Crater boys, girls net trophies to highlight 5A state championships

Published 4:00 pm Sunday, June 1, 2025

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Crater boys track and field team members and coaches pose with their third-place trophy earned at the Class 5A state championships in Eugene. (Photo courtesy of oregonsportsphotos)

Tostenson legs out 2 titles, Lindbloom repeats for Comets; Raber, Deng-Gomez earn individual titles for Eagle Point

Crater senior Josiah Tostenson put himself in rarified air Saturday during the Class 5A track and field state championships, and what a fitting way to do it, with his close friends and teammates right by his side.

Tostenson recorded his third state championship in the boys 1,500 meters and, in a change from the norm, tacked on a state title in the 800 to become one of the few Oregon champions who can say they own titles in those events plus a 3,000-meter crown in their prep career.

Crater seniors Tayvon Kitchen (526) and Josiah Tostenson (532) lead the pack during the 1,500-meter run Saturday at Class 5A state championships. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)

With senior teammate Tayvon Kitchen on his heels in second place during the 1,500 and sophomore Maxwell Miracle placing fourth in the 800, Tostenson had good company in his own races.

He also had good company overall in prime performances by the Central Point crew Saturday, with Nathan Lindbloom earning a repeat championship in the boys javelin and the Crater girls getting top-five efforts from Reese Garnica (1,500 and 800), Brynn Davenport (1,500), Sarah Doddington (100) and its 4×100 relay contingent.

Factor in a historic championship run by Kitchen in Thursday’s 3,000 meters plus second-place efforts by Claire Davenport (high jump) and Brynn Davenport (3,000), Crater was able to walk away with some well-deserved hardware to boot.

“We had great performances, and a couple trophies on the girls and boys side,” said Crater head coach Justin Loftus. “We might have been able to do a little better with a couple placings, but overall the kids came and performed well and I’m super happy for them, their families, the district, the school, all of the above.”

The Comets placed third in the 5A boys team standings with 58 points, trailing only Caldera (80) and Corvallis (69).

Eagle Point finished sixth in the boys standings with 37 points for one of the best showings by the Eagles in several years, highlighted by state championship marks from Easton Raber (pole vault) and the 4×100 relay team and a pair of top-four finishes by Logan Moreno (100 and 200).

From left, Eagle Point’s Logan Moreno, Carter Wachs of Redmond, Waylon Clarke of Caldera and Caleb Castillo of Central approach the finish line in the 100-meter dash Saturday at the Class 5A state championships. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)

Crater finished fourth in the girls team standings with 47 points, just shy of third-place Crescent Valley (48). Caldera scored 70 points to end Summit’s string of 14 consecutive 5A girls titles, while South Albany finished runner-up (56).

“All the kids were just putting it out there, and that’s something to be said with just how gritty these kids are on our team and how much they’re passionate about the sport,” said Loftus. “That, more than anything, is just a testament to the program and how kids want to come out and fight for themselves and for the team and for the school.”

Eagle Point didn’t factor into the race for a girls team trophy, but senior Thianna Deng-Gomez wrapped up an undefeated season in her meets by winning the girls shot put championship.

There was some belief that Tostenson and Kitchen might be planning on a record-shattering finish to their decorated high school careers in both distance races in Eugene, but Tostenson’s talent in the 800 was undeniable and he opted to give that a run instead of seeking to defend his 3,000 title.

That left the BYU-bound Kitchen to go solo in producing the second-best mark in national high school history with his all-out performance Friday night in the 3,000 (7 minutes, 58.92 seconds).

Racing in the 1,500 together Saturday, but with Tostenson still reserving some energy for the 800 later in the day, Tostenson was able to cross the finish line in a winning time of 3:48.63 and Kitchen runner-up in 3:51.10. Teammate Ivar Hokanson placed 10th in the race (3:59.55).

In the 800, where Tostenson entered the meet with a state-best mark for all classifications at 1:51.62, the Washington-bound senior placed first in 1:52.19 to finish one second ahead of Cole Fiegner of Corvallis (1:53.18). Also for Crater, Miracle was fourth in 1:54.50 and Preston Schmidt placed seventh (1:57.29).

Crater girls track and field team members and coaches pose with their fourth-place trophy earned at the Class 5A state championships in Eugene. (Photo courtesy of oregonsportsphotos)

“We probably could have paced things a little faster in both races,” Loftus said of Tostenson’s double Saturday, “but I think the win is the goal. That’s always the end result for these kids is to go after a title.”

