AMJ Invitational and AMJ Jr. 2025
- sylviaannedion
- May 2
- 4 min read
It was perfect weather for the AMJ Invitational last week. The main event was held on Saturday. Twenty teams and around 300 competitors gathered at our gorgeous track to test themselves and each other. Some seriously good times and distances were achieved by the high school athletes.
In the boys 100m, Cannon Smithers of Cascade Academy took home the win in 11.46. McKenzie’s Aytan Brown was a hair behind, placing second in 11.62. Allen Acevado finished sixth in 11.97. Excellent job with 48 starters to contend with.
William Valtinson finished fourth in the 400m out of 22 starters with a time of 57.11.
Will Meister won the 3000m in 10:27. Will also won the 1500m in 4:53. And, because those two distances aren’t enough to wear down the mighty Meister, he ran the 2000m steeplechase in 8:04, finishing seventh.
Noah Prado also braved the unforgiving barriers and water obstacle, finishing in 9:26. He couldn’t quite catch the leaders, however. Levi Cullett of Glendale won the race in 7:11 while Callum Plahn of Lowell posted 7:37 and Corbin Dalton of Mohawk crossed the finish in 7:45.
The McKenzie boys set a new personal record for the 4x400m relay. William Valtinson, Liam Acevado, Aytan Brown and Allen Acevado sped through the mile in 3:45 to take the win.
Off the track there were more amazing performances. McKenzie freshman, TJ Doolin, finished sixth out of 47 throwers in the shotput with a throw of 36’ 2”. He also finished eighth in the discus in 96’ 4”. We need to keep an eye on that boy. At the javelin lane, Lance Risdal of Creswell threw 146’ 7” for the win. Next door at the high jump, Yoncalla’s Jayden Churchwell cleared 6’ 4”. Crazy impressive achievements by all these lads.
The ladies had a great showing as well. Right of the start, Zyla Drake ran a personal best of 12:56 in the 3000m to finish second behind Natalie Stevens of Mapleton, who finished in 12:41.
Myra Dion also achieved a personal best in the 3000m race with a 13:00 time. Myra then went on to win the 800m with another personal best of 2:55.
The 200m was dominated by a freshman from Creswell, Journey Meyer. She flew around the track in 26.13. Journey then continued her streak by also winning the 400m in 59.75. Claire Weiss showed her own mettle in the 400m with a 1:06 finish.
In the long jump, Liliana Jones had a great flight, ending with a 13’ 1” leap. Grace Weiss showed her own strength with a 12’ 4” jump.
The day before the AMJ Invitational we hosted the AMJ Jr. meet. Six middle school teams joined our McKenzie middle school athletes.
The young lady Eagles had great success in the 100m. Nellie Sullivan came in first out of 28 starters with a time of 14.26. Her teammate, Annabelle Lande ran a very close third with a time of 14.71.
Mira Willis made some points in the 200m. She finished third in 31.82. Mira also flew through the 400m in 1:13, crossing the finish line in second place with Payton Sughroue right behind her in 1:15.
In the high jump, Ally Peek won the event with a 4’ even jump. Annabelle Lande jumped to third place with 3’ 10", just a hair behind Ally.
Annabelle also jumped to fifth place in the long jump with a 12’ 3” leap. She couldn’t jump over Nellie Sullivan though. Nellie made a 13’ 7” effort to take the win. There were 33 girls in the event.
The boys showed their dominance on the track. In the 400m race, the McKenzie boys swept it with Fen Willis (59.84), Noah O’Doal (1:02.94) and Rylee Davis (1:11.69) taking the top three spots.
Noah O’Doal also won both the boys 200m hurdles in 35.74 and the long jump in 14’ 4”, and came in third in the 200m with a 28.66 second personal record.
The 200m was won by Owen Acevado in 24.95, another PR. Owen also won the javelin with a 124’ 5” throw.
The longer races were commanded by Cylas Sughroue and Conrad Drake. They came in first and second in the 800m, 1500m and 3000m races.
We want to thank Athletic Timing for coming up on such short notice and making Saturday extra special for these kids. Also, none of these events would be possible without volunteers. It takes a large number of us to time, measure, retrieve and record all of the races and field competitions. There was even a group of volunteers from town who joined us on Saturday to help our kids have a great day. We can’t thank all of you enough. The seasons not over, so if you can help out at any of our upcoming meets, send us an email or reach out to the McKenzie River Community School.
The season's not over, so if you can help out at any of our upcoming meets, send us an email or reach out to the McKenzie River Community School.
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