High Voltage Events Add Electricity To Oregon Relays; Wilson (Long Beach) Takes Aim At Fourth Straight Co-Ed Team Title; Aster Jones Looks For Third 100-200 Double; Niwot Boys, Girls Take On DMR

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

DyeStat Photos

Sunny skies and some of the deepest fields in meet history are ready to go Friday and Saturday at Hayward Field. 

In addition to its usual showcase of top Northwest high school track and field talent, the Oregon Relays presented by ANET features a mix of high caliber teams coming in from California, Colorado, Nevada, Illinois, Wyoming, Mississippi and British Columbia.

Here are 10 storylines to watch:

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CIRCUIT High Voltage Events, Beginning With 800s

For the first time, the Oregon Relays is connected with The CIRCUIT, a series of high-quality high school track meets that has already included 2026 stops in New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia.

This year’s schedule includes High Voltage (featured) events designed to create additional excitement around the 800 meters finals and Distance Medley Relays.

The boys 800 field includes seven boys with personal bests under 1:53. That quality competition will reveal who is in shape at this early stage of the season.

Wilson (Long Beach) senior Wyland Obando tops the list with a best of 1:49.67. He opened his season with 1:51.17 last weekend and finished seventh at Nike Indoor Nationals. He is the defending champion and his winning time in 2025 was 1:52.34.

The boys field includes Central Kitsap WA junior Mana Voss, Niwot CO senior Rocco Culpepper, Tigard OR junior Paul Hretcanu, Bear Creek School WA senior Findlay Hartshorn, Crater OR junior Maxwell Miracle and senior Kruz Mogel of Clackamas OR.

The girls list is topped by Sehome WA sophomore Kjirsten Ludeman, who ran 2:06.64 last weekend at Twilight in the ‘Ham. An additional six athletes have run under 2:12.

Senior Sophie Schoolmeester of Banks OR, a University of Washington recruit, junior Shirayah Lewis-Williams of Wilson CA, junior Naomi Cesar of Sunset, senior Annabelle Carr of Coeur d’Alene Charter ID, junior Riley Jones of Wilson CA and senior Jane Wycoff of Mt. Spokane WA ensure that this race feels as competitive as a state final.

High Quality DMRs Sure To Produce Early US#1s

The back-to-back Nike Cross Nationals champions from Niwot have only attempted one Distance Medley Relay and that was last year at Oregon Relays when the team took sixth.

This year’s High Voltage boys DMR features a Niwot team that may, finally, be going for it in a big way. With a wealth of talented options, Hunter Robbie, Quinn Sullivan, Gabriel Marshall, Jude Ritzenhein and Rocco Culpepper are all potential options for a team targeting sub-10 minutes. (The meet record is 9:59.57 by Herriman UT in 2024).

Lincoln OR, Mira Costa CA, South Eugene OR, Franklin OR, Canby OR, J Serra CA and Jesuit OR all have designs of running 10:10 or faster.

The matchup in the girls race could be just as historic and is probably deeper.

Niwot CO again tops the list and could employ senior Addison Ritzenhein on the anchor leg.

Lincoln OR counters with junior Ellery Lincoln, who ran an all-time Oregon best mile of 4:35.55 on Feb. 28.

Sehome WA, with runners in the lineup who won the NXR Northwest title last fall; J Serra CA, one of California’s top programs; Mercer Island WA, with anchor Sophia Rodriguez; and Mt. Prospect (Prospect) IL, from Illinois, made it a national-level field that is sure to write the top of the early season U.S. rankings.

Long Beach (Wilson) Going For 4th Straight Co-Ed Team Championship

The three-time defending team champion (combined scoring of boys and girls events) is coming back for more.

Long Beach (Wilson) is coming to Eugene with the top seed in 10 events, including nine different relays. 

The Bruins annually bring sprinting depth to the Oregon Relays that is unmatched by another school in meet history. 

The California power runs up big points in the relays, particularly the 4x200, two sprint medleys and the 4x400s. 

The 4x400 relay is the program's bread and butter. The Wilson boys own the top six performances in meet history and this year's quartet of Kyle Harris, Obando, Dillon Varnado and Kaedyn Burroughs has already run 3:13.01 twice outdoors this month. That's faster than the Bruins' meet record of 3:15.44. 

Saniah Varnado anchored the girls 4x400 to a time of 3:38.67 last weekend at the Mt. Carmel Invitational, which is US#6 and the only non-Texas team in the top 10. 

Last year, Wilson scored 160 points and it was more than double the second-place school. 

Aster Jones Seeks Third Straight 100-200 Double

Kellie Schuler (Summit OR) and Mia Brahe-Pedersen (Lake Oswego OR) won the 100/200 in back-to-back years at the Oregon Relays. 

Roosevelt OR’s Aster Jones, now a UCLA recruit, will try to secure the 100-200 double for an unprecedented third straight year.

