Top Portland high school sports moments of 2025: No. 20-11
Every year comes with its highlights, and 2025 wasn’t short of some fireworks for the 19 local high schools that reside within Portland city limits.
We’ve got the 20 best moments of the year, starting with No. 20-11 down below.
Let us know what your favorite moment of 2025 was and we’re looking forward to capturing more standout moments in 2026!
No. 20: Faysal Ibrahim breaks out for David Douglas
Entering his sophomore season, Ibrahim’s best time in the 5K was 18 minutes, 14 seconds, which he ran at the 2024 Mt. Hood Conference championship to close the season.
A year later, he was crossing that same finish line in first place with a time of 15:25.6 and heading off to state.
Then at state, Ibrahim went even faster to a tune of 15:24, placing him fifth in the state at the 6A boys level.
With nearly three minutes wiped off his time from freshman to sophomore year, the sky is the limit for the young Scot.
19. Central Catholic boys golf takes third at state
The Rams proved their program growth in 2025 by taking third at state, their highest finish at the culminating event since 1958.
Central Catholic scored a 40-over 616 as a squad, only falling a few shots short of second-place Westview at 36-over 612 and first-place Lake Oswego at 33-over 609.
Michael Baldwin finished in a tie for 10th as the Rams’ highest finisher with a two-day total of 5-over 149.
18. Ida B. Wells and Lincoln place at state girls swimming
It was a successful finish to the 2024-2025 season for Southwest Portland swimming squads as the Guardians took second as a team at state and the Cardinals placed third.
Wells senior Cassidy Schneider took first in the girls 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.50 and also took third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.64 seconds.
Joining her in the winner’s circle was senior Julia Iwanow after she won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:03.54. Iwanow also took third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.03.
Wells took second in the 400 freestyle relay and third in the 200 freestyle relay, which was actually an all-Portland top three as David Douglas won and Lincoln took second.
The Cardinals relay squad still had a win on the day though, taking first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.29. Senior Charlotte Ducanois had a second place individual finish in the 100 freestyle, touching the wall in 52.21.
17. Portland Christian baseball makes upset run to the semifinals
Seeded No. 19 in a 22-team field, expectations couldn’t have been high for the growing Royals baseball program.
Instead, the Royals won a wild 15-14 first-round game at No. 14 Union/Cove, thanks in large part to senior Jack Mazurowski and his abilities on the mound and at the plate.
PC dug even deeper in the second round, defeating league foe No. 3 Clatskanie on the road 8-3 after falling to the Tigers twice in the regular season.
The fun didn’t end there as the Royals went to the coast and pulled off a third upset, taking out No. 6 Reedsport 4-1.
The fun finally came to an end in the semifinals where No. 2 Kennedy scored some late runs to win 8-3 and end the Royals’ season, but it will always be a run the Royals never forget.
16. Grant girls lacrosse makes first state title game
Oregon has held a state girls lacrosse tournament since 1996, and for the first time the title game featured the Generals this past spring.
Grant took out league foe Lincoln in the quarterfinals before pulling off the big upset of Lake Oswego 13-8 in the semifinals, setting up a date with Jesuit for the title.
The title wasn’t meant to be as the Crusaders flipped that semifinal score for a 13-8 Jesuit win. Still, senior Kate Ratanaproeksa was named the Oregon Girls Lacrosse Association Player of the Year and head coach Helen McDevitt was named the Coach of the Year.
15. Columbia Christian throwers dominate at state
The Knights ended up fourth as a team at state in 2A, thanks in large part to their young throwers dominating in and outside of Hayward Stadium.
Junior Hayden Arthur walked away with the boys javelin title at 174 feet, 3 inches, winning by nearly five feet.
Arthur also did well in the discus, taking fourth with a top toss of 124-2, but that wasn’t enough to take down junior teammate Landon Reid at 146-6. Reid also took eighth in the shot put with a top mark of 41-2.25.
14. Lincoln boys take track and field second at state
The Cardinals had a strong weekend at the 2025 state track and field meet, headlined by their throwers.
Sophomore Greyson Murff showed off his athletic ability by winning the discus with a throw of 156-4, and followed that up with a fifth place finish in the 110 meter hurdles.
Senior Brady Holland won the shot put event with a top toss of 56-10 and also took third in the discus. Senior Drew Dunahugh took third in the javelin with a throw of 184 feet.
Lincoln also scored big when senior John Ladd Steele cleared 15-0.25 in the pole vault to round out the field day. The Cardinals scored 62 points, falling just short of Jesuit in first with 66.
13. Portland Christian and Mannahouse Christian boys basketball take second
Portland’s small-school hoops scene has been awesome over the years, none better than the Royals and Lions.
PC went 24-2 in the regular season and cruised through its first two playoff games to make the semifinals. The Royals outlasted Oakland and got a 2A title game rematch with Western Christian, the team they lost to in 2024.
Unfortunately, Western Christian came out on top again in a mucky game that ended 52-40, giving the Royals second place for a second consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Mannahouse was the No. 1 seed in 1A and actually had a regular season win over PC. The Lions entered the postseason 24-3.
MCA dominated in the playoffs, the closest game between the first round and semifinals being a 62-31 win over North Clackamas Christian in the second round.
However, No. 2 Crane, who beat MCA in the regular season, pulled away late in the title game to win 45-42.
Despite the silver finish, the two programs have continued to put on for the city at the levels that don’t always get the same love.
12. EJ Cozart snags 6A boys long jump title
In a deep field of contenders for the 6A boys long jump, it was the Jefferson junior in Cozart who walked away with the state title last May.
Cozart got his winning leap on his fifth attempt, flying 22-11.25 to take over first and survived through the sixth round for his first career title.
Cozart will see some of those same contenders again in 2026, and this time he’ll enter with the target on his back.
11. Central Catholic football upsets West Linn in 6A semifinals
Going up against the defending champions and Three Rivers League champions in West Linn, no one thought the Rams had a chance.
But after senior Cole Thomas ripped off a 99-yard touchdown run to send the game into halftime tied at seven, the Rams knew they could hang.
Thomas scored on the opening drive of the second half from a yard out, but West Linn responded with a TD of its own to tie the game at 14.
QB Robbie Long III connected with Dayvion Curtis a few times on the next drive before the pair hooked up for a 31-yard TD that saw Curtis dive for the catch right at the goal line.
The Lions drove all the way down to the 1-yard line before three consecutive stops by CC to hold on to the win.
CC couldn’t get the state title a week later against Lake Oswego, but the win over West Linn was a stark reminder that this program isn’t going anywhere.