While Kitchen and Tostenson expect to continue with busy racing schedules over the coming months before heading to college, Saturday still marked a bittersweet moment as the final official competition as a Crater runner for the accomplished duo.

“It’s been a lot of racing — offseason and in-season — and our sport isn’t the lightest on your body,” noted Loftus, “so you don’t know how much kids are going to go through illness or getting some pains here and there. They’ve both been super resilient and finished their high school career off on top. It’s been a great four years for both of those kids.”

Similarly, it’s been a fantastic couple of years for Lindbloom, who took the state by storm with last year’s winning effort in the boys javelin and finished strong once again.

Although early season results had Lindbloom hovering around the 170-foot mark, his performances shot up steadily through May and resulted in him breaking his own school record in the final two outings.

After winning the Midwestern League title in 182-0, Lindbloom stretched his record to 183-8 on his fourth throw of the finals.

“You could kind of see a little bit of the pressure at the beginning of the year, but as we progressed, he just got more focused,” said Loftus of Lindbloom defending his state title.

That focus, however, didn’t alter the typical light-hearted spirit that Lindbloom brings to the competition.

Nathan Lindbloom of Crater competes in the javelin throw during the Class 5A state championships Saturday at Hayward Field. (Photo by oregonsportsphotos)

“He’s honestly just such a happy guy,” said Loftus. “When the other guys are out there throwing, he was getting the crowd going. One of the throws in that first round, he got the crowd going and the guy beat him, and he was just super pumped and happy for him.”

“You don’t always see that,” added the coach. “You see kids locked in and more focused on doing what they want to do personally, and he’s out there to see everybody do well. That made him perform well as well and win the state title. I think it took a lot of that pressure kind of off him, too, when he was just rousing the crowd. He’s got great sportsmanship, and I’m just happy for him and that we have another year. We’re going to try to branch him out, too, to see if we can get him in some other events.”

Garnica gave it her all in the girls 1,500, battling to the wire with North Eugene junior Cricket Phipps as each collapsed at the finish line. Phipps won in 4:33.23, while Reese came in at 4:34.72 and was followed by Caldera’s Maddie Carney (4:35.20) and teammate Brynn Davenport (4:35.95) as each of the top four recorded a PR.

“Reese went to the well, for sure, because she wanted that win,” said Loftus. “Her and Cricket battled it out until the very end.”

Garnica returned to finish fourth in the 800 (2:17.74), while Doddington finished fifth in the 100 (12.59) and ran a leg on the fifth-place 4×100 relay with Kamdyn Johnson, Claire Davenport and Addi Dippel (49.67).

Crater’s girls 4×400 relay finished sixth (4:03.48) with Grace Havniear, Garnica, Hannah Pygman and Johnson, who also was seventh in the girls 200 (26.13). Dominic Bermea finished ninth in the boys pole vault.

For Eagle Point, Raber was able to wash away the disappointment of a no-height result in last year’s pole vault state championship with a personal-best performance this time around.

Eagle Point senior Easton Raber, shown earlier this season, cleared 15 feet, 1.75 inches to earn the boys pole vault title Saturday at the Class 5A state championships in Eugene. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

It didn’t come without some drama for the senior, who needed a third try at 14-5.5 and 14-8.25 to continue his run in the finals. When it came to 15-1.75, Raber rose to the occasion to clear that mark on his first attempt — allowing him to earn a tiebreaker over Crescent Valley’s Jack Herman, who missed his first try at that height before clearing the bar.

Neither pole vaulter was able to clear the next height at 15-4.5, leaving Raber to stand atop the podium for the first time in three tries at state. The 15-1.75 height ranked as the second-best in the state this season.

Raber was joined by Moreno, Benjamin Leveque and Kaden Webb in winning the 4×100 state title in 42.56, just slightly ahead of Redmond (42.58) in a photo finish.

Moreno backed that performance up by placing third in the 200 (21.84) and fourth in the 100 (11.08), with Raber finishing eighth in the latter (11.38).

Leveque was seventh in the high jump (6-0.5) and Devin Stewart finished ninth in the javelin (158-5) to help wrap up the boys meet for EP.

Deng-Gomez capped an amazing season with a winning throw of 38-6.75, turning her first turn in the circle into a shot put championship by nearly two feet over runner-up Amina Redfield of Wilsonville (36-10.5).

For Ashland, Natalie Kupka finished 12th in the girls 1,500 (4:51.69) on Saturday.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035