Gophers run the show at Dean Nice Invitational

This year 14 teams from all across Oregon joined together to compete in the annual Dean Nice Invitational. A few of the most prominent teams that participated were Clackamas, Corvallis, Marist, Mountain View and Wilsonville.
After a long, hot afternoon of running, sprinting, jumping and throwing, the. Boys took second place, with the girls finishing in fifth place overall.
Despite the heat, many athletes made new personal records (PRs), also helping raise the team’s score.
“We’ve gotten a lot of PRs in a lot of different areas. They’re competing pretty well,” volunteer throwers coach Gary Stautz said.
Some of the high scorers on the girls side were seniors Haley Crouser, taking first in the javelin and 100-meter hurdles, and Kennedy Martin, taking first in the 5000-meter run. Junior Amber Peschka took second in the javelin, and freshman Leah Russell took second in the 300-meter hurdles and third in the 100-meter hurdles. The girls’ 4×400 meter relay team took third place, with junior Minerva Bron and freshmen Therese Nahimana, Annaka Bufton and Leah Russell sprinting for the Gophs.
On the boys’ side, senior Kaleb Crimp took second in the javelin, and junior Brian Salgado took second in the shot put. The relay teams also did well. The 4×100 meter relay team, made of seniors Hunter Pattock and Devauntae Hoffman, junior Gre’gonta Brown and freshman Emony Robinson, took second. The 4×400 meter relay, consisting of seniors Cole Lindhorst, Remy Somsanith, Daniel Allen and sophomore Justin Linn, took third.
“We’ve had some good marks all across the board,” assistant distance coach Ryan Beaver said.
At the end of the night, when all of the awards had been given out, the team felt satisfied with themselves.
“I think our team has done really good, for the guys,” Somsanith said.
This year, despite having fewer teams participate than normal, the boys team did exceptionally well. The girls team placed lower than they normally do, but that was to be expected because of the low number of girls on the varsity team.
The meet still turned out well overall, with many PRs and high scores throughout the whole evening.