MCKENZIE ATHLETES BACK IN ACTION

It has been far too long! The Virus and the Holiday Farm Fire 2020 coupled to box up and shelve McKenzie student/athletes and their opportunities to compete since last Spring (2020). Restrictions enacted in response to the Virus pandemic by Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and mandated by Oregon Governor Kate Brown canceled, then reorganized high school athletics into shortened, displaced seasons this Spring.

The student/athletes of McKen-zie were forced to endure an added layer of restriction due to the devastating Holiday Farm Fire 2020 damage in the McKenzie corridor, including on campus. No Eagle athletics have transpired until now.

McKenzie Head Track and Field Coach Jack Devereaux welcomed six Eagles out for track and he is excited and proud to be working with them. According to Coach Devereaux, "the kids are super happy."

Eagle junior Hannah Prater and sophomore sister Hailey Prater, sophomores Trent Peek and Cody Moralas, and freshmen Thomas Hayes and Levi Lockhart are the first to represent McKenzie in nearly a year absence and notably, Hannah earned the distinction of the first Eagle to nail down a legal mark in an event, the discus.

"These kids are pioneers and I am extremely proud of them," Coach Devereaux exclaimed. "I feel they (athletes) now understand, due to the Co-Vid and the Fire, that competing is not a right but a privilege. Coaching them has been therapeutic for me."

The Eagles traveled to North Lake High School, over the Hump in Central Oregon's Silver Lake, last Friday, April 23, to compete in the SOS (Small Oregon School) Icebreaker. The event, hosted by North Lake, featured teams from Class 1A schools Crane, Chiloquin, Paisley, Hosanna Christian, North Lake, and McKenzie and Class 2A schools Bonanza and Lakeview. North Lake won the Girls Track Meet, scoring 139 points to hold off perennial power Crane, which finished with 109 pts.

McKenzie did not field a complete Girls team and did not figure in the team scores. Bonanza won the Boys Track Meet with a total of 102 points on the afternoon and Crane finished a ways back in second, scoring 76 pts. McKenzie Boys finished 8th in the team competition with 11 pts. earned.

"I am very happy with how they competed and how things are going," Coach Devereaux shared. "I told them to go out and have fun and they did. North Lake put on a heck of a track meet. Our kids got to see some State Champ throwers in action."

Indeed the Coach should be proud as the Eagles competed on just their 5th day in action, while the other Central Oregon schools had all practiced much longer and seen action in other meets already.

Hannah Prater placed 10th in the Discus with a throw of 39-04 ft. and Hailey Prater finished 11th with a toss of 36-06 ft. Shelie Doman won the event with a mark of 94-07 ft.

"For some reason, Hannah got put in with the Chiloquin girls and she wasn't sure she wanted to go ahead and throw," the Eagle Coach reflected. "The Chiloquin girls encouraged and urged Hannah to throw. She committed to one throw, which earned her a Personal Record, and with the Chiloquin girls support, Prater threw her remaining throws, each one setting a new PR." Great job Chiloquin for showing us all the real reason we compete!

Hannah also threw the shot put, finishing in 16th place at 16-06.00 ft. That event was won by Sammy Conley of Lakeview, who tossed the heavy round weight 29-10.25 ft. Hailey Prater took 9th place in the Javelin with a toss of 45-01 ft. and the event was won by Abigail Sanders out of Paisley, with a throw of 94-02 ft. Hailey Prater also finished 11th in the Long Jump, leaping 8-08.00 ft. Bonanza's Kholani Hayes took top honors in the Long Jump with a mark of 15-03.00 ft.

On the Boys side of the Track, Trent Peek had a nice day at the office, placing 3rd in the Javelin throw, 5th in the Long Jump, and 11th in the 100 meters sprint. Peek threw the javelin 95-06 ft. to finish behind first place Taylor Krueger of Crane, who threw the spear 103-06 ft. McKenzie's Cody Moralas placed 11th with a throw of 62-11 ft. Peek jumped to a 15-05.00 ft. mark in the Long Jump, Eagle teammate Moralas followed in 8th place at 11-04.00 ft. and Logan Moschetti of Lakeview won that event with a 18-07.00 ft. leap. In the 100 m. race, Peek's time of 14.04 seconds finished behind the winning time of 11.85 sec., run by North Lake's Silus Roth. Eagle Moralas finished 11th in the Discus, flinging the implement 56-03 ft. and the winning mark in that event was 87-03ft. earned by Ezra Neese of Bonanza.

Next on the agenda, including a few more practices, is a trip to Sisters High School on Friday, April 30. Teams currently scheduled to compete in that meet are Culver, Gilchrist, North Lake, Sisters, Cascades Academy of Central Oregon, and McKenzie.