St. Mary's senior Emma Johnston lands an attempt in the 3A girls triple jump Friday during the state championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.

EUGENE — Emma Johnston saved her best jumps for last for the St. Mary’s girls track and field team Friday night at Hayward Field.

Johnston not only earned a personal best to capture the Class 3A triple jump crown at Hayward Field, she accomplished her best three marks of her life.

The senior leaped 36 feet, 4 inches on her fourth attempt to secure the winning mark, but also staged other personal best attempts during the finals on her second (36-3) and sixth (36-2.75) jumps.

“It was just a magical day,” said Johnston. “I love competing at state and for this to be my last time on a track for the rest of my life, it made it all worth it.”

After her second attempt, the Crusader knew that she punched her ticket to the finals and might have won the event. However, she knew that she could only add to it and eventually got her biggest jump on her fourth try.

With a magical day already in tow, she followed her instincts and didn’t look at the board to spook herself.

Instead, she opted to start her attempts with claps to get the Hayward crowd involved and looked for even greater results.

Earning her first state title was the perfect way for Johnston to go out, especially after not qualifying for the state finals in the long jump a day prior.

Johnston ended the long jump with a foul and scratched the first attempt in the triple jump. But when she scored a PR on her second attempt, it was the perfect sign for what was to come.

“I knew that I was gonna get into the finals and probably win the whole thing with that number,” she said. “But it also made me want to jump farther, why not go for a bigger number.”

Some frustrations were released in the triple jump, according to Johnston, and St. Mary’s jumping coach Chris George helped channeled that energy into Friday’s performance.

“She was super upset, it was one of the first instances in her competitive career that things didn’t go the way she had envisioned,” said George of Thursday’s missed opportunity in the long jump. “It was very rough for her to work through that but, credit to her, she got up this morning and attacked today.”

St. Mary’s also won its third straight title in the triple jump after Sidney DeBoer won the previous two years.

Crusaders track and field coach Joe Volk said he has been incredibly grateful for George’s impact on the horizontal jumps.

“It was probably one of the best coaching decisions I’ve ever made,” Volk said about bringing in George. “He is absolutely amazing. He has had so much success with the horizontal jumps for us.”

“Emma’s performance today is a testament to that, she turned that adversity around,” he said. “She came out and just had a career day.”

Johnston also ran with Gabriella Cooper, Meno Kubo and Sophia Bendaw to take 10th in the 4×100-meter relay with a time of 52.50 seconds.

In the 3A boys meet, St. Mary’s senior Indiana Olson placed second in the 400 (50.61) and ran a personal-best 22.55 in the 200 for third place.

Andrew Lockwood also placed seventh (23.02) in the 200 for the Crusaders.

Olson and Lockwood joined Oliver Ford and Aiden DeBoer to finish fourth in the 4×100 with a time of 44.25, and the quartet was 10th (3:35.83) in the 4×400.

Freshman Joel Kiene also placed fifth in the discus (135-3) for St. Mary’s.

Cascade Christian’s Alexander Fiannaca placed fourth in the javelin with a distance of 162-4, and teammate Isaac Young was 12th (4:26.94) in the 1,500.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Top 10): Valley Catholic 74, Bale 69, Siuslaw 68, Catlin Gabel 49, De La Salle North Catholic 42, Santiam Christian 42, Banks 38, Oregon Episcopal 30, Westside Christian 28, Burns 27.5.

Other Local Results

11, St. Mary’s, 25; 24, Cascade Christian, 5.

100 — 1, John Coiner, Santiam Christian, 10.92.

200 — 1, John Coiner, Santiam Christian, 21.67; 3, Indiana Olson, St. Mary’s, 22.55; 7, Andrew Lockwood, St. Mary’s, 23.02.

400 — 1, Andrew Klopcic, Valley Catholic, 49.55; 2, Indiana Olson, St. Mary’s, 50.61.

800 — 1, Amani Diani, Banks, 1:58.49.

1,500 — 1, Ronan Gantzos, Oregon Episcopal, 4:04.35; 12, Isaac Young, Cascade Christian, 4:26.94.

110 HURDLES — 1, Joshua Widdows, Catlin Gabel, 14.23.

300 HURDLES — 1, Joshua Widdows, Catlin Gabel, 38.40.

4×100 RELAY — 1, Siuslaw (Will Johnson, Wesley Nicholls, Derrick Vanduch, Raymundo Brito Xilot), 43.84; 4, St. Mary’s, 44.25.

4×400 RELAY — 1, Valley Catholic (Kyle Becker, Riley Reinikka, Morgan Amano, Andrew Klopcic), 3:23.49.

DISCUS — 1, Brooks Haueter, Vale, 151-10; 5, Joel Kiene, St. Mary’s, 135-3.

JAVELIN — 1, Kiyan Vrell, Amity, 182-0; 4, Alexander Fiannaca, Cascade Christian, 162-4.

HIGH JUMP — 1, Kale Jensen, Siuslaw, 6-0.75.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Andrew Klopcic, Valley Catholic, 44-8.25; 13, Eli Angulo, 38-1.5.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Top 10): Coquille 84.5, Catlin Gabel 66, Banks 53, Sisters 48, Valley Catholic 39, Nyssa 36, Vale 31, Amity 29, Oregon Episcopal 26, Pleasant Hill 26.

Other Local Finishers

18, St. Mary’s 10.

100 — 1, Ryan Thomas, Pleasant Hill, 12.49.

200 — 1, Ella Bulkley, Catlin Gabel, 25.46.

400 — 1, Sam Shepard, Westside Christian, 57.82.

800 — 1, Sophie Schoolmeester, Banks, 2:14.49.

1,500 — 1, Sophie Schoolmeester, Banks, 4:46.17.

100 HURDLES — 1, Abby Greenspan, Catlin Gabel, 15.52.

300 HURDLES — 1, Ada Millet, Coquille, 47.10.

4×100 RELAY — 1, Vale (Elli Jacobs, Haylee Cleaver, Bella Johnson, Claire Johnson), 49.77; 10, St. Mary’s, 52.50.

4×400 RELAY — 1, Vale (Bella Lardy, Jade Janecek, Malia Stewart, Sophie Schoolmeester), 4:05.26.

SHOT PUT — 1, Holli Vigue, Coquille, 37-8.75.

POLE VAULT — 1, Reagan Krantz, Coquille, 11-7.

TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Emma Johnston, St. Mary’s, 36-4.