Wilson of Long Beach Wins Co-Ed Team Championship For Second Straight Year, Highlighted By Sweeps Of 4x200 and 4x400 Relays; Owen Powell Breaks National Record In 1,000 Meters

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Becky Holbrook photos

RESULTS/VIDEOS

Wilson High's stellar sprint relay power carried the Long Beach high school to second consecutive co-ed team championship at the Oregon Relays presented by AthleticNET. 

This year's Bruins team is a bit younger but no less talented than in previous years. 

Wilson won six relay titles, broke four meet records and scored 117 points to pull away from Boise ID (96), Cuthbertson NC (77), Liberty NV (75) and Lake Oswego OR (70). 

The team race was far more competitive than 2023, when Wilson scored 139 points and more than doubled the next team. 

But Wilson came to Oregon Relays to improve at a few events that matter at the upcoming Moore League Championships and have fun with the rest. 

"We didn't focus a lot on individuals because we know we're going to do that in upcoming weeks," coach Neil Nelson said. 

Wilson's boys and girls swept the 4x200s and the 4x400s. The girls also won the 4x100 relay, with freshman standout Saniah Varnado anchoring, and the boys won Friday's sprint medley relay (1,600m). 

The Bruins also pulled 24 points out of the four hurdles events. 

"We really set out for kids not to run more than two races," Wilson boys coach Shannon Fisher said. "But as (the meet) went on, they wanted to run more. We had a couple of relays where we hadn't filled out who was going to run in them and as the meet went on they kept coming up to us asking 'Can I run it?'" 

Wilson didn't win everything. 

Liberty of Nevada blitzed through the boys 4x100 relay in 41.39 seconds and then came back to the track a short while later and won the sprint medley (800m) title in 1:30.83, with Ronnie Kendrick anchoring in 47.96. Liberty had already run 1:30.23 on March 22 at the 84th Nike Chandler Rotary Invitational.

Roosevelt OR won the girls sprint medley (800) with 1:49.02, beating out-of-state competition from Mt. Prospect IL (1:50.51) and Cuthbertson NC (1:50.60). 

Owen Powell of Mercer Island WA took down the 21-year-old national high school record in the 1,000 meters with his time of 2:23.22. 

Lake Oswego senior Josie Donelson added the 300-meter hurdles title to a busy weekend with a time of 42.39 seconds. 

In a high-quality girls 800 meters, Charlotte Bell from Cuthbertson ran 2:08.90 to outlast Chloe Symon from Lord Byng BC (2:09.50), Emma Bennett of Jesuit OR (2:09.71) and Lincoln OR's Ellery Lincoln (2:10.15). 

Lincoln actually won the girls 4x800 relay without its standout freshman, edging Summit OR with 9:31.01.

Herriman UT went after the boys 4x800 relay title and won it with 7:50.68, with William Steadman anchoring in 1:55.97. 

Bishop Blanchet WA broke the one-year old meet and national record in the mixed 4x800 relay with a time of 8:34.92. 

Crater's Josiah Tostenson got a rare opportunity to race pros in the men's mile, but a slow first lap prevented it from being fast enough to chase four minutes. Tostenson went through the half in 2:04.6 and ended up with 4:07.62. 

Anna Callahan of Skyline WA ran a US#8 time of 4:45.40 with a strong finish to get away from Alexa Dow of Frances Kelsey BC (4:50.01) and Chloe Huyler of Lakeridge OR (4:51.56). 

Luke Stockett from Victory Charter ID won the boys mile from a section earlier in the day, in 4:12.87. 

Sheldon OR's Adam Reeder closed in dramatic fashion to push past the leaders, including Wilson's J.T. Kraemer, to win the boys 800 meters in a personal best time of 1:53.12.