Alissa Pudlitzke, Jordan Davis, Maddie Woodson and Alexa Efraimson made their presence felt on the track under the lights at Hayward Field Friday.
The four Camas Papermakers combined their talents to clinch first place in the Oregon Relays distance medley race with a new Washington state record time of 11 minutes, 54.19 seconds.
“This brought back the team aspect from cross country. Track is more of an individual sport, but I love the relays,” Efraimson said. “This is my favorite relay because it encompasses all the challenges of racing, distance wise, into one event.”
A total of 24 high school runners stood on the track at the beginning of the distance medley relay. It was up to Pudlitzke to get the Papermakers in a good spot during the first 1,200-meters.
“I was on the very outside,” Pudlitzke said. “I didn’t even have a lane to stand on.”
Davis had never been in this type of event before. She used her skills as a sprinter to get around the track one time as fast as she could.
“Just to race with those girls was awesome. To set the record was the cherry on top,” Davis said. “Being able to compete at the same meet as college athletes sets my goals for the future. That’s where I want to be in the next two years.”
Pudlitzke asserted Camas into second place. Davis maintained her position and created some breathing room on the challengers. Woodson closed the gap on the lead runner from Grant in the 800, which set the stage for a big finish.
Efraimson hunted down Grant’s Ella Donaghu during the first lap and passed her on the second one. It was foot race between the two achors through the final two laps, but Efraimson refused to give up the lead.
“It was a good challenge,” she said.
“We were all cheering for [Efraimson] as loud as we could every time she ran by,” Woodson said. “Once she crossed that finish line, the celebration was on.”
Efraimson returned Saturday and clinched first place in the 800-meter run. She also reset her meet record time from 2:09.63 a year ago to 2:09.36.
The Camas and Summit girls track and field teams each scored 50 points to finish tied for second place at the 41-team meet. Federal Way won with 57.5 points.
Pudlitzke placed third in the 1,500 run with a personal best time of 4:42.79. Caleigh Lofstead claimed third on the pole vault with a leap of 10 feet, 11.75 inches. Davis finished fifth in the 300 hurdles (46.88) and sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.55). Tamaki Murata took sixth in the 300 hurdles (46.95).
Cambryn Gulzow, Rachel Gray, Meghan Finley and Woodson earned fifth place in the sprint medley relay (4:26.76). Haleigh Sudbeck notched fifth in the hammer throw (119-5).
The Papermaker boys placed sixth out of 40 teams at the Oregon Relays. Ryan Gunther grabbed fourth place in the 110 hurdles (15.33) and the 300 hurdles (40.2). Josh Ryan leaped to fourth place in the long jump (22-3). Taryk Boyd, Gunther, Dustin Zimmerly and Riley Hein earned sixth place in the distance medley relay (10:49.43).
