Jones Completes 100/200 For Third Straight Year, Leaves With Nine Oregon Relays Victories: Niwot Boys Go 1-2-3 In Mile; Addison Ritzenhein Dominates Girls Race

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

DyeStat Photos

RESULTS/VIDEOS

EUGENE – Aster Jones concluded her Oregon Relays career on Saturday at Hayward Field with grand total of nine wins.

The UCLA-bound senior from Roosevelt High of North Portland completed her third consecutive 100/200 sprint double with a pair of races six and half hours apart.

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Just after noon, Jones won the 200 meters in 23.36 seconds near her lifetime best of 23.17 from last year.

In the evening, she ran 11.61, which fell a bit short of her expectations.

Jones also won the Freshman 100 and was part of two 800-meter sprint medley victories with her Roughriders teammates.

Friday’s full day of action culminated with back-to-back wins for Niwot CO in the miles.

Addison Ritzehein charged out ahead of the girls field and won in 4:45.73 for an early US#3 performance as nine girls ran under five minutes.

Ruby Ihmels from Century SD was second in 4:49.53 and Kjirsten Ludeman of Sehome WA was third in 4:50.26.

An exciting boys race featuring four members of Niwot’s Nike Cross Nationals championship team capped the meet.

After junior Quinn Sullivan appeared to have separated permanently from the field with 300 meters to go, senior teammate Rocco Culpepper somehow managed to close the gap over the final 100 meters. Culpepper seized and opening pipped his teammate on the inside right at the finish line, winning in US#2 4:05.95 to 4:05.97.

Niwot senior Hunter Robbie made his way up from the back for the field and finished with a 58-second last lap to take third in 4:08.71.

South Eugene OR’s Yosuke Shibata was fourth in 4:09.97.

And a fourth Niwot runner, freshman Jude Ritzenhein, ran 4:11.77 for 11th.

Wilson of Long Beach, the three-time defending co-ed team champion, swept the 4x400 relays with meet record performances.

The boys ran 3:13.89 and now own the top seven performances in meet history. The girls lowered the meet record by six seconds with 3:41.43 and won by 14 seconds.

Wilson has totaled 74 points already and Niwot is second with 50. Boise ID, the 2022 team champion, is third with 48.

Sheldon OR's Malachi Schoenherr made a big move with 1,200 to go and kicked to victory in the boys 2-mile in a time of  8:53.74. That was his first win at Oregon Relays since winning the Freshman 2-Mile in 2023. 

Cassidy Armstrong of Ballard WA left the field behind in the girls 2-mile and won in a time of 10:24.54.

Olympia WA pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the meet so far when anchor leg Caden Durocher split 1:52 to close a seemingly insurmountable gap and chased down Wilson CA around the final turn in the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay. Both schools went under the meet record time, but Olympia won it in 3:28.47, a US#1. 

The Wilson girls put together a second relay victory in the evening session when they ran US#2 4:01.54 in the SMR. Hard-charging Ellery Lincoln of Lincoln OR split 2:06 but ran out of space to catch Wilson and crossed the line in US#6 4:03.90. 

Kimberly Beard of King's WA broke the meet record in the girls hammer with a distance of 191 feet. That snapped a 10-year-old record by Camryn Rogers. 

Freshman Rikiah Griffin of Caldera OR made a spectacular debut at the meet. She jumped 19-6.50 on her first attempt to win the girls long jump and then won the freshman 100 meters in 12.14. Both were personal bests. Later, she returned to race in the championship 100 meters and finished fourth in 12.06.

Marcus Burton of Tigard OR won the boys 100 meters in 10.62. 

Jakobe Davis from Vallivue ID ran a big PR of 47.81 to win the boys 400 meters. 

Wilson's Clara Adams won the girls 400 in 55.18. 

In both races, the top seed was a scratch. Eddie Bruner Jr of Lincoln WA sat out with a tender hamstring and defending girls champion Sophia Castaneda of Newberg OR also scratched.

Dredyn Sharlow from Bethel WA won the boys 200 meters in 21.39. 

Friday morning, Aidan Wendring of Central OR overcame a fall to defend his title in the 2,000-meter steeplechase (US#2 6:03.87) and Madison Zemper-Prill of South Eugene won the girls race (7:15.33). 

Summit's Anna Millikan threw a US#1 mark of 160-8 to win the girls javelin. 

Yevhen Zhmailo of Lake Washington jumped 24-3 to win the long jump. He'll contest his best event, the triple jump, on Saturday. 

Gursher Gabri of Enver Creek BC won the boys hammer with 207-5. 

Simon Rosselli of Mead won the boys shot put with US#3 65 feet.