Three men and three women from East Linn compete at state championships

By Matt Crownover, Lebanon Express writer

Hannah Whitehead earned a title in the 400-meter run and guided the East Linn women's track and field team to a sixth-place finish at the 2A State Championships May 15-16 at Western Oregon University.

Whitehead, who ran the second best 400 in 2A history a few weeks ago, finished in 58.69 seconds.

"She was top dog in the 400 all year long and came through in that event," East Linn assistant coach Gary Timms said.

She also competed in the 100, 200 and long jump.

She was favored to finish in the top one or two spots in the 200 but fell to third place.

Erin Price of Heppner and Emily Pieren of Nestucca both finished in 26.41 seconds and Whitehead finished in 26.44. Fourth place went to Talissa Baldovino of Lakeview, who finished one one-hundredth of a second behind Whitehead.

According to Timms, the event announcer said "somebody got first and somebody got fourth and i couldn't tell you who."

"That was the race of the day," Timms said.

In both the 100 and long jump, Whitehead took fifth place.

Also placing well for the women was freshman Ariel Koos, who took sixth in the 300-meter hurdles (51.89) and seventh in the 100-meter hurdles (18.40).

"She just took in stride," Timms said of Koos' performance as a freshman.

Sophomore Katelin Renfro, a first-year track athlete, took seventh in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 35.38 seconds.

The boys were led by Jonathan Whitehead.

Whitehead took third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:17.84, nine seconds faster than he's ever finished in that event.

According to Timms, after the race, Whitehead got sick several times.

Although dehydrated and exhausted, Whitehead competed in the 800, taking eighth place in 2:09.51.

"That to me was the absolute best effort I've ever seen," Timms said.

Also finishing well for the men was Austin Koos, who took fifth in the 400 (53.10).

Timms said Koos sprained his ankle in the preliminaries and still managed to finish well in the event.

Austin Warren was the other East Linn athlete to compete at state, taking fourth in the discus with a toss of 133 feet, 10 inches.

Timms said he was proud of the way the athletes represented the school.

"We sent six kids to the meet in 11 different events and we came back with 11 medals," Timms said.

Men

(East Linn finishers in top five)

400: 5, Austin Koos, 53.10.

800: 8, Jonathan Whitehead, 2:09.51.

1,500: 3, Jonathan Whitehead, 4:17.84.

Discus: 4, Austin Warren, 133-10.

Women

100: 5, Hannah Whitehead, 13.16.

200: 3, Hannah Whitehead, 26.44.

400: 1, Hannah Whitehead, 58.69.

800: 7, Katelin Renfro, 2:35.38.

100 hurdles: 7, Ariel Koos, 18.40.

300 hurdles: 6, Ariel Koos, 51.89.

Long jump: 5, Hannah Whitehead, 15-3.50.