Fastest Kids in CYO – Here They Are!


The 100 Meter Dash is the shortest, fastest race in the books.  The winners of this race are considered the quickest kids in the program.  Here are this year’s “Fastest Kids in CYO!”

Kiana Johnson (Cathedral) wins for the Roadrunner girls after posting the only mark in the 14 second category at 14.82.  The record for this event is 14.39 by Martha Cabrera (Holy Trinity) in 2005.  Kiana edged out Sadie Fletcher (St. Anthony) 15.04 and Lily Mae Buerkle (Madeleine) 15.29.  Johnson also won the 200 meter dash.

Chase Borden (St. John the Apostle) won the 100 for Roadrunner boys with a time of 14.08 with a close second by Joseph Stimpson (St. Pius X) 14.18 followed up by Kai Kopplin (St. Anthony) posting a time of 14.98.  Borden also won the 200 meter dash.

Selah Molden (Our Lady of the Lake) 13.73 edged out Valley Catholic’s Nina Stecher  13.85 in a close Cub division contest.  Molden came into the championships as the underdog behind Stecher who had posted a season best of 14.08 to Molden’s 14.33.  Both girls improved in the semi-finals and again in the finals to set personal bests for the year.  Hanna McAuliffe (St. Anthony) was third posting a time of 14.34.

Townsend Powell (St. Anthony) won the title for the Cub boys posting a time of 13.19 over Hugh Ruttledge’s (St. Clare) 13.76.  Grant Valley (Holy Trinity) rounded out the top 3 with a time of 13.81.  Powell came into the contest posting the best pre-season time of 13.58 and also won the 200.

Allyson Hammond, (Visitation) an 8th grader from the smallest Catholic School in the Greater Portland area which combines with the other smallest Catholic School in the Greater Portland area, Visitation School (Verboort) and St. Francis (Roy), for the second year in a row dominated the 100 meter dash for Cadet girls winning it with a very fast 13.03 over Sarah Rossetti (St. Matthew) 13.54 and Marissa Daniels (All Saints) 13.83.

Marcus Dillard (Christ the King) 11.87 and Austin Stampflee (St. Matthew) 11.93 continued the battle for speed with Marcus on top in the 100 (Stampflee won the 200).  Antony Ganz (St. Pius X) rounded out the top 3 with a time of 12.75.  Another fantastic race!

Below: Kiana Johnson, Chase Borden, Selah Molden, Townsend Powell, Allyson Hammond, Marcus Dillard.

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CYO Meet of Champions 400 Meter Dash Schuler adds Third Gold.


In the Roadrunner Division (3rd & 4th Grade), Liliana Kos from St. John Fisher nosed out 800 meter champ, Miranda Oblad (Valley Catholic) to claim the 400 meter dash championship with a time of 1:10.32.  Joseph Stimpson (St. Pius X) had a two second advantage crossing the finish line for the boys with a time of 1:07.51.

In the Cub division, Nina Stecher (Valley Catholic) shaved two seconds off her prelim time to finish with a 1:05.01 final claiming the gold. Ian Bello also collected a gold for St. Pius X in the event with a final time of 1:02.17

The Cadets found Naomi Alvarez from St. Thomas More in the driver seat with a final time of 1:00.79 edging out Natalie Fagen from West Hills Christian 1:01.52.  John Schuler added a third gold winning the 400 with a time of 54.43 just 2 seconds off the record and one second ahead of Enrico Ganz from St. Pius X.

Below: Liliana Kos, Joseph Stimpson, Nina Stecher, Ian Bello, Naomi Alvarez, John Schuler

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How HIGH Can You Jump? CYO Meet of Champions


The High Jump is one of my favorite events though I get to see very little of it from where I am perched in the awards stands during the weekend.  I have several favorite events including all of the field events and all of the races!  The records in the high jump do not fall very often.  One year, my nephew was graduating from college (2009) and I needed to go and be with him for the event which mean’t I would miss one day of the Meet of Champions.  I asked that the cadet boys high jump be moved to Sunday that year so I could be there to watch Marcus Yoo break it.  He did break it and it was wonderful to see!

