Oregon high school track state championships previews announced | JQJO

Eugene — The OSAA 5A boys state track and field championships take place this weekend at Hayward Field, and previews list favorites, contenders and dark-horse entrants across sprints, distance races, hurdles, relays and field events. Several marquee names headline the meet: Jude Jarrett of Summit is the favorite in both the 100 and 200, Cade Weber of Lebanon leads the 400, Maxwell Miracle of Crater is the top pick in the 800 and is the only runner under 1:55 this season, and Bjorn Blankenship of Summit tops the 1,500 with a 3:52.97. Clayton Jero of Summit, who ran 8:15.54 at Arcadia and broke his school’s 3,200 record, is the favorite in the 3,000. Defending 100 champion Carter Wachs of Redmond is sidelined by a groin strain and will miss the meet.

Hurdles and relays draw strong fields: Logan Gutches of Corvallis leads the 300 hurdles, Rowan Finlay is favored in the 110 hurdles, Silverton is the pick in the 4x100 and Summit is the favorite in the 4x400 — Summit’s 3:20.27 at the Intermountain Conference district meet is faster than the 5A meet record set a decade ago. In the throws and jumps, freshman and underclass standouts include Bertram Latta of Dallas in both shot and discus, Nathan Lindbloom of Crater in the javelin, Caden Druliner of Silverton with a 6-9 personal best in the high jump, Jackson Meyer of Ridgeview in the pole vault, Justin Parsons of Caldera in the long jump and Teddy Swigert of Summit in the triple jump.