Mili Estrada and Olivia Felton headline Portland Christian performances at track and field state championships
Editor's note: Check out more small-school coverage of Columbia Christian boys track and field taking fourth overall as a team by following the link here!
EUGENE – With a combined total of 12 first-place finishes across the regular season in their respective events, Portland Christian's Mili Estrada and Olivia Felton entered the OSAA 2A track and field state championships at Hayward Field in Eugene on Friday, May 29, with massive targets on their backs.
A sizable chasm between them and the field, there was simply no need for a heroic effort or gutsy performance. Estrada, the reigning 100-meter hurdles champion, entered her final with a nearly 0.40 second edge on the second-fastest prelim mark. Her prelim time of 15.35 seconds set a new personal best and school record.
She ultimately breezed to victory, winning in 15.43 seconds, a staggering 0.31 ahead of second-place June Cowan from East Linn Christian.
"That last hurdle, I almost lost it for a second," Estrada said. "But I'm just very excited right now."
Felton, meanwhile, had a nearly half-foot advantage entering Friday's 2A girls pole vault championship. She began at 8 feet, 11.50 inches, at which point only three other athletes, including teammate Emma Fitch, remained.
Starting shaky, Felton needed all three attempts to clear the mark. Moving to 9-02.25, Felton needed just a single attempt, while Waldport's Kiana McNeil and Enterprise's Myelle James scratched all three attempts.
"I'm feeling fantastic. I'm so excited. It feels unreal," Felton said. "There was so many things that could have been high stressors today, but I just trusted my faith."
Both Felton and Estrada expressed feeling little outside pressure, most of it coming internally. It wasn't apparent. The calmness seemingly translated to other events, with Estrada finishing fifth in the 100 meters in 13.19, and Felton leaping her way to second place in the triple jump with a personal best of 34-01.25.
Felton's success continued, landing sixth in the long jump at 15-06.25. Teammate Tirzah Singleterry joined her on the podium in both events, finishing eighth in the long jump at 15-00.75 and sixth in the triple jump at 32-05.
In the 4x100 relay, Felton, Estrada, Fitch and Singleterry finished fourth at 51.78 seconds.
On the boys side, meanwhile, senior Andrew Kempenich finished sixth in the 400 meters at 52.24 seconds. Anchoring the 4x100 relay, Kempenich along with Josiah McKinney, Emmett Hughes and Noah Humphrey finished seventh in 44.94 seconds.