High jump records include Cub girls 1999 by Kristen Zimmill (West Hills Christian jumping 4’10”.  Cub boys 2010 by Matthew Ferguson (St. Anthony) 5’2″.  Cadet Girls 1997 by Kate Paul (St. Cecilia) 5′ 2″ and Cadet boys 2009 by Marcus Yoo, Cathedral at 5′ 11″.

2018 Champions:

Cub Girls: Elizabeth Levick (St. Matthew) 4′ 5″

Cub Boys: Owen Smith (St. John the Apostle) 4’6″

Cadet Girls: Elliott Bush (Cathedral) 4′ 9″

Cadet Boys: Aiden Andrews (Christ the King) 5′ 4″

Below: Elizabeth Levick, Owen Smith, Elliott Bush, Aiden Andrews

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The CYO “Shot Putters” Meet of Champions


Roadrunner Girls: Kahlan Anderson (Valley Catholic) 22′ 5.5″

Roadrunner Boys: Justin Craigwell (St. Pius X) 25′ 1″

Cub Girls: Gabriella Richardson (St. Anthony) 28′ 10″

Cub Boys: Townsend Powell (St. Anthony) 31′ 6″

Cadet Girls: Tabitha Johnson (West Hills Christian) 36′ 7.25″

Cadet Boys: Cade Martin (Christ the King) 40′ 1″

Below: Kahlan Anderson, Justin Craigwell, Gabriella Richardson, Townsend Powell, Tabitha Johnson, Cade Martin

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Oblad’s Sweep Roadrunner 800


Miranda and Mano Oblad (Valley Catholic) fought off all challengers as they ran their way to the finish line in the 2018 CYO Meet of Champions Roadrunner Division (Grades 3&4).  Miranda held off Naomi Cesar and Kayley Charon of St. Pius X while Mano streaked ahead by just over a second to close out Kellen Williams and Cooper Cardwell.

Amalie Beil and classmate Ella McGillis came in 1 and 2 for St. Thomas More in the Cub girls division with 2:29.04 and 2:32.93 respectively gaining 18 points toward the team count.

Avery Cesar and Ian Bello likewise finished 1 and 2 for St. Pius X in the cub boys division with 2:24.07 and 2:27.84 respectively.

The Cadet division featured Alexandria Nagy (St. Pius X) and Henry Tierney (Holy Trinity) bringing it home in the girls and boys divisions.  Nagy with a time of 2:29.05 and Tierney 2:07.87 made quick work of it in the 800 meter run.

Below: Miranda Oblad, Mano Oblad, Amalie Beil, Avery Cesar, Alexandria Nagy, Henry Tierney.

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1500 Meter Run Peters Girls Repeat!


The St. Anthony Sisters, Kate and Ana Peters brought gold home again in the 1500 after winning big in the 3000 on Saturday.  Ana won the cub division (5th & 6th Grade) with a time of 5:00.08 while Kate won the Cadet division (7th & 8th) in 4:51.62!

In Roadrunner action (Grades 3&4) Lyla Taylor (Our Lady of Lourdes Vancouver, WA) snatched a win in a time of 5:45.25 with Maeve O’Scannlain from Cathedral in second with 5:48.40.  Kellen Williams from St. Pius X out paced Peter Dolloff from St. Anthony by a second, 5:21.73 and 5:22.27.  It was a great race!

In Cub Boys competition, Avery Cesar, of St. Pius X, eeked out a victory over 3000 cub star Leo Cook from Our Lady of the Lake by just over a second, 4:54.49 and 4:55.87 respectively.

Cadet Boys action saw West Hills Christian’s John Schuler pick up a second gold as well with a time of 4:28.63, just 12 seconds shy of the record.  Classmate, Caden Hildenbrand came in second, with a time of 4:30.63.

Below: Lyla Taylor, Kellen Williams, Ana Peters, Avery Cesar, Kate Peters, John Schuler

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CYO 3000 Meter Record Breaker


CYO Meet of Champions 2018 @ Jesuit High School May 19, 2018

It was a perfect morning, overcast, cool but not cold! Sixty-nine runners, boys, girls, cubs and cadets prepped to see how they could make the most of their training, endurance and mental readiness for 7.5 trips around the track.  It was impressive from every direction!

