The OSAA 6A, 5A and 4A state track and field championships will wrap up at Hayward Field in Eugene on Saturday.
The large-school state meet began at 9 a.m. Friday and will conclude around 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Check out our coverage of 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A events on Friday and follow along for live updates as athletes from Salem and Eugene compete.
Stayton’s Haley Butenschoen repeats as 800 meter state champ
Stayton junior Haley Butenschoen uncorked a big PR on Saturday, and in the process, accomplished something that hadn’t been done in a decade.
Butenschoen cruised to victory in the 4A girls 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 18.37 seconds. She took control from the get go and used a savvy race to pull away over the final 300 meters.
“I knew some of my competition had already raced (in the 1,500 earlier in the day), so I had a little bit of an advantage going into it,” Butenschoen said. “My strategy was to keep it even the first lap and then get after it on the second lap and see what I can do. … I was happy with that last 400. I gave it all I had.”