The late-winter ice was officially broken on the 2019 track and field season, with Gauge Smith proving a triple threat for the Creswell Bulldogs during the Pleasant Hill Icebreaker on March 13.
Smith, a junior, won the boys’ 100 meters in 11.44a, the 200m in 21.26a and the 300m intermediate hurdles in 42.88a.
”Gauge is already in mid-season form, and it showed,” said Creswell Head Coach Jonathan Ferguson. ”The coaching staff has some lofty goals for our team this season and Gauge is going to be instrumental in achieving those goals.”
In other scoring finishes for the Bulldog boys, Noah Marshall placed third in the 1500m in 4:28.82a, Christian Tucker placed third in 4:30.08a; and Nick Bronson placed fifth in the 300m hurdles in 45.00a and sixth in the 110m high hurdles in 19.09a.
Grant Marshall placed sixth in the triple jump at 37-02; the 4x400m relay team of Cam Nguyen, Josiah Lee, Jackson Parker and Tucker placed seventh in 4:06.81; Devin Johnson placed seventh in the 100m in 12.16a; Trevor Harrold placed eighth in the 1500m in 4:36.87a; and Mathew Steele placed eighth in the 400m in 58.92a.
Scoring points for the Creswell girls, Hannah Bettis placed third in the 300m intermediate hurdles in 54.02a and fourth in the 100m high hurdles in 18.00a; the 4x400m relay team of Allison Smathers, Harmony Goodman, Merrily Arnold and Autumn Bastian placed third in 5:23.27; and Shelby Lamm placed eighth in the 200m in 30.47a.
Creswell had few athletes competing in field events at the Icebreaker, but for the Bulldog boys, at least, that will change in upcoming meets.
”Our girls’ team is pretty small and most of them are runners, but our boys’ team has about five throwers and five jumpers,” Ferguson said. ”We did not compete in pole vault or high jump because the snow prevented us from getting the mats out until early that week.”
Teams competing at the Icebreaker along with Creswell and the host Billies included Harrisburg, Glide, East Linn Christian, Cottage Grove, Elmira, Douglas, Marshfield, North Valley, Canyonville Christian, Oakridge, Lowell, Phoenix, Days Creek, Riddle and Santiam.
The Bulldogs are in action next at the Wolfpack Small School Invite in Tualatin on March 21.
”We have a good mix of veterans and newcomers out this year, and I’m excited to see how our athletes improve as the season progresses,” Ferguson said.
