Josie Donelson makes more history for Lake Oswego girls at state track meet — the rare 400 meters, 300 hurdles double

By René Ferrán | Photos by Brynn Kleinke 

EUGENE — A week ago, Lake Oswego coach John Parks had a twinkle in his eyes as he discussed Josie Donelson’s chances at the OSAA track and field state championships.

He promised the junior would deliver something special.

Promise became reality Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field, when Donelson put on a one-of-a-kind performance that left onlookers wondering if it had ever been done before. 

The answer is that no 6A girl had ever pulled the double Donelson accomplished by winning the 400 meters and 300 hurdles — and it had been a decade since Corvallis’ Malika Waschmann pulled it off in the 5A meet in 2013. 

It wasn’t just the unlikely combo but how Donelson pulled it off that had the crowd buzzing. She came within one-hundredth of a second of the state record in the 400, winning in 53.94 seconds, then came back a couple of hours later and ran the third-fastest 3A hurdles time in state history (42.60) in an event she picked up a month ago.

To top it off, she ran the final leg of the Lakers’ record-setting 4x400 relay that clocked 3:48.78, taking a full second off the time they recorded a week earlier.

“I remember when we first brought up the idea of me doing the hurdles, and my coach had some big plans for me, and I was really open to achieving them,” Donelson said. “So, to see everything really come together at this meet … it feels very good to finally have that go-ahead to see what it could lead to.”

Just eight days earlier, Donelson lost in the Three Rivers district final to West Linn’s Savannah Johnson. So, the week before state was spent perfecting her timing between the hurdles, and the result was shaving 2½ seconds off her career best.

“Being so new to hurdling, for me personally, it was about really understanding where I need to attack the hurdle and trying to fine-tune everything you know goes into doing well in this event,” she said. “Locking in all those things is really what helped me get to this point.”

There was little fine-tuning needed for her in the 400, in which she was the defending champion. Even so, as she approached the finish line, it didn’t seem like Sasha Spencer’s 1997 record time of 53.93 for North Salem was in jeopardy — until the final strides, when her time flashed on the big screen at the north end of Hayward Field and the crowd roared.

“It’s always around that back corner that I really just want to remember not to fall asleep and stay focused and leave it all on the track,” she said. “That’s what I tried to do in this race.

“It feels really good. Honestly, I remember just wanting to get to 55 (seconds), and then 54, but to be here at 53 at this point, I feel really good about it.”