Grizzlies growl at Jim Barks Open

By DYLAN WILHELM

Of the News-Register

Track teams from around the Valley and beyond descended into McMinnville for the Jim Barks Grizzly Bear Open on Thursday.

Schools from 6A through 1A participated, including McMinnville, Amity, Dayton, Willamina and Yamhill-Carlton.

The Grizzly girls finished first among 13 teams, and the boys took second in an all-around effort from both squads.

Aiden Perpelitt and Brian Lewis took first and second in the 110 meter hurdles. Perpelitt’s time of 17.11 seconds topped Lewis’ time of 17.82. Perpellit also finished third in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 45.44 seconds.

Bo McLaughlin and Amity’s Kiyan Vrell tied for first in the javelin throw, at 142 feet.

Grizzlies took second and third in both shot put and discus, and Vrell took fourth in the discus.

Dante Cicolani took home the gold in the high jump, jumping five feet, eight inches.

On the girl’s side, Allinah Williams just beat out other runners in the 400 meter run, topping Franklin’s Elizabath Ghazi by just four-tenths of a second.

It was just as tight in the 800 meter run, as Charlotte Terry topped Franklin’s Gigi Bareilles by less than three-tenths of a second.

Tayah Curry won the 100 meter hurdle and took second in the 300 meter hurdle, and the Grizzly girls won both the 4-by-100 relay and the 4-by-400 relay. Williams, Brooklyn Summers, Delaney Snaric and Marley Darling Peterson made up the 4-by-100 team, while Terry, Summers, Snaric and Williams made up the 4-by-400 team.

Mikalyn Freeman tossed her shot put more than two feet further than any other competitor, setting a personal best of 29 feet, 10 inches. Andrea Shirley won the javelin toss with a throw of 92 feet, nine inches and Alison Jensen won the triple jump, going 31 feet, 1.25 inches.

Amity’s Hailee Stewart dominated the discus toss, as her effort of 97 feet, five inches topped the next closest competitor by more than 16 feet.

Amity’s Eliza Nisly found success in the long jump, setting a new personal best with a jump of 15 feet.

Dayton had a handful of top-10 finishers, including Konstance Albright, who took second in the discus with a toss of 81 feet, eight inches. She also finished fourth in shot put with a toss of 26 feet, 10 inches and seventh in the javelin toss with a throw of 75 feet, four inches.

The relay team of Danika Moody, Ailin Gonzalez, Ellie Monagon and Kelsey Packard took eighth in the 4-by-100 relay.

James Brewer had the top finish on the day among the Yamhill-Carlton Tigers, placing fourth in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 6.75 inches.

Makenzi Lynn finished fifth in the 400 meter run with a time of 1:08.72, and just a second behind her was fellow Tiger Claire Allen.

Adelyn Smith earned a spot in the top five in the discus, as did Braydon Martin. James Davis just missed the top five in shot put, placing sixth.

Willamina’s Zoie Sickles and Alexis Wertz had stellar days with their arms, as Sickles took second in shotput and fourth in discus, while Wertz took third in javelin.

Evelyn Anderson took sixth in the triple jump with a jump of 26 feet, 2.25 inches, and the 4-by-100 relay team of Anderson, Kalena Clark, Lauren Klaers and Wertz finished seventh with a time of 59.31 seconds.

Each team heads their separate ways in the coming days and weeks.

After spring break, the Grizzlies will host Liberty on April 5, the Tigers head to Neah-Kah-Nie, and Dayton heads to Amity on April 6.

Also on the fifth, the Bulldogs will host their first home meet in over 20 years.