The first race of the day featured Ana Peters, from St. Anthony, a cub who had shown she had something special as a roadrunner in 2016 & 2017.  She holds records in the 1500 and 800 meter setting records at the Roadrunner (3rd and 4th grade) regional meets.  Today she sliced 15 seconds off the old record set in 2014 by Mia Middleton from Holy Trinity, and set a new record 10:37.08 as she breezed over the finish line 17 seconds ahead of her closest competition.  Second place was only 2 seconds off the old record! Juliana “Ana” Peters will be a young lady to watch for sure!

Kate Peters, (yes older sister), won the Cadet Girls 3000 meter with a time of 10:32.05.  She was up against a record set by Makenna Schumacher, St. Thomas More, in 2015 (10:10.46).  Kate outdistanced her competition by 24 seconds!

In Cub Boys, Leo Cook won a close one with a time of 10:27.51 for Our Lady of the Lake.  He had the second best performance in regular season meets and improved his best 2018 performance by 17 seconds and out paced Zane Moore (St. Thomas More) who came into the contest with the best performance but could not shave as much time off his personal best to outdo Cook.

John Schuler (West Hills Christian) and Jeffery Rogers (St Anthony) battled it out in regular season with times of 9:56.43 and 9:57.17 respectively.  Schuler slashed an amazing 31 seconds from his season best to finish with a 9:25.23 very close to the Logan Phillips (St. Anthony) record 9:18.43 set in 2013.

Below: Ana Peters, Leo Cook, Kate Peters, John Schuler

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The “Javelin Throwers” CYO Meet of Champions


All levels of “Turbo Javelin” competitors have thrown the same device for nearly 20 years.  At the Cadet level of the Javelin, a new product known as the “Finn Flyer” was introduced in 2018.  It is longer, more slender and closer in style to the high school javelin though it is shorter and does not have the sharp point.  New records for this event were established this year for cadets.  The old turbo javelin records will be retained in the archives of the CYO.

Madeline Fey (St. Pius X) holds the Cadet Girls Turbo Javelin record at 136’3″ & Joe Nizich (St. John the Apostle) holds the Cadet boys Turbo Javelin record at 194′ 8″.

Roadrunner Girls: Madilynn Andrews (Christ the King) 86′ 9.50″ RECORD BREAKER The old record was 78′ 9″ set by Lena Childress (Madeleine).

Roadrunner Boys: Vicente Harrison II (Cathedral School) 100′ 3″

Cub Girls: Hayden Williams-Downing (Our Lady of the Lake) 101′ 9.25″

Cub Boys: Jack Benninger (St. John the Apostle) 109′ 9″

Cadet Girls: Elliott Bush (Cathedral School) 110′ 2.5″ RECORD ESTABLISHED 2018 NEW FINN FLYER

Cadet Boys: Jakob Braunstein (Our Lady of Lourdes) 156′ 3.50″ RECORD ESTABLISHED 2018 NEW FINN FLYER .

Below: Madilynn Andrews, Vincente Harrison II, Hayden Williams-Downing, Jack Benninger, Elliott Bush, Jakob Braunstein.

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Everyone Loves a Parade!


The West Regional CYO Track and Field Championship was held at Valley Catholic May 12, 2018 for half of the 3rd & 4th graders.  The other half participated in the East Regional meet at La Salle College Preparatory School in Milwaukie.  Top 4 runners in each event from each regional will participate in the CYO Meet of Champions with the 5,6,7 & 8th Graders May 19 & 20 at Jesuit High School.

It’s all in the Handoff!


The third week of Track and Field meets were held at La Salle College Prep, Valley Catholic, Seton Catholic and Hillsboro.  I went to Seton to have a glimpse of their first season of hosting track and field for CYO and it was spectacular.  I focused on the 4 x 400 meter relay handoffs which I think you will enjoy! April 28, 2018

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