Grant Union’s Quinn Larson clears the bar during a pole vault attempt at the Small Schools Invitational at Three Flags Field at Grant Union High School on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

The Grant Union boys and girls track teams held off five other teams to finish first and second at the Small Schools Invitational track meet on Tuesday, April 18, at Three Flags field in John Day.

The Prospector boys claimed top team honors at the meet with 161 team points. Second-place Mitchell/Spray finished with 130 team points, and Prairie City left the meet in third place with 98 team points.

The Prospector girls were the runners-up with 139 team points. Meet winner Crane was well ahead of the girls’ pack with 200 team points, and third place Mitchell/Spray finished behind the Lady Panthers with 103 team points.

Prairie City’s Maison Teel got Grant County competitors on the boys’ side off to a strong start, placing third in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.56. Teel would also notch a fourth-place finish in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.08.

The Pros would make their presence felt in the distance races, however, with Brady Dole picking up first and second place in the 1,500 meter and 3,000 meter races. Dole finished with times of 4:41.02 in the 1,500 and 10.18.49 in the 3,000.

The Pros would land the top three finishers in the 110 meter hurdles as well as a first-place finish in the 300 meter hurdles. Landon Boyd, Oran Davis and Skylor Boyd would finish one, two and three in the 110 hurdles, with Landon Boyd picking up first place in the 300 meter hurdles.

Prairie City would pick up their first track win of the meet in the 4×100 relay. The team of Cole and Maison Teel and Tucker and Eli Wright ran a 46.59 in the event, finishing more than a second ahead of Mitchell/Spray’s second-place team.

The Grant Union boys also recorded a top two relay finish, placing second in the 4×400 relay. The team of Landon and Skylor Boyd, Taylor Gosnell and Brady Dole ran a 3:58.87 in the event.

County schools also did well in field events, with a competitor from Prairie City or Grant Union claiming first or second place in all contested events. Grant Union’s Tucker Carpenter logged a first-place finish in the shot put and a second-place finish in the discus.

Prairie City’s Cody Reagan and Trey Brown finished second and third in the shot put, while Eli Wright took home a pair of first-place finishes in the javelin and high jump. Quinn Larson was the other field event winner for Grant County, finishing first in the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet even.

The Grant Union girls had a pair of top four finishers in the 200 meter dash in Aaliyah Judd, who finished third with a time of 33.15, and Heidi Jackson, who finished fourth with a time of 33.95. The Lady Pros had another top finisher in Abby Justice, whose 1:15.87 400 meter time was good for third place in the event.

Aliciana Archibald represented the Lady Pros well in the distance races, securing a second-place finish in the 1,500 meter race and a first-place finish in the 3,000 meter race. Morgan Randleas rounded out the top finishers for Grant County in girls track events, finishing third in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 54.12.

The Lady Pros did most of their scoring in the field events, taking home a total of 11 top four finishes in those events. Highlights include Mallory Lusco and Morgan Walker finishing first and second in discus, along with a fourth-place finish for Lusco in the shot put.

Morgan Randleas added to her medal count in field events, recording a second-place finish in the long jump and a third-place finish in the triple jump. Monument’s Jim Bo Ciochetti was the school’s lone top four finisher across all events, placing fourth in the long jump with a jump of 11 feet, 5 inches.

Both Grant Union and Prairie City have very little time before they are in action next. Prairie City will travel to Union on Saturday, April 29, for the Union Invitational. Field events start at 11 a.m., with track events getting underway at 1 p.m.

Grant Union will be in action next at the 14th annual Pepsi Invitational at the Union Athletic Complex in Union. First events are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.