Canadian presence growing at Oregon Relays

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

National champion Katie Rainsberger is entered in the collegiate 1,500 meters, while a large contingent of teams from British Columbia have added some intrigue and star power to the high school segment of this year’s Oregon Relays.

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Rainsberger, the NXN cross country and New Balance Nationals Indoor mile champion, will be running with some of her future Oregon teammates on her future racing home at Hayward Field. She is aiming to run fast enough to earn a spot at the Olympic Trials.

Meanwhile, some of the top high school athletes in Oregon will find challenges coming from north of the border.

The Friday-Saturday meet at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field will be carried live on a webcast produced by RunnerSpace.com. 

Maddie Rabing of Lakeridge, an Oregon signee who recently broke the all-time state record in the hammer, will have strong Canadian competition in that event as well as the shot put.

Rabing will face Dolly Gabri, a ninth grade shot put phenom from Sullivan Heights BC who has thrown 49-10. Rabing is one of the top throwers in state history and comes in with a best of 49-0.50.

In the hammer, Rabing will face defending champion Camryn Rogers from McMath BC. Both girls have thrown over 180 feet this year.

Julian Body from Jesuit won the 300-meter hurdles at the Arcadia Invitational last week with 36.68, a performance that moves him to No. 2 all-time behind Ken Scott (36.10 in 1979). Body is entered in the open 400 this weekend.

Grant of Portland standouts Harrison Schrage and Ella Donaghu will be out for maximum team points this weekend. Schrage, one of the national leaders in the long jump, is hunting for his first 25-foot long jump as well as Jordan Kent’s 2001 state record. Schrage is also in the 100 and the triple jump and will take over the DyeStat Snapchat account on Saturday.

Donaghu, who has run a pair of impressive doubles in recent weeks, will be focused on the 800 meters as well as helping her teammates in the relays. Two years ago, Donaghu and Grant had a memorable showdown with Alexa Efraimson and Camas WA in the distance medley relay.

Camas will show up in full force again this weekend, hoping for a return trip to the pizza party it won last year when the Papermakers won the team championship.

Additional athletes to watch include:

- Zion Corrales-Nelson, a senior from St. Thomas More BC, is the returning champion in the 100 meters and she won the 200 and the 400 as a sophomore. She has committed to Cal and is entered this weekend in the 100 and 200.

- Michael Aono, a senior from Seaquam BC, comes into the meet seeded first in the 100 meters (10.68) and the 200 meters (21.28). He ran for Canada last summer at the World Youth Championships. 

- Abby Weiler from RA Long WA finished second in the girls pole vault last weekend at Arcadia with a new personal best 13-6. That’s one inch short of the Washington state record.

- Brendan Hoff of Reynolds BC is a 3:51 guy in the 1,500 meters and was another member of the Canadian team at World Youth last summer. He will go head to head with Oregon’s Class 6A champion Jackson Mestler, who was a Foot Locker finalist in December.

- The Wilson boys from Long Beach, Calif. bring a strong sprint corps to the meet and are the top seed in the boys sprint medley relay.

- Payge Cuthbertson of Sherwood OR has thrown 155 feet, 1 inch this spring in the javelin to move near the top of the U.S. leaderboard.

DyeStat will be on-site with photos, interviews and stories from the Oregon Relays throughout the meet.