Ridgeview’s Kensey Gault reacts after finishing the 5A girls 100-meter dash on May 18 at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Caldera’s Dane Giessler, bottom right, wins the 5A boys 800-meter race on May 18 at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Bend High’s Addisen Fisher, center, reacts as her mother, Heather Fisher, surprises her with the trophy for being the 2024 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year during a special celebration on the softball field at Bend High School on Tuesday morning. Â
The Caldera softball team celebrates after Avary Arment's walk-off single in the Wolfpack's 8-7 win over No. 12 Thurston in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs on May 21 at Caldera High School.
The Bend High Lava Bears celebrate their victory over Lebanon June 1 in the 5A state softball title game at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene.
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The Crook County boys track and field team took its first state title on May 18 at Hayward Field in Eugene.
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Grace Stott (left) and Brynn Capps (right) touch racquets between points during the Class 5A doubles championship match on May 25 in Beaverton.
Naji Saker/For The Oregonian
Ridgeview’s Kensey Gault reacts after finishing the 5A girls 100-meter dash on May 18 at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Taylor Balkom/For The ÅÝֱܽ²¥
Caldera’s Dane Giessler, bottom right, wins the 5A boys 800-meter race on May 18 at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Taylor Balkom/For The ÅÝֱܽ²¥
Summit's Owen Harper chips the ball onto the green during the Class 5A state golf tournament on May 14 at Quail Valley Golf Club in Banks.Â
Summit’s Collin Moore competes in the 5A boys high jump on May 18 during the OSAA State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Taylor Balkom/For The ÅÝֱܽ²¥
The Caldera softball team celebrates after Avary Arment's walk-off single in the Wolfpack's 8-7 win over No. 12 Thurston in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs on May 21 at Caldera High School.
Another high school sports season is in the books.
Here are 10 stories that defined the 2024 spring sports season, which saw five teams — and more than a dozen individuals — claim state titles.
Bend softball wins first state title
After starting the season with six losses in its first nine games, the Bend High softball team ripped off 21 consecutive wins, culminating with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Lebanon in the Class 5A state championship on June 1.
With the bases loaded in the fifth inning and Bend trailing 1-0, sophomore catcher Mackenzie Shaughnessy came through with a two-run single to give the Lava Bears a lead they would not relinquish to claim the program’s first state title.
EUGENE — Walking into Jane Sanders Stadium on the University of Oregon campus is a bit more …
Bend High’s Fisher named nation’s best
Bend High’s Addisen Fisher, center, reacts as her mother, Heather Fisher, surprises her with the trophy for being the 2024 Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year during a special celebration on the softball field at Bend High School on Tuesday morning. Â
Addisen Fisher’s storied high school career reached another level when she was named the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year for her performance this spring.
Well before Addisen Fisher set foot in the hallways or onto the softball field of Bend High,…
Fisher is the state’s first softball player to win the prestigious award. She is also the first Central Oregon athlete — and just the fifth Oregonian ever — to win the award in any sport.
Fisher is headed to UCLA.
Caldera softball wins first playoff game
Outside of the girls soccer team, no team at Caldera had hosted and won a playoff game in the school’s brief history.
The late-game heroics should not have been necessary in No. 5 Caldera’s 8-7 win over No. 12 …
That all changed when the Wolfpack softball team, thanks to a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning by junior Avary Arment, defeated Thurston 8-7 in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs for the program’s first-ever postseason win.
Redmond doubles team is state champion
Redmond girls tennis can now claim it has a state champion after Brynn Capps and Grace Stott made their way through the doubles bracket to claim the 5A girls doubles title.
Coming in as the No. 4 seed at the state tennis championships, Redmond’s Brynn Capps and Gra…
The fourth-seeded Capps and Stott pulled an upset over the bracket’s top-seed from Crescent Valley to reach the championship match, where they beat Ridgeview’s duo of Sydney Cassaro and Darrian Streater in three sets.
Crook County boys win first track title
Powered by a pair of incredible performances from Gabe Love and Eli Oelkers, the Crook County boys track and field team claimed the 4A state team title — a first for the boys program.
Love and Oelkers combined to score 60 points for the Cowboys, with Love being named Athlete of the Meet after winning the javelin, finishing second in the 200 and third in the 100, and helping the 4x100 relay team of Cooper Nelson, Jace Jonas and Julian Lopez to a gold medal.
Oelkers claimed a state title by winning the long jump.
EUGENE — Three teams brought home team titles back to Central Oregon. Two of them have made …
Summit track wins boys and girls titles
The Summit track and field program became the first Oregon school to eclipse 20 team titles at the state track and field championships at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
The girls team won its state-leading 14th title, while the boys claimed their seventh this spring.
Hannah Ortiz (girls long jump); Collin Moore (boys high jump); the girls 4x100-meter relay team of Lia Cooper, Kalia Durfee, Ramsey Starr and Abigail Fagan; Noah Goodrich (boys triple jump), and Benjamin Hill (boys discus) all won individual titles for the Storm.
Ridgeview’s Kensey Gault returns to form
The past three years looked as if Ridgeview’s Kensey Gault might have turned into a great “What if?†question after a slew of injuries stalled what started off as a stellar high school track career.
There were times during the past three years when Kensey Gault was on top of track and field…
The Ridgeview senior made the most of her senior season, starting with a qualifying mark for the Nike Outdoor Nationals in the heptathlon. She reclaimed the 100-meter hurdles crown at the state meet, three years after winning it as a freshman, then finished second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 100 at Hayward Field.
This week, Gault capped off the season with a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon at the Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward, earning All-American honors.
Twelve more athletes win state titles at Hayward
Additionally, 12 more Central Oregon athletes found themselves on the top step of the podium as champions at the state track and field championships.
EUGENE — In the first three track meets this season, the Culver boys 4x100-meter relay team …
Ridgeview had two additional state champions with Tyas Selby repeating as the boys pole vault champion and Zowie Nunes winning her third consecutive girls javelin title.
Caldera has its first state champions in track and field with Dane Giessler winning the boys 800 and the team of Mia Koernig, Samantha Chandler, Ava Kailey and Jaymi Dickinson winning the girls 4x400 relay.
BANKS — Coming into the Class 5A state golf championships, the Summit boys golf team had thr…
The depth of the Summit boys golf team was on display at Quail Valley Golf Club for the Class 5A state championships.
Sophomore Bryce Grieb and senior Owen Harper tied for second place. Senior Jakob Hansen finished fifth while junior Paolo Delia and freshman Bryden Ditty tied for ninth to help the Storm win their third consecutive state title (sixth overall).
Emerging sport has a local champion
In the fall of 2023 the Oregon School Activities Association delegate assembly approved boys volleyball as an emerging activity. And in its first season, the Summit boys volleyball team won the 5A/4A state title.
The Storm went 9-1 during the course of the season and picked up wins over Parkrose, Molalla and Silverton in the eight-team state tournament.
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