Live updates: Salem and Eugene area athletes compete at Oregon Relays at Hayward Field

Athletes from more than 100 high school programs will compete Friday and Saturday at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field.

The meet is one of the top high school track meets on the West Coast and comes just about a month before the OSAA state track and field meet, which will also be held at Hayward.

Here's local athletes to watch from Salem and Eugene .

Track and field events begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday. On Saturday, events for track and field begin at 10 a.m.

Follow along here for live updates on how Salem and Eugene area athletes perform.

West Salem’s Mihaly Akpamgbo sets school record in 200 meters

West Salem’s Mihaly Akpamgbo — the defending 6A state champ in the event — ran a personal best time of 21.53 seconds and placed second. He was bested by Jayden Horton-Mims from Imhotep Charter of Pennsylvania, who set a new meet record with a time of 21.02.

“He ran a really solid race — set a personal best by one-hundredth of a second and set our school record. I think he set himself up nice,” West Salem coach Erich Herber said. “The weather was good and it was nice for him to have to run against someone; he hasn’t had anybody to run against, really all year.”

North Salem’s DeMari Thompson finished 12th in the 200, which did not feature a true “final” but rather six heats that were run in succession.

West Salem’s Ian Cooper-Leavitt placed 38th in 23.00.

The 100-meter rematch between Thompson and Akpamgbo — last year’s state champion and runner-up — will have to wait, though.

Thompson won his prelim heat in 10.96 seconds, but that was not enough to send him through to the final later in the evening. Akpamgbo ran a 10.77 to punch his ticket to the final, but opted not run in the final after he felt some discomfort in his hamstring.

“In the 100, he ran a really solid race and just wanted to be a little precautionary with his body,” Herber said. “So we just decided not to run him in the final. But he’s getting primed and ready to go for the district and state meets.”

Girls 2,000 meter steeplechase

South Salem's Sophia Buswell placed 20th with a time of 8 minutes, 44.83 seconds.

Boys 2000 meter steeplechase

West Salem's Garrett Fenske placed 12th in 6 minutes, 25.91 seconds.

Sheldon's Owen Phillips sixth in long jump

Sheldon's Owen Phillips placed sixth in long jump with a jump of 21 feet, 3 1/4 inches.

South Eugene runner third in girls 100 meters

South Eugene's Capri Betenson placed third in the girls 100-meter freshmen race with a time of 12.50.

West Salem's Olivia Jolivette produces multiples strong finishes

During a busy 30-minute span, West Salem senior Olivia Jolivette produced strong marks in both the 100 meters and the long jump.

Jolivette finished eighth out of 22 long jumpers with a mark of 16 feet, 9 ¾ inches on her first jump of the day. She was forced to pass on her third and fourth long jump attempts when she headed over to the track for the 100 meter prelims.

There, Jolivette finished 21st out of 52 sprinters with a time of 12.77.

“It can definitely be a stressor — like, anxiety inducing,” Jolivette said of juggling multiple events at once. “Knowing that, ‘OK, this race is coming up soon but I’m not done with this. So, how do you manage that?’ I definitely think that staying calm and just making sure that you know what you need to be doing is all that matters.”

Jolivette, who placed eighth in the long jump at last year’s 6A state championship meet, owns a personal best of 18-1 in the event. She produced that mark at the district meet last spring, and already owns a 17-5 ½ season best this year that ranks sixth among 6A athletes.

“I’m working on making sure I’m carrying that speed to the board,” Jolivette said of her long jump technique. “Recently I haven’t been hitting that board, so just trying to make sure I’m able to actually bounce off and get projected jump and everything.”

Cottage Grove's Carter Bengtson places fourth in 2-mile open

Cottage Grove's Carter Bengtson placed fourth in the boys 2-mile open with a time of 9:18.53.

Sheldon’s Malachi Schoenherr finishes fourth in boys 2-mile

Sheldon sophomore Malachi Schoenherr finished fourth in the boys 2-mile race with a time of 9:04.69.

But to Schoenherr, his time wasn’t as important after he ran 8:17.20 a week prior at the Sherwood Need For Speed Classic.

“I just wanted to have a good race,” he said. “I had a good time set, now it’s just going and placing high.”

