4x100 relay members Luke Jackson (front) and Andrew Hunt during the Small Schools Meet in John Day on April 5. 

The Grant Union boys and girls track teams both placed first in the Small Schools Meet held at Grant Union High School on April 5. Grant County teams Prairie City and Monument also participated and had respectable showings at the event, which drew 11 teams from 1A, 2A and 3A schools.

The Grant Union boys came away with 127 points on the afternoon, well ahead of second place Heppner, which finished with 99 team points. The girls needed 142 points to place first, just edging out second place Crane, which left with 140 points on the day.

Prairie City’s boys team finished the day in fourth place with 65 points. Powder Valley and Pine Eagle were right behind them, finishing in a tie with 64.5 points. The Monument boys, with their smaller numbers, finished the day with 8 points but did log an individual second place finish at the meet.

Prairie City’s girls finished with 21 points on the day, which was good enough for ninth place. Pine Eagle and Powder Valley finished just ahead of the Lady Panthers with 26 and 22 points, respectively. Monument’s girls finished with 5 points on the afternoon, picking up a fourth-place finish in the 800 meter dash.

Justin Hodge had another solid outing for Grant Union, finishing with wins in the 100 meter dash and 4×100 relay with teammates Luke Jackson, Cashton Wheeler and Andrew Hunt. Hodge also finished second in the long jump. Jackson had a productive day as well, taking home a win in the 200 meter dash and a third-place finish in the 4×400 relay to go along with his win in the 4×100 relay.

Grant Union’s Brady Dole was a teammate of Jackson’s in the 4×400 relay while finishing second in the 1,500 meter race and fourth in the 3,000 meter race. Freshman Ashton Wheeler was a member of both Grant Union relay teams and finished fourth in the 200 meter dash.

Grant Union’s Landon and Skylor Boyd finished second and fifth in the 110 meter hurdles. Prairie City’s Eli Wright left the winner in the 300 meter hurdles, with Landon Boyd finishing fourth in the event.

Field events for the boys saw Prairie City hit their stride as the team scored top five finishes in five of the seven field events contested at the meet. Eli Wright led the way for the Panthers as he picked up wins in the high jump and javelin along with a third-place finish in the discus. Tucker Wright picked up a win in the triple jump and Cayden Howard rounded out the Prairie City placers in field events, taking third in the pole vault.

Grant Union’s boys had a trio of second-place finishes in the filed events with Hodge in the long jump, Max Bailey in the pole vault and Tucker Carpenter in the discus. Monument’s Michael Martin left with a personal record in the javelin, which was good enough for a second-place finish.

Katelyn Hughes and Carson Weaver led the Lady Pros to their first-place finish. Both Hughes and Weaver placed top five in four different events. Weaver placed second in the 100 meter dash, finishing a mere .03 seconds behind the winner. Weaver was also a member of the 4×100 relay team with Lauryn Pettyjohn, Katelyn Hughes and Sydnie Brandon. Weaver and her team went on to place third in the 4×100 meter relay.

Hughes picked up a second-place finish in the 300 meter hurdles, as well as the third-place finish in the 4×100 relay. Hughes also placed fourth in the 4×100 relay with teammates Morgan Randleas, Abbie Justice and Lauryn Pettyjohn, who rain in both relays at the meet.

Monument and Prairie City each had a top four individual finisher. Prairie City’s Janie Koopman placed fourth in the 400 meter dash and Monument’s Jin Bo Ciochetti finished fourth in the 800 meter race.

Field events for the girls saw the Lady Pros take control as they had a top five finisher in every field event of the afternoon. Morgan Randleas led the way, placing first in the shot put, second in the high jump and third in the triple jump.

Carson Weaver landed her third top-five finish in the meet, placing first in the javelin. Grant Union teammate Katelyn Hughes would place fourth in the event. Weaver also placed third in the high jump, placing in her fourth event of the afternoon.

Prairie City’s girls would see a trio of top five finishes in field events, led by Zoey Beam and Janie Koopman’s fourth-place finishes in pole vault and high jump. Brooke Tell would finish the day with fifth place in the long jump for the Lady Panthers.

The Grant Union track teams will be in action next on Friday, April 15, at the River’s Edge Meet in Hermiston. The meet has a noon start time. Prairie City heads to Burns for the Lions Arlie Oster Invitational the same day. Events start at 11 a.m. Monument’s next competition is at the Sherman Invitational Track Meet in Moro on Saturday, April 16. Start time is 11 a.m.