Less Than A Week After Their Historic 100 Meters, Brahe-Pedersen And Jones Are Racing Again At Jesuit With The All-Time Oregon Best Within Reach

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Building upon last weekend's historic performances at the Oregon Relays, sprinters Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Lily Jones are ready to race again. 

The two fastest girls in Oregon since 1968 will race for the third consecutive weekend at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays and six days after Brahe-Pedersen, a Lake Oswego, ran US#1 wind-legal 11.34 and Jones, a Roosevelt senior, ran US#4 11.44. 

"Mia and I love competing against one another. We definitely feed off of each other," Jones said. 

Friday's elite girls 100 meters brings to light the possibility of one or both exceeding Margaret Johnson Bailes' time of 11.30 achieved at the Mexico City Games. 

It's an all-time best that seemed like it might stand forever in Oregon. Not anymore. 

NIKE/JESUIT TWILIGHT RELAYS WEBCAST INFO

In addition to Brahe-Pedersen and Jones, Oregon City's Sophia Beckmon and Tahoma WA's Brooke Lyons have also broken 12 seconds this spring. 

Three years ago, the last time that Jesuit was able to host this meet, it was the boys 100 that drew all of the attention. Micah Williams, then a Benson Tech junior, ran 10.21 for the fastest prep 100 all-time in Oregon, and also faster than any sprinter from Washington or California. 

The boys 100 meters this week also features sprinters who were in the final of last week's meet at Hayward Field. 

Nathan Rider of North Medford and Andrew Walker of South Medford are both making the trek 300 miles north to race against Central Catholic duo Xavier Simpson and Stryder Todd-Fields in a potential OSAA Class 6A preview. 

The elite miles are also packed with talented individuals. 

Jesuit senior Chloe Foerster, one of the best athletes in program history, will have a chance to lower her own Oregon all-time best from Arcadia (4:40.27) as she races Kate Peters from Lake Oswego, the state's all-time 3,200 meters record-breaker, Ella Borsheim from Bellarmine Prep WA, Kaiya Robertson from Franklin, Eliza White from Curtis WA and Sophia Nordenholz from Albany CA. 

It will be the first Foerster-Peters showdown since the state cross country final last November. 

The boys mile entries include all six of the Oregon boys that ran under 8:16 last weekend in the 3,000 meters at the Oregon Relays -- Caleb Lakeman of Tualatin, Tyrone Gorze of Crater, James Crabtree of Sherwood, Aiden Smith of Lincoln, Michael Maiorano of South Medford and Wes Shipsey of Central Catholic. 

But, in addition to those six, Arlington WA's Aiden Emerson, second at the Arcadia Invitational, Kamiakin WA's Isaac Teeples and Bishop Blanchet WA's William Schneider are in the mix this week. 

And Jesuit's John Schuler, eighth in the Arcadia Invitational mile, is on his home track. 

And Franklin's Charlie North. 

That should make for the deepest boys mile field in meet history. 

Jesuit will load up for the boys distance medley relay in an attempt to go for a sub-10 minute time and challenge South Eugene's 1977 all-time state best 9:58.3c. 

The Crusaders have Jacob Nenow, Gus Clevenger, Joshua Augustine and other options at their disposal. 

Jesuit is also the top seed in the girls DMR. 

The meet will also be one of the first in Oregon to ever contest the 3,200 meters, a race distance common in many other states. Logan Law of Milwaukie, Max Girardet of Central Catholic, Grayson Wilcott of Kamiakin WA and Clevenger are among the runners who could be seeking a sub-nine minute time. 

In the girls 3,200, Summit's Ella Thorsett should have company up front with talented freshmen Sydney Collier of Skyline WA and Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley. 

Oregon City standout Harley Daniel is the top entry in the girls 100-meter hurdles and could be ready to crack 14 seconds for the first time. 

Beckmon and Daniel are both entered in the long jump as well. Beckmon is the reigning Outdoor Nationals champion and on the cusp of her first 20-foot jump. 

Cascade's Emma Gates, one of the country's top high jumpers, is entered. She cleared six feet for the first time at the Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle in February. 

Pendleton's Samuel Jennings, US#2 this spring in the javelin, leads a strong field that also includes Sherwood's Austin Milton.