This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the OSAA (Oregon) State Track and Field Championships at the historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The reason for me going was that my 4x400 relay team qualified at the district meet, and since I was an alternate for that team, I went along as well. However, I wasn’t supposed to run, unless any of the starting runners got injured. It was a pretty exciting event to look forward to.
We left on Thursday in the afternoon, because the drive to Eugene is about four hours from Astoria. It was a tight squeeze into the school district Suburban that the six of us guys and two coaches rode in. There was leg space, and we were able to get down there without any problem.
Once we arrived at Eugene, the first thing we did was pay a visit to Hayward Field. Our head coach needed to pick up information for the meet the next day, and it was also a good chance for the team to take a tour of the track and get a feel for what we were going to be racing on. That night we were treated with visiting the Home Town Buffet, where we filled up on food for the next day. After that it was to the hotel for a nights sleep. We stayed at the La Quinta Inn, along with several other schools including La Grande, Sisters, and Hidden Valley. It really did feel like I was on vacation.
The next morning we woke up, ate a continental breakfast, and drove to the meet. It was the preliminaries day, so the races were to get into finals, and not to win medals. The girls on our team did fairly well, even if there was only two races they were in. Our relay team didn’t do to well though, as we didn’t make finals. The weather was great and was around 70 degrees. It was still fun to watch all the athletes compete, and we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner that evening.
Saturday was finals day. It was a great day with good weather and I was looking forward to watching some of the best athletes in the nation competing. Most of them are headed to the University of Oregon next year too, so they should be competing on that track for a long time.
We got there that day, and I purchased a sweatshirt as a souvenir. I then went over to the discus ring and watched Laura Bobek, a senior from my school set a state meet record at all levels in the discus. She is headed to Oregon next year and is ranked second nationally in her throwing events.
The rest of the day was spent watching the athletes compete for state titles. I watched the Crouser cousins win all of the throwing events. Sam Crouser threw the javelin the second farthest in the nation this year. I also watched Elijah Greer of Lake Oswego run. He won the 1500 M and the 800 M. Although he didn’t run his best times, he still blew away the competition and showed why he is the best middle distance runner in the nation.
The girls team from my school were able to acquire enough points to win third place at the 4A level. It may be the last time that they place that high for awhile. I also watched some fast sprinters, which was fun to see the amount of speed the possess, especially Matt Anthony of La Grande.
After the meet the girls team accepted their trophy, and then the team went to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate the meet accomplishments and the end of the season. The 2009 track season has officially come to a close. I can’t wait for next years season already. It should be another exciting season when it comes around.
