THURSTON – Thurston girls track coach John Gillespie was substitute teaching a history class four years ago when he decided to do a little track and field recruiting. He had seen Addison Nelson play other sports, and knew she would be a valuable addition to the track team. Brooklyn Anderson was a skilled gymnast, and someone not on Gillespie’s radar. Still, he pitched her on the idea of joining the team.
He was able to convince both to join the Colts track team, and that has proved pivotal for all involved.
On Friday, Nelson won the Class 5A state title in the triple jump and Anderson won the 100m hurdles for the second consecutive year. Anderson set a state meet record of 14.27 seconds in the process, and was the fastest athlete across all classifications. She had originally set that same record in the prelims by running 14.35, but one-upped herself in the quest for the title.
Anderson memorably somersaulted over the finish line to win last year’s state title, and almost had an unfortunate repeat of the accident this year.
“She almost tripped twice, and not over the final hurdle where she could somersault her way to the finish,” Gillespie said. “It was the 7th and 8th hurdles. She did a great job keeping her balance and being able to keep going.”
“I know I can run a faster time than that, but the record is still really cool, and I’m very proud of myself,” said Anderson, whose somersault victory last year became a viral video hit.
She has run faster than that this season, becoming the fourth athlete in Oregon history to run sub-14 seconds by running 13.99 at the district championships.
After Anderson’s victory, Gillespie received a text from Bob Gray, whose 13.77 110m hurdles time in 1988 is still the state record for boys.
“Great job Brooklyn!” Gray said.
Nelson won the triple jump with a mark of 38’ 4.75”. She didn’t quite reach her personal best of 39’ 0.5”, which was third in Oregon this year, but still jumped nearly a foot further than anyone else.
Clockwise, from top: Addie Nelson soars during her state-title winning leap in the triple-jump; Ella Cardwell of Cottage Grove finished third in 1500m; Springfield’s Violet Moran competes in the javelin; the Grove’s Remington Sharkey runs; Brooklyn Anderson is hyper-focused; and Thurston’s Carson Buergey and Justin Fisher compete.
PHOTOS BY GARY BREEDLOVE / THE CHRONICLE
“I never thought I’d be able to do this. Especially in the triple jump, because my freshman year, I wasn’t a triple jumper at all. I never dreamed that I would be capable of being able to do this,” Nelson said.
Her humility and gratitude is one of her defining qualities, and there are few she feels she owes more to than Gillespie.
“I love John. He’s gotten me to where I am today, to be able to be a collegiate track athlete,” she said.
Nelson is headed to Linfield next year to run track and play volleyball; Anderson is headed to Portland State to continue her track career.
Thurston is losing its co-girls athletes of the year in Anderson and Nelson, but the Colts’ next crop of jumpers in Kelsie Raven and Taylor Suiter are athletes. Gillespie is confident can carry the legacy built by the two seniors. For now, all involved are celebrating their victories, and grateful that a chance meeting in history class resulted in so many opportunities.
