Culver looks to make noise at district track meet

The Culver track program doesn’t have a lot of depth, but it has power at the top.

The Bulldogs will head into Saturday’s Special District 4 championships in Hermiston with two athletes that could eventually win state titles, sprinter Trent Reece and sprinter/hurdler/long jumper Renee Johnson.

Reece, Johnson and several other Bulldog athletes will be gunning for berths in the state track meet with a win or second-place finish at district.

Reece is the favorite to win the 100 and 200, an event that he has the fastest time in the state at the 2A level this season. Reece also has the third-fastest 100 time and runs a leg on the Dawgs’ 4x100 team that has the fourth-fastest 2A time this spring. However, Weston-McEwen, who they’ll face Saturday, has the third-fastest relay time in the state this season.

Joining Reece on the relay team are Dustin Noy and Keegan and Kayden Haro. Noy has the fifth-best 100 time in the district this spring and could capture a state berth in that event.

Josh Escobar also has a solid shot at making state as he has the district’s third-best discus mark this season and fourth-best javelin toss. Kaydon Haro has the district’s third best high jump at 5-6.

Ryler Rahi has the district’s fourth-best pole vault at 10-0. The three athletes ahead of him, though, are all at 10-6, so the event will be close. In the 100 hurdles, Julian Sanabria has the fifth-best time in the district.

On the girls side, Johnson and Hailee Hisler of Heppner may be in for a great 100 showdown. Hisler has run a 12.9 and Johnson’s best is 13.04.

It will likely be a battle of the hurdles as well. Enterprise junior Naveah James is the only district athlete with faster times in the hurdles than Culver’s Johnson. James’s best in the 100 hurdles is 15.95 to Johnson’s 16.12. In the 300, James has clocked a 47.37 to Johnson’s best of 48.74.

Johnson also comes into district with the best long jump of the season.

Culver’s Itzel Patino is hoping to grab a berth in the shot put. She has the district’s fourth-best mark this season.

The state meet is at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon May 16-17.