Jones is coming into her senior season after a strong run through in the indoor calendar. She finished third in the 60 meters and sixth in the 200 meters at Nike Indoor Nationals. 

Jones comes in with personal bests of 11.51 in the 100 and 23.17 in the 200. 

Niwot Boys Test Sea-Level Fitness In Mile

At the Niwot Invitational last weekend, the trio of Rocco Culpepper, Jude Ritzenhein and Hunter Robbie put down some fast times in the 1,600 meters in the thin air of Boulder, Colo. 

Culpepper, who owns a personal best 4:03 mile, ran 4:09.66 for the win. Ritzenhein was next in 4:10.96 and Robbie was third in 4:15.20. 

Ritzenhein, a freshman standout and the son of distance running legend Dathan Ritzenhein, could take down the freshman class national record of 4:09.11, which belongs to Crater OR grad Josiah Tostenson.

 A fourth Niwot runner, Quinn Sullivan, also projects as a sub-4:10 finisher. 

Yosuke Shibata of South Eugene, Krish Desai of Mira Costa and sophomore Clayton Jero of Summit should also be in the mix. 

Eddie Bruner Jr. Ready For Big Things In 200 And 400

Senior Eddie Bruner Jr. of Lincoln (Tacoma) set off alarm bells in the high school track world when he ran 20.71 seconds in the 200 at the STCU West Coast Indoor Championships indoors at The Podium in Spokane on Feb. 22, 

Bruner won the Washington 3A title in the 400 meters last year in 46.94 but his indoor season took things to a new level. 

Bruner's 200 time held up as a US#1 and put him into a tie for No. 7 all-time. 

The meet records in the 200 and 400 are both difficult. Gatlin Bair ran 20.83 for an all-time Idaho best in the 200 in 2023 and Jayden Horton-Mims from Philadelphia ran 45.95 in the 400 in 2024. 

In his first appearance at the Oregon Relays, Bruner could make a run at both.

Fantastic Throws Fields 

A pair of throwers from Washington state are looking to rule the various rings at Hayward Field. 

Kimberly Beard of King's WA is set to make her first appearance at Oregon Relays and she could be in the running for three titles. She is a huge favorite to win the hammer, her specialty, and is also the top seed in the discus. She is not the favorite in the shot put, but could put herself in contention with a strong performance. 

Beard was the Nike Indoor Nationals runner-up in the weight throw two weeks ago. 

Tigard's Marissa Johnson won all three throws -- shot put, discus and hammer -- at last year's Oregon Relays but is not entered this weekend. 

Simon Rosselli of Mead WA is the national leader in the boys discus after throwing 210-6 at the Richland Jamboree two weeks ago and he's got more give. His personal best from 2025 is 218-7. 

Rosselli is also at the top of the shot put entries with a mark of 63-8.25, which got him fifth place at Nike Indoor Nationals. 

Familiar Names In The Steeplechases

The Oregon Relays provides one of the few racing opportunities in the steeplechase outside of New York during the regular track season, and it's a draw for athletes who are interested in exploring it as a potential fit in college. 

Mercer Island junior Sophia Rodriguez is having a go at it this week, following in the footsteps of her older sister, Victoria, who won it the past two years. (Victoria is now a freshman at Wake Forest). 

Sophia will try to keep the title in the family, but it's a new event for her. She won the 2-mile at last year's Oregon Relays in a time of 10:17.34 and helped her DMR team finish second. 

Meanwhile, Central OR senior Aidan Wendring is back to defend his title in the 2-kilometer steeplechase after running a time of 5:59.02 last year for the third-fastest in meet history. 

Deep Into The Sand Pit

The triple jumps have attacted incredile fields on both the boys and girls side this year. 

Yevhen Zhmailo from Lake Washington WA made headlines when he broke the long-standing high school indoor triple jump record when he flew 52-9.50 at the Spokane HS Invitational on Jan. 25. 

Zhmailo's record was subsequently broken at Nike Indoor Nationals two weeks ago when Miles Nesmith from Tennessee went 53 feet. 

Zhmailo's entry into Oregon Relays is exciting. Nobody has ever cracked the 50-foot barrier in meet history. He'll take his first attempts of the outdoor season this weekend. 

The girls triple jump, meanwhile, is super deep with nine girls who have jumped 38 feet and three who have gone past 40. 

Kayla Williams of Spanaway Lake WA is the top entry with a best of 42-1, which exceeds the meet record. Iman Foster of Jesuit (41-0.75) and Saskia Dorf of Westview OR (40-10). 

Castaneda Returns To 400

Last year, Newberg's Sophia Castaneda broke the meet record in the girls 400 meters when she ran 54.16. 

The senior has come a long way since then. The University of Michigan recruit ran to a second-place finish at New Balance Nationals Indoor two weeks ago in Boston when she ran a season's best time of 53.86 seconds. 

Castaneda ran a personal best of 53.16 at the USATF U20 Championships last year. 

At some point this season, expect her to take aim at Josie Donelson's all-time Oregon record of 52.83.