Buffalo jumpers, Picard, relay squad shine at state

The Madras White Buffalos came home from the 4A State Track & Field Championship, held May 17-18 at Hayward Field in Eugene, with two second-place finishes, two thirds and several outstanding efforts.

For much of the season, Madras had the state fastest 4A 4x100 relay team, until a late-season injury to Michael Picard, last year’s district champion in the 100 meters.

After missing last week's district meet, Picard came back to run at state, and the Buffalos nearly pulled off the victory, but league rival Crook County was able to get the win at state. The Cowboys clocked a 43.29 while Madras came in at 43.62. The Buffs’ time was a bit better than the 43.83 they ran at district but well under the school record 42.85 they ran in April.

But taking second place after Picard’s injury, and losing only to the very deep Crook County squad, was a great achievement, and no easy task. The Buffalos nipped both Pendleton and The Dalles for second, as both ran 43.84.

Joining Picard on the Buffalo 4x100 team were Damian Fuentes, Andres Aguilar and Gavin Williams. Picard and Fuentes are seniors, Aguilar a junior and Williams a sophomore.

Williams nearly brought home the gold in the triple jump for the Buffalos, fbut wound up finishing second. Williams got off a 13.62-meter effort (44-08.25 feet) and led until Nolan Mead of Pendleton jumped over 45 feet, 13.75 meters (45-01.50). Williams took second at state after taking third at district the week before, trailing two teammates. He only got to the state meet by qualifying with a mark instead of the getting the automatic qualification by being a first- or second-place finisher in an event at district.

Williams was one of three Buffs in the triple jump. Aguilar was right behind Williams in third with a 13.36-meter effort (43-10.00 feet). Aguilar came in as the district champion in the event and improved upon his district jump by nearly two inches. Danny Easterling soared to a 12.67 best (41-07.00 feet) to take eighth.

"The triple jump was a highlight on the boys side," said MHS coach Mike Dove. "Going two, three and eight was awesome. Gavin was leading until the last jumps, and both Gavin and Andres had lifetime bests in the competition."

Aguilar went 6.25 meters (20-06.25 feet) in the long jump to finished sixth. Crook County Eli Oelkers won with a 6.62 meter effort (21-08.75 feet), edging Pendleton’s Mead by four inches.

In the team scoring, the Buffs finished with 26 points, which earned them 13th place. However, they were just four points away from tying for seventh in a very bunched field.

The Crook County Cowboys, behind the leadership of multi-event entrants Gabe Love and Oelkers, both juniors, dominated the field to earn the Cowboys their first-ever state track & field title. They tallied 96 points. Marshfield was second with 46 and Pendleton and La Grande had 45 and 442, respectively.

Adams, Picard place

Adelynn (Addy) Adams highlighted the Buffalo girls’ hardware at state with a third-place finish in the triple jump.

Adams, a junior, leapt to a 10.93-meter mark (35-10.50 feet) in taking third. She was just six inches off the winner, Aja La Pan of Hidden Valley, who went 11.07 meters (36-04.00 feet) and close to the runner-up, Mada Lee of Mazama, who went 11.05 meters (36-03.00 feet). Adams bested the fourth-place finisher, North Bend’s Lauren Efraimson, by nearly a foot. Adams’ mark was a foot better than what she hit at district.

Adams also qualified in the high jump but didn’t make opening height.

"Addy did amazing. She did not have a good high jump Friday morning, but we used it as an opportunity to get the nerves out and she performed amazingly well in the triple jump, improved her lifetime best by over two feet," said Dove.

Emily Picard, another junior, earned her way to state with a second-place finish in the 1,500 meters at the Tri-Valley Conference Championships the week before. There, she ran a 4:59.79 at district, losing by a hair against Alaina Casady of The Dalles. Saturday at Hayward Field, though, Picard ran a 4:56.21, carving more than three seconds off her district time, to finish sixth. Casady improved her district time as well, finishing in 4:57.56 to take eighth.

"Emily Picard is a competitor," said Dove. "She ran so well. Her goal was to run a lifetime beste of 4:456 and that's what she did. Her success is a direct result of the work she put in throughout the year."

Macallan Cutsforth, a North Marion freshman, announced herself with a 4:49.67 time to win the 1,500. Adele Beckstead of Philomath and Brooke Perry of La Grande were next in, and right on Cutsforth’s heels, at 4:50.18 and 4:50.66, respectively.

Philomath won the team title with 74 points. North Bend and Cascade tied for second with 51. While Crook County’s depth carried them to a huge margin of victory at district, Tri-Valley Conference squad Molalla finished ahead of them at state with 41 points, good enough to tie for fifth. Crook County finished with 30.

Picard and Adams scored nine team points for Madras, good enough for 24th out of the 29 teams with entrants.