With Medford Rotary Relays on the horizon, a host of up-and-comers post personal records

With the big show still to come Friday and Saturday for local track and field athletes, the stage was open for some up-and-comers to shine Wednesday night as Eagle Point played host to Ashland and Crater in a Midwestern League tri-meet.

Many of the elite regulars sat out Wednesday as they prepared for the upcoming 86th annual Medford Rotary Relays, hosted by North Medford.

The annual Medford Relays, designed in 1939 by Bill Bowerman to mimic a similar unique track meet called the Hayward Relays in Eugene, will start off at 5:55 p.m. Friday at Spiegelberg Stadium with eight non-scoring exhibition races.

The opening-day slate includes boys and girls races in the high hurdles, 400 meters, 800 meters and 3,000 meters.

Action will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bowerman Field on the campus of North Medford High, with the relay-centric event divided into large school and small school groupings — hearkening back to the days of the Little Rogue Relays — to create a team champion at each level this year.

Schools slated to compete in the Medford Rotary Relays include North Medford, South Medford, Grants Pass, Ashland, Crater, Eagle Point, Mazama, Henley, Hidden Valley, Cascade Christian, St. Mary’s, Lakeview and New Hope Christian.

With that looming on the horizon, Wednesday’s field was open for different faces — along with a few standards — to find themselves standing atop the podium in Eagle Point.

Personal records resulted in eight triumphs during the tri-meet, with the host Eagles producing five of those marks.

Eagle Point sophomore Corbin Farquhar was the lone boys competitor to earn two individual wins, including a PR of 39 feet, 3 inches in the triple jump to complement a 20-5 showing in the long jump.

Eagle Point senior Kai Peters turned in a PR in winning the shot put in 46-5.5.

The only other winning PR on the boys side came from Crater junior Benjamin Warner, who won the 110-meter high hurdles in 18.39 seconds.

The girls competition kick-started with a winning PR from Crater junior Kamdyn Johnson in the 100 meters (12.59), with Eagle Point sophomore Kyla Ford clocking her own top time to win the 800 (2:35.13).

Ashland freshman Miriam Preskenis reached a PR to win the shot put in 31-10, while Eagle Point sophomore Kate-Lynn Angiolet notched a PR in tying Crater sophomore Eloise Spires at 8-0 in the pole vault.

Eagle Point freshman Sage Beeks also set a PR in winning the long jump at 16-5.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES: Crater 66, Eagle Point 57, Ashland 22.

100 — 1, Logan Moreno, EP, 11.11; 800 — 1, Kaden Loftus, Cra, 2:19.94; 1,500 — 1, Royal Linthorst, Cra, 4:47.56; 110 HURDLES — 1, Benjamin Warner, Cra, 18.39; 300 HURDLES — 1, Kai Mathewson, Cra, 42.80; 4×100 RELAY — 1, Crater (Ansen Oloizia-Vazquez, Kai Mathewson, Nicholas Kube, Dakota Lynch), 45.34; 4×400 RELAY — 1, Crater (Mason Baker, R.J. Maxson, Royal Linthorst, Jack Nickerson), 3:59.16.

SHOT PUT — 1, Kai Peters, EP, 46-5.5; DISCUS — 1, Logan Brown, EP, 114-4; JAVELIN — 1, Nathan Lindbloom, Cra, 170-0; HIGH JUMP — 1, Benjamin Leveque, EP, 5-10; POLE VAULT — 1, Easton Raber, EP, 14-6; LONG JUMP — 1, Corbin Farquhar, EP, 20-5; TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Corbin Farquhar, EP, 39-3.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES: Crater 58, Ashland, 48, Eagle Point 23.

100 — 1, Kamdyn Johnson, Cra, 12.59; 800 — 1, Kyla Ford, EP, 2:35.13; 1,500 — 1, Addi Brock, Ash, 6:11.25; 100 HURDLES — 1, Lilly Dominguez, Ash, 18.11; 300 HURDLES — 1, Kate Harnois, Cra, 55.82; 4×100 RELAY — 1, Crater (Grace Havniear, Hailey Pygman, Cadence Doddington, Sarah Doddington), 52.58.

SHOT PUT — 1, Miriam Preskenis, Ash, 31-10; DISCUS — 1, Alexis Bakke, Ash, 103-5; JAVELIN — 1, Alexis Bakke, Ash, 97-10; HIGH JUMP — 1, Audrey Erickson, Ash, 4-2; POLE VAULT — 1, Kate-Lynn Angiolet, EP, 8-0, and Eloise Spires, Cra, 8-0; LONG JUMP — 1, Sage Beeks, EP, 16-5; TRIPLE JUMP — 1, Chloe Borchard, Cra, 32-4.5.

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