Tayvon Kitchen of Crater won the event with a time of 8:58.47 and Yemane Mulugeta from L.A. Matheson of British Columbia, Canada, finished second in 9:02.47. West Salem's Jack Meier finished 12th in 9:16.23.

“Having those guys push me and being with them, it’s one of the best things,” Schoenherr said.

Avery Meier, Nelida Dalgas produce long-distance personal-bests

After capping off her freshman season with a pair of top-10 finishes at the state meet, West Salem’s Avery Meier entered this spring with no shortage of confidence.

As she continues to build on last year’s success, she is less concerned with chasing specific times at this point and more focused on fine-tuning her race day strategy.

Meier placed ninth in the 2 mile championship with a time of 10 minutes, 44.93 seconds. While that was the first race at that distance of her high school career, her 3,000 meter split of 10:05.56 eclipsed her previous personal best of 10:07.58.

“I wasn’t really sure of a (time goal), but tried to break down the race, work from there, and not really focus on a time,” Meier said. “Because I know that messes me up while I’m racing. I was just going for passing and good moves.”

Crescent Valley’s Emily Wisniewski won the race with a blistering time of 10:16.24 — the fastest in the U.S. this season by a prep athlete and the third-fastest ever in the state of Oregon. Lakeridge’s Chloe Huyler (10:16.35) and Bishop Manogue’s Amaya Aramini (10:17.08) battled with Wisniewski down the back stretch in a thrilling finish.

Meier hung close with a middle pack of runners that included North Salem sophomore Nelida Dalgas, who finished seventh in 10:44. Dalgas’ 3,000 meter split of 10:00.99 was her best of the season, and nearly 40 seconds better than her best time from last season.

Dalgas and Meier now rank sixth and ninth in the state at 3,000 meters this season, respectively.

West Salem's Makai DeBerry competes in boys shot put and javelin

West Salem senior Makai DeBerry placed 20th in the javelin with a throw of 157 feet. In the shot put, he took 21st with a heave of 46-8 ¼.

DeBerry currently owns the 10th-best shot put mark in the state this season at 50-4.

West Salem's Logan Hility places 11th in boys long jump

West Salem junior Logan Hilty placed 11th in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 3/4 inch.

He currently owns the sixth-best mark in the state this season at 22-2.

Willamina's Hadley Hughes 11th in girls javelin

Willamina freshman Hadley Hughes took 11th in the javelin with a throw of 118 feet, 2 inches.

Hughes also placed 33rd in the shot put with a throw of 27-09 1/2.

South Eugene, North Eugene runners finish Top 3 in boys 2-mile freshmen race

South Eugene’s Yosuke Shibata placed second in the boys 2-mile freshmen race with a time of 9:43.26.

“I was falling off a bit and it was really just a mental battle to keep going,” Shibata said.

Shibata kept that same mental toughness after he suffered an Achillies injury earlier this year that required a month and a half of rehab. On top of that, he took off all of March to help with his recovery and only recently got back into training.

“Honestly, it was a really good mental break for me,” he said.

To his surprise, Shibata said he was really happy he was able to have fun and compete.

“I was in better shape than I hoped that I thought I’d be in coming back from the Achillies injury,” he said. “For districts, I want to shoot for 1,500-meter or 3,000. I’m a miler, I like the mile a lot more.”

North Eugene’s Ashenafi Mckinnis placed third with a time of 9:47.16.

“Trusting my coach, trusting my body and not overdoing it, I was really prepared today,” McKinnis said of his performance.

South Eugene boys relay places third in 1,600 sprint medley

South Eugene’s boys 1,600 sprint medley team comprised of Donovan Locklyn, Levi Hawes, Raul Verges and Jan Bremer placed third with a time of 3:35.27.

McNary's team of Pawit Potisuk, Mason Bowlby, Pawat Potisuk, and Yoosef Picazo placed eighth in 3:38.16.

Eugene throwers compete in shot put, hammer events

Marist’s Zakiya Newman placed 11th in the girls shot put with a distance of 35-8 3/4.

Churchill’s Javin Petry placed 12th in the boys hammer throw with a distance of 147-1.

Jarrid Denney is the high school sports reporter for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney

Edith Noriega is a sports reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at ENoriega@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Noriega_Edith .

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Live updates: Salem and Eugene area athletes compete at Oregon Relays at Hayward Field