EUGENE — Where there’s a relay in Eugene, there’s Woodrow Wilson High School.
The Long Beach, California, team has long dominated every relay possible at the Oregon Relays, holding numerous records and placing first in most, if not all, events. That trend seemed to be the case again Friday at Hayward Field, as the Wilson boys and girls took the top prize in all but one relay.
It would’ve been a clean sweep if not for the Olympia boys.
The Olympia 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team of Aden Carr, Rylan Thomas, Sam Rigg and Caden Durocher pulled off a stunning comeback in the final leg to top Wilson and finish first Friday night.
But the first-place verdict was far from enough to tell the whole story of how the Bears conquered the race under the flashing Hayward Field lights. Olympia crossed the finish line in 3 minutes and 28.47 seconds, good for a new Oregon Relays meet record by just over two seconds and the top time in the United States in the early portion of the 2026 outdoor track and field season.
In stunning fashion, Durocher’s finishing 800-meter leg was done in 1 minute and 52.64 seconds, which would have set a new personal record for the senior who finished eighth in the 800 meters at state last spring. He surpassed Wilson’s finishing runner Jordan Kincherlow in the final 200 meters and crossed the tape at the finish line at the Oregon Relays.
“We’ve really been putting in the work day in and day out. We’ve had some of the worst weather for meets and practices that we’ve ever seen, and we keep showing up regardless of what the weather is,” Durocher said. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a relay team pray together before a race. There was something about that connection where we remembered we’re not racing for ourselves. We’re racing for Him.”
When he passed his competitor and saw nothing but the blue tape in his path, Durocher didn’t feel an immediate rush of adrenaline and jubilation.
“A lot of confusion. I tweaked my hamstring on Monday. I wasn’t able to run a few days this week, so I didn’t even think I was going to race,” he said, still clutching the finish-line tape. “I haven’t raced 800 all season. That first lap would’ve been my 400 personal record this season. I was just in complete awe that that was even able to happen. I saw that tape and I was like, ‘I want that tape. I’ve seen other people get that tape. I want my own tape.’ “This will be up in my room for a long time.”
Rigg’s day also included setting a new lifetime best in javelin. He entered the day throwing a PR of 160 feet, 1 inch, but landed a 167-4 toss on his first throw on the big stage. Rigg also added a new second-best throw, launching 161-6 on his second attempt. His third and fourth throws were impressive as well, throwing 158-0 and 159-8, respectively.
“It means everything, especially it being on the first throw. It brought me motivation throughout the rest of the throws and kept me hyped up,” Rigg said. “Something I struggled with before was my plant foot. I’ve really focused on that technique, and it paid off.”
Rigg finished 12th in javelin, while his teammate junior Tucker Downing took fifth with a best throw of 176-4. While his goal to break his PR of 191-9 came up short, he accomplished his other objective to finish in the top five at the Oregon Relays.
“A lot of my growth comes from my brother Cameron. He was the one who got me into javelin. He’s throwing at Air Force Academy right now,” Downing said. “Everything I’ve learned has been from him and my own training on the side.”
Senior Carson Godfrey impressed in his two throwing events Friday, placing in the top five in all three. The 2025 state shot put champion took second at the Oregon Relays with a top throw of 59-7, and he placed fifth in hammer at 168-10.
Freshman Quenton Lanese qualified for the one-mile finals and finished 15th with a new personal-best time of 4:12.93. Freshman James Levitt took 19th in the freshman two-mile race at 10:27.66.
For the Olympia girls, senior thrower Bennie Asomaning set a new lifetime best in shot put at 33-6 to place 18th. She has improved her mark in each of her first five events in her senior campaign.
Sophomore Anneliese Jones impressed in the 400-meter finals, breaking her best mark at 59.87 seconds to finish third in her heat and 25th overall. As of Saturday morning, her time sits at 32nd in Washington state in 2026.
Three freshman girls — Leah Hennen, Gemma Stevick and Eliza Johnson — shined in the freshman two-mile race. Hennen crossed the finish line in ninth place at 11:30.31 while Stevick and Johnson were neck and neck, coming in 19th and 20th, respectively. Stevick finished in 11:47.63, and Johnson completed the race in 11:54.91.
The girls 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team of Gabi Peralta, Audrey Leneker, Jones and Sofia Dunlap finished seventh in their heat and 25th overall at 4:30.29.
As for Timberline, junior Joel Pedro earned a new PR in hammer at 132-3 to finish 13th. Senior TreVon Alejandro-Cross took 30th in the 100-meter prelims at 11.21 and 39th in the 200-meter finals at 22.94. Senior Carmelo Roper took 15th in the long jump at 20-9.75, crossing the 20-foot threshold for the third time this season. Senior Brady Moe competed in the 800-meter open and finished in 2:10.06 to place 56th.
