1A track athletes compete at state

Published 2:20 pm Friday, May 18, 2018

Four Grant County 1A track and field athletes competed with the best of the best Thursday and Friday at the OSAA Track and Field State Championships.

Prairie City’s Levi Burke and Megan Camarena and Monument/Dayville’s Mark Thomas and Kyla Emerson made their mark at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, and the event left an indelible mark on them as well.

Prairie City junior Levi Burke placed third in the high jump Thursday with a mark of 5-10.

“It didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go, but to win third place was awesome,” he said.

Burke said he felt supported by everyone, even people he didn’t know.

“Everybody was just helpful, people who’ve been in it their whole lives,” he said. “The high jump community is always going to be good.”

Dawson Smith of Powder Valley won the state high jump with a mark of 6-02, with Josiah Hart of Southwest Christian in second at 6-02.

Burke competed against Smith three times previously in the season, including at the Prairie City Invitational and the District Meet in Baker City.

“I wouldn’t want to lose to anyone else,” Burke said, adding he and Smith had become good friends. “He definitely deserved it.”

Burke, who is in his first year as a track and field athlete, said he hopes to return to state next season.

“If I keep working on it, I’ll be coming back better and stronger,” he said. “I hope to be back, and hopefully more than just high jump.”

Commenting on the experience at Hayward Field in Eugene, he said “It’s something you’ll never forget.”

Prairie City senior Megan Camarena placed seventh in shot put with a distance of 31-02.75.

She placed fourth at the District Meet with a mark of 32-11, and she received a wild card opportunity to compete at state.

Two Monument/Dayville track athletes qualified for state.

Freshman Mark Thomas ran the 1,500 with a fifth-place finish in a time of 4:23.37. He set a personal record in the event, shaving 13 seconds off his best time.

Junior hurdler Kyla Emerson, a returning state competitor, had an eighth-place finish in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17:73.

She fell just short of qualifying in the 300 hurdles, finishing ninth in the preliminaries with a time of 52.30, a personal record.