EUGENE, Ore. — The glitz and the glamor of Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., wasn’t intimidating for Tenino long jumper Ashton Moore, who had a drove of family members supporting him from the stands to help him feel at home over 200 miles away from the Stone City.
But the reigning 1A state runner-up was far from satisfied with his 14th-place finish at the Oregon Relays Friday, as he fouled his first and final jumps while managing to reach 21 feet on his third try. The mark is a season best for Moore and ties his second-best jump of his career, narrowly missing his state leap of 21 feet, 1.25 inches last May.
“I started off the season pushing my mark back, and then it got kind of rough. This week, I started messing up on my measurements,” Moore said. “Today, I felt great during the warmups, and then something happened [on the first jump]. I don’t know what it was. I’d give my performance a four out of 10.”
On his first jump, he began to leap but failed to start his form as he headed toward the sand pit. He found his footing on the second jump, landing a 20-foot, 3.75-inch jump. His third attempt proved his best, but with a chance to leap into the top 10 on his final try, he stepped over the takeoff line for a foul.
Despite a performance that didn’t match his expectations, he was impressed with what the Oregon Relays had to offer on day one.
“The atmosphere was amazing. I think it’s freaking awesome here,” Moore said. “I actually loved the sand pits. Everything felt brand new. Obviously, it’s a nice track, and it was nice to feel comfortable running up and down the pit. But I’ve definitely got a lot to improve on.”
Moore’s trip to Track Town USA is not finished yet, as he will join Carson Schall, Austin Johnson and Parker Minerich in the 4x100 relays preliminary round between 12:40 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The quartet earned four top-five finishes in the event last season, including second in the Evergreen Conference Championships and fifth at the 1A District 4 Championships.
Moore said the group can accomplish special things because of their collective spirit and belief in one another.
Tenino quartet nears PR at Oregon Relays
Tenino senior and future Portland State Viking Carson Schall had a busy day in Eugene, competing in three events in the span of roughly three hours. In the 110-meter hurdles, he was just a half second away from qualifying for the finals and setting a PR but settled for 14th at 15.66. He followed it up with his first 300-meter hurdles race of the season and finished 34th and one tick away from his PR at 43.34, good for sixth in his heat.
Schall then joined teammates Austin Johnson, Parker Minerich and Ashton Moore for their first 4x100 relay of the season. Moore crossed the finish line to give the team a final time of 45.67, which was impressive considering Schall’s loaded afternoon and Minerich had just completed the discus. Their best time, 44.84 seconds, came at districts last year.
“The 110s went well. I was feeling locked in for that, and then I got back out there to the track and saw that I only had 20 minutes until my 300 call time,” Schall said. “That was definitely a little shocking. I definitely had to make some adjustments and be able to adapt to race well, and I felt like I did that for my 300. It was a good season opener [for the 4x100 relay] too.”
Minerich had a tough day on the field for discus Saturday, fouling three of his four attempts. On his lone successful throw, he measured in at 133 feet and 4 inches for a 28th-place finish and fifth in his flight. While he came up short of the expectations, Minerich said he will use the lessons learned from the trip toward his state aspirations.
“It’s definitely gonna get me ready for state. It’s been a great experience with the crowd and everything,” he said.
Schall said Tenino’s track team, which was the most represented in the area in terms of athletes competing in Eugene, proved it is not to be slept on.
“I think we proved that we’re able to compete with bigger teams like 4A teams and 6A teams in Oregon and do better than a lot of them. We are capable of a high level if we put the work in,” he said.
