6A/4A TRACK: South Medford makes most of state championship entries
Published 10:15 pm Sunday, June 1, 2025
Panthers post four top-3 marks during 6A meet; Decker earns silver medal to pace Phoenix in 4A
In terms of performance per qualifying athlete, South Medford more than held its own during the Class 6A track and field state championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Panthers seniors Devon Scott and Paige Schiffer each finished as a state runner-up, while juniors Joey Clevenger and Cade Siewert posted third-place efforts of their own to pull off quite a weekend for a South team that had six entries overall.
Chadd Holtz, a junior, placed eighth to make it 5-of-6 Panthers to reach the podium.
South Medford tied for 11th overall in the 6A boys team standings with 21 points.
South Medford senior Paige Schiffer competes in the high jump during the Class 6A state championships at Hayward Field on Saturday. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)
“It’s like we said afterwards, we might be small but we’re mighty when we come up here,” said South Medford head coach Robyn Schiffer, who credited the team’s staff of assistant coaches for creating such a diverse and successful run.
For Scott, Saturday marked a second straight silver medal in the boys pole vault, and quite a feat considering he fractured a bone in his foot and tore ligaments in the opposite ankle in the offseason.
Scott spent a majority of this spring focusing on strengthening his core muscles, resting his ankles and doing a lot of visualization for when the time would come to shine. It really wasn’t until May 14 that Scott began to show signs of being where he was a year ago after he cleared 14 feet, 6 inches in a dual meet.
He needed only to clear 14-4.5 to claim a Southwest Conference title, then raised the bar Saturday at Hayward Field with relative ease as he clipped past 14-4 and 14-9.5 on his first attempts. The latter is where he would stay, however, after three misses at 15-0.25, which was cleared by Lincoln’s John Ladd Steele on his second attempt to wrap up the No. 1 spot.
“To watch him this season just mature and visualize what it takes to win and get it all dialed in, it really paid off for him,” said coach Schiffer.
North Medford junior Heston Likens finished fifth in the boys pole vault at 13-7.75.
South Medford junior Cade Siewert competes in the triple jump during the Class 6A state championships at Hayward Field on Saturday. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)
Paige Schiffer enjoyed her own spectacular high school sendoff, setting a personal record in the girls high jump of 5-4.25 to place second by one inch to Mountainside’s Catherine Phillips.
“It was real redemption for her,” said coach Schiffer. “Last year, she had a bad day to have a bad day at districts, and didn’t qualify for state. So it was her goal this year to make it back and get on the podium. She wanted top-three and she worked really hard and she did it, so it was a good meet for her.”
While Phillips was able to clear 5-5.25 on her first attempt to move into first place alone, the West Point-bound Schiffer just clipped the bar in her three attempts.
“She was all the way over, her heel just clipped it,” said the coach. “She took her three tries and in all three of them, she had it and it was just something caught or something came down just at the wrong time.”
Clevenger scored a repeat third-place showing in the boys high jump, tapping out at 6-5.5 to finish behind South Salem’s Calvin Stewart and Sandy’s Topher Gabel. Stewart placed first with a tiebreaking clearance over Gabel at 6-8.
Clevenger set a PR of 6-6 in winning last week’s Southwest Conference championship, and had high hopes of taking it up a notch at state.
North Medford senior Paije Carpenter competes in the triple jump during the Class 6A state championships at Hayward Field on Saturday. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)
“I know he wasn’t happy with his height, but his place, yes, he was happy,” said coach Schiffer. “His goal next year is 6-8 or higher. He is going to take this and use it as more motivation to work harder next year.”
Siewert stretched his PR to 44-11.50 in placing third in the boys triple jump after placing seventh a year ago. Eli Forsha of Sheldon won the event in 48-10.75, and West Salem’s Logan Hilty was second at 46-3.25.
“We’re just really proud of Cade with the maturity he’s shown and his dedication paid off for a PR,” said coach Schiffer.
Holtz, who first picked up the javelin in the final weeks of last season, posted a 166-7 mark to finish eighth.
North Medford junior Kristina Atonio placed eighth in the girls shot put at 34-5.75, while senior Paije Carpenter scored her second top-10 finish of the meet when she placed eighth at 35-7.75 in the girls triple jump.
Olivia Boger was 15th in the girls triple jump (33-10.25), and North Medford’s boys 4×400 crew finished 17th (3:31.29).
Class 4A
Brayden Decker soared to a second-place finish in the boys high jump and fellow Phoenix senior William Pyeatt placed third with a PR in the boys 800 to highlight the Pirates’ effort in the Class 4A state championships in Eugene.
Phoenix’s William Pyeatt competes in the 800-meter run during the Class 4A state championships at Hayward Field on Saturday. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)
Decker cleared 6-2.75 to finish as runner-up, while Pyeatt clocked in at 2:00.33.
Cody Martin also scored a top-10 finish by placing eighth in the boys 100 (11.16), while Abigail Corona came in ninth in the girls discus (100-7) and Laurelin Jansen was 10th in the girls pole vault at 8-4.
Phoenix also saw its 4×100 and 4×400 boys relay teams each finish 10th at 44.03 and 3:33.08, respectively.
Aleah Polansky set a PR in finishing 13th in the girls 1,500 (5:08.30), and Elijah Palmer was 13th in the boys javelin (144-8).
Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035
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