EUGENE, Oregon — Hockinson’s Lyla Taylor and Ridgefield’s Danica Allen made strong first impressions in their Oregon Relays debut Friday, April 4, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, while Prairie thrower Will Foster earned his second-straight second-place finish in shot put in Eugene.
Despite throwing consecutive fouls on his second and third throws, Foster started strong with a 58-foot, 9.5-inch bomb on his first throw. Mountain View’s (Idaho) Joseph Miraya topped it on his second attempt, chucking the shot just over 60 feet. In order to edge out his opponent, Foster would have had to have set a new personal best, but he fouled his next two throws and came up short on his final attempt.
“I’m improving. There were a little bit of nerves here, but I’m trying to grow as much as possible in front of a lot of people,” Foster, the reigning 2A/3A/4A shot put state champion, said. “It feels good. I wanted more, but I’m happy with the result.”
Taylor put up an impressive mile time of 5:21.5 seconds for a 45th-place finish. Her lifetime best in the 1,600 meters is 5:20.93, so she was satisfied with that trek, but the quick turnaround for the 2-mile race less than two hours later caught up to her. She placed 56th while taking more time on each lap.
“It was really tough. It’s kind of hot out right now. I was hoping to get somewhere near my PR, but I’m OK with it,” Taylor said. “It’s just such a cool atmosphere here. When I first walked in, I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I had to stop and look around because I’ve been wanting to race here for a long time. I was begging my coaches to let me come here.”
Allen finished 30th out of 72 athletes in the 1-mile run, crossing the finish line in 5 minutes and 14.16 seconds, hovering around her best 1,600-meter times throughout her four-year career. Her fourth and final lap of 1:17.2 seconds was her strongest, and her “worst” lap was the third in 1:19.4 seconds.
Like Foster, Allen had higher expectations for the Oregon Relays, but the senior Spudder gained valuable knowledge and experience on one of the premier track stages in the country.
“I was a little disappointed with my performance today, but it is early in the season so I am going to be able to learn from this race for sure,” she said. “The biggest thing that I will take away from this race is the fact that you never really know how your race will go. Learning how to adjust based on the race is pretty important. Accepting that each race can have a separate set of goals that aren’t necessarily tied to the clock is what I will take away from today.”
