Grant 4x100 relay snaps 23-year-old state record to headline Generals' state track and field performances

If there's anyone out there who claimed that the Class 6A 4x100 girls' relay record was in jeopardy of being broken this weekend, they're simply lying to you.

The quartet of Willa Stockton, Laela Divine, Osa Olsgaard and Rosemary Sheerin made history on Saturday, May 30, at Hayward Field in Eugene, as they registered a time of 46.54 seconds, good enough to break the previous state record set by Benson in 2003 by 0.03 seconds (46.57), and finishing 0.84 ahead of second-place Jesuit.

“Going into this, we just felt so confident and secure,” Stockton said. “We all knew it was going to go (well), but we could not have expected it to be this good.”

“It means everything,” Sheerin added. “I’ve been running with (these girls) for years, since middle school. It means the most to be able to spend this last meet with the girls I love the most.”

It was an unlikely, though incredibly impressive performance. The relays' prelim time of 47.47 was the second-fastest in the field behind Jesuit. Despite not competing together until April 22, the group clicked instantly, winning at the PIL Varsity Relays, initiating a six-meet win streak heading into the final.

“I think we practiced (handoffs) every single day the last two weeks," Olsgaard said. "I think that really paid off.”

Sheerin added a podium finish in the 4x400 relay, as she, Nailani Solomon, Parker Hetherington and Riley Dotten finished third in 3:56.53.

Stockton and Olsgaard's relay success, meanwhile, translated to their individual events. Stockton, who's committed to Oregon State, set a personal best of 11.86 in the 100 meters to finish second, capping her day with another personal best in the 200 meters at 24.53 to finish fourth.

Olsgaard was on the podium alongside her, crossing fourth in the 100 at 12.05 and sixth in the 200 at 25.16. In the shot put, the sophomore finished 13th at 32 feet, 8.25 inches.

Elsewhere on the field, senior Melanie Bleecher finished 14th in discus after registering a new personal best of 91-09. Junior Carly Jendritza cleared 5-03 to finish sixth in the high jump, while also finishing 11th in the triple jump at 34-09.5. Fellow junior Soriah Vandenhooff just missed the podium in long jump, finishing ninth at 16-08.75.

The girls team just missed a team trophy, finishing fifth, five points behind PIL-rival Lincoln.

On the boys side, meanwhile, three faces took home some hardware. Junior Nick Normington set a new personal best in the 100 meters, clocking in at 10.54 to finish fourth. In the 400 meters, Eli Anderson crossed seventh in 49.78, while Jack McDaniel took fifth in the 800 meters after blazing his way to a new personal best of 1:55.08.