Personal records abound for Viks

April 9, 2022 — Elmira, Marshfield and Pacific joined Siuslaw on a sunny day at Hans Petersen Memorial Field on April 5 for a Sky-Em League track and field meet. As is always the goal for the Viking track team, steady improvements were shown. Many personal bests were also achieved.

The meet was scheduled as a junior varsity meet. This gives the squads a little more flexibility in the number of events in which participants can compete and also gives athletes a slightly more casual atmosphere to try some events they may not normally have the most experience in.

The highlight for the day was the individual performance of Viking senior Camp Lacouture.

He won the 110m hurdles with a personal record time of 19.28. He PR’d in the high jump when he jumped 5’6 to finish second. However, most impressive was when, with a vocal crowd cheering him on, Lacouture vaulted 14’3, tying Chris Voogd (2003) for the fourth best vault in Siuslaw track and field history.

Marshfield junior Trent Summers, winner of the first annual Florence Street Vault on March 26, tied Lacouture for first place, when he also vaulted 14’3.

It was a family affair on the medal stand as, on the girls side, sophomore Jane Lacouture threw the javelin 85’4 to set a PR and win the event.

Another highlight on the girls side was the second-place finish in the pole vault by freshman Macali Lade, who vaulted 6’3. Lade is returning from injury and is working on getting back in track shape after rehabbing a hip injury.

“I’ve been out for a while,” she said. “I’ve just been focusing on my technique and getting my form back.”

Later in the year, Lade said she also hopes to compete in discus.

“I want to start doing discus because that’s one event I’m sure I’m good at,” said Lade. “I’m looking forward to having time to practice.”

Having more girls participate in more events will give the team a chance to score more team points, which have been at a premium at SHS’s meets thus far this year.

The Viking girls scored 17 on April 5 to finish third. Marshfield won the girls team title with 95 points.

Marshfield also won the boys team title. They scored 116. The Siuslaw boys were second with 89.

Besides previously mentioned Camp Lacouture, top contributors to those 89 points on the boys side include:

• Junior Hunter Petterson, who set a PR when he won the 200m in 23.44. He was also a member of both the first-place finishing 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.
• Junior Jon Rose won the shot put with a personal record 42’ toss. He also won the discus with his 124’9 throw.
• Senior James Smith was a member of the two first-place relay teams (4x100 and 4x400). He was also second in discus (111’2) and PR’d to earn fourth in the triple jump (35’11).
• Senior Rhys Fleming won the javelin with a 136’1 throw.
• Freshman Ray Brito Xilot was third in the 100m with a personal record time of 12.04. He was also part of both first-place relay teams (4x100 and 4x400).

Petterson was pleased with his PR in the 200m and talked about something that is motivating him and a lot of his Siuslaw teammates.

“This year, if we qualify for state, we get to go to Hayward Field in Eugene,” he said. “They have brand-new facilities. They just rebuilt it and it would be so cool to compete there.”

The Oregon High School Track and Field State Championships are typically held at Hayward Field, but haven’t been the last few seasons because of COVID and the renovations.

For most of the Viking athletes who qualify for state, this will be their first chance to compete at what is considered the “Mecca” of American track and field.

The team has a few more meets until they can put too much focus on Hayward, starting today in McKenzie. The AMJ Invitational begins at 10:30 a.m. The Mapleton Sailor track team will also compete in the event.