Creswell girls claim Class 3A state track title

EUGENE — The Creswell girls track team made history at the 2025 OSAA Track & Field State Championships on Friday, earning its first title in the program, its first school track team title since 1962 and its first girls individual champion, Kylie Leonard, in the 300-meter hurdles, since 2014. 

“They’re reaping the benefits of their hard work right now,” said head coach Rachael Bailey. “It was beyond amazing watching these girls grow throughout the season, the last couple of years even, but they just continued to work hard, and remained focused and dedicated. They are truly incredible, and in so many ways, they don’t fully understand what they’re capable of. It’s like they’re making history.”

The Creswell girls team, specifically the sprinting team, had been dominating the 3A stats all season. Last year’s state championship was led by then-freshman Jordyn Lee and sophomore Kylie Leonard. Lee finished sixth in the 400 meters and seventh in the 200 meters, while Leonard grabbed second in the 300 meters hurdles and eighth in the 400 meters. 

Lee and Leonard continued to be leaders with strong finishes in the 200 meters, 400 meters, and Steeplechase this season. Rising freshman Journey Meyer also started to move up the ranks. She was crowned the 3A-Special District 1 champion in the 200 meters (PR of 25.76) and 400 meters (PR of 58.10). Leonard took the title for the 300-meter hurdles (PR of 46.39). The 4×400-meter team of Meyer, Brooke Moehlmann, Leonard, and Lee also won the 4×400 title at the 3A-Special District 1 championships.  

Thus, the girls team entered Hayward on Thursday with multiple district champions and seasonal achievements. The team featured Lee, Leonard, Meyer, Moehlmann, Mila Nguyen, and Viktoriia Gabrio, the district champion for the triple jump.

“We have our small, little group of six,” Bailey said. “Obviously, with a small team, as it is, we don’t have a lot of depth. We still have a lot of events that have holes and gaps. But our girls team, they’re small in numbers, but they’re extremely mighty and fierce competitors.”

After winning the 4×400 meters by five seconds over Sisters and with a meet record of 3.5731, the team won by one point over Banks for a total of 56 points and was declared the 3A champion. This was a notable feat, considering the second-place Banks and third-place team, Vale, at least had 10 or more athletes on their roster.

But before the 4×400 could begin and Creswell took all the glory, it all began with Leonard.

Kylie Leonard

Leonard had seen a successful season in the 300-meter hurdles already, with a district title and a PR time of 46.39. She finished the preliminary as the No. 2 seed at 47.42 behind Banks’ Malia Stewart. This placed her in a similar position to last year, when she was also declared the district champion but finished second in state with a season’s best of 48.52 behind Coquille’s Ada Millet PR of 47.10.

Could this be the year where she gets the edge over the first seed?

Time could only tell once the gun went off. In fact, upon the last 10 meters, it wasn’t looking like Leonard would make it. She was a step behind Stewart. However, Stewart started to stall, and Leonard rose beside her as the crowd’s volume became congruent with Leonard inching towards the finishing line. 

When Leonard and Stewart both leaned over the finish line, Leonard immediately looked up to find her name the first to light up the board with an announcement. She put her hand over her mouth, shocked and then the tears started to flow.

“I was pushing everything I got,” said Leonard about her reaction. “It was neck-and-neck and a great race from Malia, so I just didn’t know yet. So at that moment, when I heard my name, knowing I did it this year, and it’s what I wanted to get done, it meant everything.”

Leonard had successfully outkicked Stewart and took her first state title. It was also the first time Creswell had seen an individual girls’ state title since Olivia Powell in 2014. Her finish of 45.67 (PR) was three seconds faster than last year’s and her No. 18 in the 2025 Oregon High School rankings.

Leonard credited her faith, teammates, and coaches for her win.

“I’m just thanking God because a big part of everything I do is all for Him,” she said with misty eyes. “I put in a lot of work to be here. I’m also thanking my coaches and my teammates who pushed me for all this. Everything I’ve worked for happened. I got on the line, I said, ‘Today’s gonna be the day.’ And it was.”

Leonard is also a full-time varsity player in both basketball and soccer and remains a hard-working athlete throughout the entire year. However, she said that track and field is her main sport. This first state title is particularly important as it brings her closer to her dream: college track.

“This is home –  Hayward,” Leonard said. “I grew up running here as a little kid in old Hayward, and now I’m at this incredible facility, and I just have a chance to run here. And I’m so lucky and so grateful for that.” 

As Leonard has one more season ahead of her, her goals for her senior season are to continue to get faster and receive some titles in her other sprinting events, such as the 200 meters and 400 meters. 

The 4×400

With the momentum of Leonard’s win, the 4×400 meter team of Meyer, Moehlmann, Leonard, and Lee went into the finals flaming hot. Meyer took the lead early in the first leg and the team sustained their lead the whole race. Lee anchored the last leg. The team’s time of 3.57.31 broke the 3A all-time record and was a season’s best. It also ranked them No. 7 in the 2025 Oregon High School rankings.

 Leonard, the third leg of the race, said the 4×400 win heightened her win.

“It was everything,” she said. “The 4×400 was something we’ve been working on all year. We have a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and a senior. They put in everything and gave it their all. It means the world.”

Creswell’s sprint coach, Nick Bronson, when asked what the secret of the sprinting girls team strength was, said he “just got lucky.”

“I think they just take the trainings absolutely to the max,” he said. “They don’t slack off at all. I can give them a workout, and I know they’re gonna complete it, and they’re gonna run it like they’re running in a race. Literally it’s all on them. I give them essentially what they need, and they execute it. And they’re great. I think I just got lucky to have such a great group of sprinters.”

More Creswell results:

 ■ The boys team was 25th overall. Mila Nguyen was 8th in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.71. Journey Meyer took 3rd in the 200 meters (PR of 25.69) and 2nd in the 400 meters (PR of 58.09). Kylie Leonard along with her title, was 4th in the 400 meters (59.05). Jordyn Lee was 5th (59.64). On the field, Caleb Lybarger was 7th in discus (42.07m). Mason Schartz was 6th (1.81m). Lastly, Vika Gabrio was 2nd in triple jump (PR of 10.95m) and 5th in long jump (4.98m).

Pleasant Hill results:

■ The boys team was 26th overall and the girls 31st. Marcus Martinez took 8th in the 400 meters (51.97). Soleis Jones took 7th in the 400 meters (1.00.26). Cody Jones was 6th in the javelin (PR 48.08m). The girls 4×400 meter team took 9th with a season’s best of 4.15.27.