SPRINGFIELD – The 5th annual Harvey Lewellen Throws Invitational took place on Saturday, March 21. Springfield, Thurston, Cottage Grove and Creswell were among the schools represented at the meet.
Lewellen is a former Thurston track coach who has set a number of world and American masters records and is a member of the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame. Colts Javelin coach Jody Barnhart was responsible for getting the meet named after Lewellen, who was able to attend this year at 97 years old.
The meet consisted of six events: Javelin, discus, and shot put for both boys and girls. Springfield was the dominant school on the boys side. The Millers won the team portion of all three events. The team score added the top three finishers for each school together.
Noah Solo was the top thrower for the Millers in both shot put and discus, finishing second and third, respectively. Yoncalla’s Corbin Russell won both events, winning by over three feet in the shot put but only three inches in the discus. Crow’s Cayden Hernandez was the other athlete to finish top three in both events.
In the javelin, Cottage Grove sophomore Justin Calvert defeated Creswell’s Lance Risdal by one inch, 152’ 3” to 152’ 2”. Springfield had three of the top-eight finishers to take the team score, led by Michael Christie at 148’ 9”, who finished third. Thurston’s Lucas Wadley was fourth at 145’ 7”.
On the girls side, results were more evenly distributed. Cottage Grove won the javelin team score with three of the top-seven finishers, led by Makya Alsup’s third place mark of 103’ 3”. Springfield’s Violet Moran was the individual champion with a mark of 108’ 9”. Thurston placed second in the team score, led by Addison Nelson’s 92’ 1”.
In the discus, Springfield dominated. Sailor Hall, fresh off a run to the state runner-up in girls basketball, won the individual competition with a throw of 117’ 11”, leading her team to a victory as well. Thurston’s Scotlyn Curtis placed second at 108’ 2”, the only other thrower above 100 feet.
Creswell won the team title in the shotput, led by junior Aaliyah Reed’s mark of 29’ 1”. Cottage Grove’s Carissalynn Height had the best individual mark at 34’ 7.5”, while the Millers’ Hall finished second by throwing 32’ 11”.
This was a positive start to the season for all four schools, especially the Millers. Thurston has a young squad who showed off its potential, while Class 4A Cottage Grove and Class 3A Creswell put in good showings – especially given the difference in school size compared to the Class 5A Colts and Millers.
