Newberg High School’s Sophia Castaneda and Dax Duggan earn first-place finishes

EUGENE – Two state titles and four podium finishes allowed the Newberg High School track and field teams to excel at the Class 6A state championships May 29-31 at historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

Tiger Sophia Castaneda earned a state championship in the 400-meter sprint with a time of 53.83 seconds, the second fastest mark ever recorded at the state meet. She finished nearly a half-second in front of Ellie Heslam of Roosevelt (54.41 seconds) to earn top prize in the event.

“Oh, I’m so happy!I feel like I executed really well. I ran a fast 200 and I didn’t feel it,” Castaneda said, referring to the headwind on the back stretch that troubled some runners.

Her quick time was aided by having longtime training partner Heslam challenge her on the track.

“Oh, she’s helped me grow so much,” Castaneda said. “We’re pretty good friends … and it’s just so great to have someone push me like she does.”

Castaneda earned a second in the 200-meter sprint as well, notching a school record 24.41 seconds in the event to lead the Tigers to a 12th place finish in team scoring.

The junior credited her improvement this season to a faster initial 200 meters. She thanked her running and weights coach for the improvement.

“He’s been pushing me to do better on the front stretch,” she said.

“I mean it’s hard to not recognize Sophia’s performance,” Newberg head coach Brandon Ramey said in an email. “Only one girl has run faster in the 400 meters in state meet history. She’s truly one of the best high school sprinters out of Oregon all time.”

Hurdler Dax Duggan topped off his senior season with a first-place finish in the 300 hurdles with a personal record best time of 38.76 seconds, leading the Tigers to a 13th place finish in team scoring.

“It feels great,” Duggan said. “A lot of work went into it and I thank a lot of my friends and coaches for pushing me through stuff, but it feels amazing to finally be able to win one. It kind of ends my senior year off with a banger.”

He said he welcomed the opportunity to represent Newberg on the biggest stage in Oregon track and field sports.

“It feels great,” said Duggan, who is headed to compete at Boise State next year. “We were able to put Newberg on the map and kind of say ‘hey, we might be a small school, but we can do a lot with a lot of effort.’”

Ramey said he was genuinely pleased with the performances of both Tiger squads.

“To be one of the smallest 6A schools and have several podium places and a couple of state champions is a testament to the work the kids have put in all season and how the coaches prepared them to peak at the right time,” he said.

Tigers excel in other events as well

The 4×400 girls team of Castaneda, Sophia Carpenter, McKinley Howard and Gracie Hess finished with a time of 3:56.67, good for fifth place in the event.

Junior Benjamin Bondurant added to the boys team tally with a fourth-place finish in the high jump, leaping 6 foot, 3.25 inches.

Freshman Howard’s debut performances in the long relay and the 300-meter hurdles were accomplishments not easily overlooked by her coach.

“McKinley Howard making the state finals as a freshman was awesome,” Ramey said. “She stayed in eighth place, but then came back and had an amazing leg in the 4×400 relay. Super excited for her future.”

Junior Caleb Lofdahl cleared 14 feet, 4 inches in the pole vault to earn a spot on the podium as the fourth-place finisher. He earned the same mark as third-place finisher Carson Hunsaker of Sprague, but he took more attempts to surpass the mark.

Other finishers in the top 20 include senior Aubrey Case, who was seventh in the javelin with a toss of 118 feet, 7 inches; Carpenter with a tenth-place finish in the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 11.75 inches; Bondurant was eighth in the 300-meter hurdles with a 40.97-second time; the boys 4×400 team earned an 11th place finish; Gracen Sandoz was 12th in the javelin with a mark of 162 feet, 9 inches, while counterpart Colin Wujcik’s toss of 157 feet, 5 inches earned him 16th place; senior Alex Kubin was 17th in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 2.75 inches; and junior Abby Wheatley was 14th in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:37.51.

“Both boys and girls teams have an exciting future,” Ramey said. “All state placers besides two will be back next year. We look forward to building off this year’s all state performances and district championship and making another run at championships next season.”