Track: Joseph girls finish second in Uriarte meet

Published 8:36 am Monday, May 6, 2024

BAKER — The Joseph girls’ track and field team finished only behind Powder Valley in the team standings at the Ray Uriarte Invite in Baker on Friday, May 3. The Joseph boys finished the day just outside the top five, placing sixth in the team scoring.

Competing against a number of larger 4A schools at the meet, the Joseph girls finished the day with 58 points. Powder Valley dominated the day, scoring 71.5 points with La Grande just four points behind the Eagles with 54 points.

Three Eagles led the way with second-place showings for the day. Sophomore Annie Rose Miller picked up second in the 300-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 48.93 seconds. Miller also claimed second place in the pole vault event after clearing the bar at 9 feet, 6 inches. Junior Basey Dawson won second place with a 4 feet, 8-inch-high jump.

A group of Joseph sophomores also joined together to finish third in the 4-by-400 relay with a time of 4 minutes, 18.82 seconds. Miller joined with Harley Wanner, Opal McDonald and Caleigh Johnson for the finish.

The Eagle boys wrapped up the day with 51 points, seven points behind fifth-place Nyssa in the team standings. Baker won the team’s home meet with 97 points.

Junior Jett Leavitt continues to inch closer to breaking the 4-minute mark in the 1,500 meters after downing a talented field on Friday and winning in a time of 4 minutes, 0.36 seconds, a personal best for the Eagle.

Sophomore Jonah Lyman showed the strength of the Joseph distance program, winning the 3,000 meters in a season-best time of 9 minutes, 29.30 seconds. Setting a new personal record and winning the javelin, Gavin Russell recorded a throw of 179 feet.

Joseph now prepares for the 1A Special District 4 meet to be held Friday, May 10 with a return trip to Baker High School. Action starts at 10 a.m. The top two placers in each individual and relay event automatically qualify for the state meet. In addition, four additional spots for the next fastest times/marks from around the state’s district meets will also qualify.