The East Linn track and field team showed up at the Tri-River Conference championships with winning on their mind. They left with individual victories and athletes headed to the 2A state meet in eight events.

Freshman Austin Koos won the men's 400 in 52.69 seconds, his best time by nearly two full seconds. He enters the state meet with the second-fastest district time in the event.

"I'd like to see him get second; that'd be great for a freshman," said sprint coach J.D. Hill.

The men's 4-by-4 relay team of Koos, Elijah Engwall, Jake Glender and Caleb Goins claimed the district title in a time of 3 minutes, 34.30 seconds.

That makes the Eagles the top seed at the state championships. Alex Coakley is the other main member of the relay team, and will likely switch places with Goins at state.

"They're a great team; they have a lot of heart," Hill said. "They love that race." While other coaches plead with athletes to run the long relay, Hill said he has a hard time telling anyone they can't compete.

"These guys, they'll make up excuses to run," he said.

Coakley and Engwall also did well in other events. Coakley was third in the long jump with a best mark of 19 feet, while Engwall took a second off his best in the 300 hurdles to place third.

Hannah Whitehead raced to a 400-meter district title in a time of 1:00.22, her best of the year. In the 200, she just missed finishing in the top two, but ran her fastest time of the year (27.56) to place third.

She also earned a state berth in the triple jump, where she took second with a mark of 31 feet, 1 inch, a seven-inch improvement.

"That's our next superstar," said coach Gary Timms.

Lisl Ruckert earned herself a ticket to state with a runner-up finish in the women's 3,000. The freshman dipped below 12 minutes to best her previous record by 42 seconds, moving her to third on the school's all-time list.

"That was a very pleasant surprise," Timms said. Ruckert also had a big race in the cross country district meet last fall.

"When it's a big race, she responds to it," Timms said.

Caleb Goins easily won both the 1,500 and the 3,000. The biggest threat to his undefeated season comes next week, when he'll face top-seeded Max Long of Oakridge, who bested Goins in both races last year. It's a welcome challenge for the senior.

"Caleb's ready to go," Timms said. "That's what he's been waiting for."

Amy Renfro, favored to win most of her events, did not complete the district meet due to an injury. She finished her distinguished high school career with multiple school records in several events. In regular season meets this year, she was undefeated in the 1,500, the 100 and the 800.

Of ELCA's state qualifiers, only one, Goins, has been to the big dance before. But Timms is confident the athletes will once again perform well.

"For such a young team, they're pretty mature," he said.

The 2A state championships take place May 16 and 17 at Western Oregon University.

TRC championships

Men

200: 7, Glender, 25.23

400: 1, Koos, 52.69

800: 5, Linville, 2:19.83

1,500: 1, Goins, 4:13.85; 8, Lawyer, 4:56.04

3,000: 1, Goins, 9:12.48; 5, Lawyer, 10:45.65

300IH: 3, Engwall, 43.46

1,600R: 1, ELCA (Koos, Glender, Engwall, Goins), 3:34.30

SP: 4, Warren, 38-4

Discus: 2, Warren, 122-4; 6, Peterson, 96-1

HJ: 6, Linville, 5-0

LJ: 3, Coakley, 19-0

Women

200: 3, Whitehead, 28.21

400: 1, Whitehead, 1:00.22

800: 5, Lawyer, 2:42.60

1,500: 5, Ruckert, 5:33.04; 7, Lawyer, 5:45.45

3,000: 2, Ruckert, 11:52.42; 4, Renfro, 12:33.84

400R: 5, ELCA (Roth, Shanks, Grove, Sowers), 1:00.56

SP: 8, Sowers, 27-4

Discus: 7, Sowers, 82-5

TJ: 2, Whitehead, 31-1

Javelin: 6, Sowers, 88-11