This past Friday and Saturday marked the annual Cascade Collegiate Conference Track Meet, bringing ten teams from across the pacific northwest to Raider Stadium to compete. Not only was this meet significant in that the Raiders hadn’t hosted a home track meet in over five years but, they were also defending the Men’s title the Raiders had won the past year in Nampa, Idaho.
Friday began with big points for both Raider Men, and Women, Markus Sanders with a dominating victory in the hammer throw, and Ameilia Maguin winning the 400m run, and the 400m hurdles. SOU distance runner Eric Ghelfi commented, “In the time I’ve been here [4 years] we haven’t had an adequate track to host a meet, I’m glad we get to come out here and put on a show for the home crowd.” The day closed with a near sweep in the 1500m run with Zarchary Boyd-Helm, Dylan Alexander, and Kevin Jorgenson placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. While the 10,000m run had Connor Cushman, Caleb Diaz and Dylan Paulk place 4th, 5th, and 7th.
Saturday was crunch time for both the Raider Men and Women, and the sprints were up to bat. On the Women’s side Amelia Maguin kept on putting up points not only in the 100m hurdles, but also in the 200m where she placed second. She also lead the women’s 4X400m, and 4X100m teams to 2nd and 4th respectively. On the Men’s side, sprinter Gabe Derillo won the 100m dash with a time of 10.82 seconds and teammate Hayden Saparto followed close behind in 2nd with a time of 10.87.
The hunt for the Men’s title came down to the wire on Saturday, with only 7 points separating victory from 3rd place, the 4X400m run was the stage for settling who was the best of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. After a valiant effort by the Raider men, and an exciting race, Eastern Oregon emerged with the team title. Concordia came in 2nd and the Raider Men in 3rd. The Raider Women placed 4th as a team, and Amelia Maguin won Women’s Athlete of the meet. Spectator and Alumni Colin McRoberts commented “What an exciting track meet, I can’t wait to see more from this team at this venue, SOU truly has a beautiful facility.”
Photos courtesy of Al Case
