Columbia Christian boys take fourth at state track and field championships
EUGENE – Columbia Christian senior Hayden Arthur captured his second consecutive javelin state title at the OSAA 2A track and field state championships on Friday, May 29, helping the Knights to a podium finish.
Arthur's mark of 179 feet, 9 inches, was over three feet ahead of second place Wyatt Richards from Myrtle Point. The heave came on his fifth attempt, though he overtook Richards for the lead on his fourth throw, which was almost two feet shorter than his ultimate winning mark.
All this dominance, and yet he wasn't quite satisfied.
"I'm a competitor, so I always want to go for more," Arthur said. "I'm just so blessed to be here. It's all in God's will, and whatever happened, I was OK with."
Arthur's hunger for excellence is likely what allowed him to repeat in the first place. That hunger is contagious, forcing a group of starved Knights to go hunting, tracking and trapping a combined eight podium appearances, totaling 44 team points to tie with Culver for fourth.
"(I'm) extremely proud," Columbia Christian head coach Kevin Yaws said. "They are bound together. They are fun. Everyone works together and they're just great guys."
It was a true collective effort for Columbia Christian. Seniors Jasper Zapp and Landon Reid each finished second in the 100 meters and discus, respectively, with Zapp clocking in at 11.12 seconds and Reid throwing 142-07.
“Obviously, I (would’ve wanted a personal record),” Reid said. “But I can’t be too upset with second place.”
"The whole offseason up until February, I was recovering from injury," Zapp added. "So, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, considering that."
Arthur joined Zapp on the 100-meter podium, finishing eighth in 11.65. Zapp also earned bronze in the 200 meters, crossing in 22.37. In the triple jump, junior Evan Bamford pulled off perhaps the most shocking result for the Knights, improving his personal best by over a foot, jumping 39-06 to finish sixth. He entered the field with the worst season best.
“Evan Bamford, what he did is the reason we got fourth," Yaws said.
In the 4x100 relay, Oliver Rude, Arthur, Bamford and Zapp finished second in 43.30, setting, according to Yaws, a new school record. Elsewhere, junior Abraham Votrobeck finished 12th in the 3000 meters, setting a new personal best of 9 minutes, 40.37 seconds.
On the girls side, meanwhile, the Knights managed a podium finish, represented by the 4x100 relay team of Nozomi Carver, Mikaela Kurkinen, America Poole and Meili Ton. The quartet crossed eighth in 53.54 seconds, 0.01 ahead of ninth-place Faith Bible Christian.
