In addition to the hurdle event, Imbler senior Austyn Turner was a member of the winning the 4-by-400 relay competing at the Cove Charter 1A-2A-3A Regional Invitational on April 20, 2024.

LA GRANDE — By a single point, the Imbler girls track and field team defeated 3A Vale after a full day of competition at the Cove Charter 1A-2A-3A Invitational on Saturday, April 20, on the campus of Eastern Oregon University.

Vale’s 88 points was bested by Imbler’s 89 points for the title. Union, with 61 points, finished just outside the top five in sixth followed by Powder Valley in seventh and Elgin in eighth. The host Cove Leopards finished in 12th.

The results for the boys ended opposite as Vale’s 126 points beat Imbler’s 87 points for the championship. Host Cove placed third with 58.5 points and Union picked up seventh. Elgin ended the day in 12th and Powder Valley had a 21st place showing.

For the Imbler girls, freshman Isla Howard continues a breakout season, winning the 400 with a time of 1 minute, 5.31 seconds. Senior Paiten Braseth also grabbed a victory, crossing the line in the 800 with a top time of 2:27.11,

a career best. Also setting a personal best and taking the victory was freshman Jeytt Cant in the long jump and freshman Jo Bingaman in the triple jump.

Union was led by a second-place showing by sophomore Camilla Blackburn in the pole vault after clearing 8 feet, 6 inches. Junior Kaelyn Shoemaker picked up third place in both the discus and shot-put events.

For Powder Valley, senior Ayla Bingham placed second in the 100 and third in the 200.

Elgin sophomore Sierra Sauers was the top discus thrower of the day, taking a mark of 102-3. For the host Cove team, a pair of fourth-place finishes led the team with freshman Giavanna Savage in the 800 and sophomore Taylor Weishaar in the 1,500.

The Imbler boys saw junior Adam Gordon win the 800, setting a new personal record of 2:00.23.

Senior Trevor Treat grabbed two wins, taking the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, a race Treat set a new personal record of 40.71 seconds. Treat, Jake Bingaman, Dallin Rasmussen and Clinton Tarvin joined to be the top team in the 4-by-100 relay with a time of 45.65 seconds. Senior Jeremiah Martin also picked up a win, hitting a mark of 46 feet in the shot put to lead the event.

Host Cove fans needed to look upward as junior Nathanael O’Reilly posted a career best 11 feet in the pole vault to win the event. Senior Eli Williams grabbed second-place showings in both the 800 and 1,500.

For Union, junior Amos Lewis picked up second in both the shot put and discus events and was joined in second place in the pole vault by freshman Preston Mouritsen with a career best measurement of 11 feet.

Elgin senior Parker Caldwell claimed second place in both the 110- and 300-hurdle events and Powder Valley senior Caleb Kerns was sixth in the shot put as the best finish for the Badgers.

Elgin will be the next team to host as the Huskies welcome teams to the Huskies Invite on April 26.

Imbler, Union and Powder Valley will next be in action also on April 26 taking part in the Carnival of Speed at McLoughlin High School.

Cove will be in Ontario on April 27 for the Valley Family Health Care Invitational.