:44.92; 3. Haidle, Ont, 11:50.52; 4. Lacy Ward, LG, 12:54.62; 5. Annika Yates, 13:12.87. 100-meter hurdles — 1. Kayla Mercada, Baker, 17.66; 2. Rachel Harris, LG, 17.82; 3. Emily Christensen, LG, 19.37; 4. Kylie Kitzmiller, Baker, 19.62; 5. Jessica Conklin, LG, 20.73. 300-meter hurdles — 1. Harris, LG, 51.74; 2. Christensen. LG, 55.75; 3. Conklin, LG, 57.29; 4. Adams, Baker, 57.77; 5. Clarke, Baker, 57.85. 4x100-meter relay — 1. Baker (Mercado, Olson, Phillips, Prince), 52.83; 2. LG (Ali Paine, Echo Knight, Harris, Johnston), 53.45. 4x400-meter relay — 1. McLo (Alaura Sutton, Rambo, K. Childers, E. Childers), 4:32.12. 2. Baker (Cole, Phillips, Boyer, Bruno), 4:24.25; 3. LG (Knight, Miller, MacKay, Johnston), 4:25.95; 4. Ont (Valier Gallegos , Carrillo, Turner, Alysha Smith), 4:32.36. Shot put — 1. Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili, Ont, 37-00; 2. Macquel Kuck, Baker, 31-06; 3. Jazmine Gordilla, Ont, 91-05; 4. Trina Bruno, Baker, 88-11; 5. Rasmussen, LG, 86-02. Javelin — 1. Dzhidzhiyeshvili, Ont, 111-02; 2. Adams, Baker, 99-00; 3. Boyer, Baker, 92-11; 4. Gordilla, Ont, 87-08; 5. Jenna Montgomery, LG, 87-07. High jump — 1. Jamie Cockram, Baker, 4-07; 2. MacKay, 4-06; 3. Ward, LG, 4-06; 4. Prince, Baker, 4-04; 5. Boyer, Baker, 4-04. Pole vault — Phillips, Baker, 8-00; 2. Adams, Baker, 7-00; 3. Charlotte Quebbeman, LG, 7-00; 4. Selina Carrasco, 6-06; 5. Janelle Mattes, LG 6-06. Long jump — 1. Dzhidzhiyesvili, Ont, 15-09.50; 2. Cockram, Baker, 15-05.5; 3. Johnston, LG, 14-04.50; 4. Quebbeman, LG, 13-07; 5. Smith, Ont, 13-07. Triple jump — 1. Cockram, Baker, 31-08.75; 2. Mercado, Baker, 30-01; 3. Keisha Mauer, Ont, 4. Smith, Ont, 28-11; 5. Reanna Culjat, 26-09.25.