Beautiful weather and thousands of competitors brought out the best in the Papermakers at the Jesuit Relays Friday, in Beaverton, Ore.
The Camas girls track and field team made a big push in the final events to beat 29 other schools for the championship plaque. The Papermakers racked up 73.5 points to beat host Jesuit by 2.84 points.
Camas seniors Amber Corbett and McKenna Jackson finished in first and second place in the javelin. Corbett launched a personal best throw of 129 feet, 10 inches. Jackson also had an all-time best throw of 123-11.
“I’ve been waiting this entire season to get a PR. The competition and the environment brought it out of me,” Corbett said. “Going into this meet, I felt like an underdog, and that really motivated me. It was fun having McKenna right there with me. Her and I feed off each other.”
Maddie Woodson, Kimi Knight, Camille Parsons and Alissa Pudlitzke captured first place in the distance medley relay with a time of 12 minutes, 40.67 seconds. Woodson and Knight kept Camas in third place, Parsons moved the foursome up to second place and Pudlitzke caught the leader from Jesuit on the very last lap. That gave Camas a 4-point swing over Jesuit in the final standings.
“At the last 300 [meters], I could hear my teammates say, ‘she’s slowing down,’” Pudlitzke said. “Down to the last 100, I realized I was going to pass her. I wanted to win it for my team. I wanted to give my all because I knew they had.”
Mckenzie Good, Ali Nuce, Jordan Davis and Alexa Efraimson grabbed second place in the 1,600 relay (3:59.29). Efraimson outkicked the runner from Jesuit to the finish line to give the Papermakers another 4-point swing.
“I couldn’t hold anything back,” Efraimson said. “It was the last race, and I was really excited.”
Efraimson also won the girls elite 1,500 race with a time of 4:22.33. She loved having her named announced to crowd as she jogged around the first turn to the starting point.
“It’s so original, and it doesn’t happen at the other meets,” Efraimson said. “This meet has such a great atmosphere. I’m glad I got to run here again.”
Pudlitzke placed second in the 3,000 with a personal best time of 10:27.50. Lauren Neff finished fourth in the high jump (5-2), Caleigh Lofstead claimed fifth on the pole vault (9-6) and Davis snagged sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.82). The Corbett sisters clinched sixth and seventh place in the shot put. Amber tossed a 36-6.5 and Nicole spun a 36-4.
“It’s fun competing with your sister. You want to beat her at the end of the day,” Amber said. “Nikki is working really hard, and that makes me happy. We always have each other to turn to.”
The Camas boys finished in fourth place out of 28 teams at the Jesuit Relays. Tucker Boyd took first place in the open 1,500 race with a time of 4:09.29. He left all the other runners in the dust during the final lap.
“I just decided to take off and see if anybody could catch me,” Boyd said. “I just want to use this win as momentum, place high at districts and bi-districts and go all the way to state.”
Grayson Anderson grabbed first place in the high jump (6-6) and third place in the 100 dash (11.13).
“This is one of the most competitive meets I’ve ever been to,” he said. “The next few weeks are going to be like the track playoffs. Every week, somebody gets eliminated. And even if you make it to state, the journey isn’t over.
“It’s not just the end of the year for me, it’s the end of my high school career,” Anderson added. “That’s going to motivate me to make this season last as long as possible.”
Blane Behrent landed in second place on the pole vault (12-6) and Andrew Kaler earned second in the 3,000 (9:00.37). Boyd, Matthew Sanchez, Dustin Zimmerly and Jackson Cutler took seventh in the 3,200 relay.
“There are a lot of fun events here that you don’t get to do at other meets,” Boyd said. “It’s great for the younger kids. They get to find out what it’s like to compete in a big invitational.”
The Papermakers compete in the district meet Wednesday and Thursday, at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver.
