State track roundup: 11 Treasure Valley champions, 7 meet records set on first day
Jordan McDonald strained his right hamstring in his final boys basketball game of the season.
He took a week off to recover and then began practice for the 2024 track season, only to pull his hamstring, sidelining him for six weeks.
That made his performance at the Idaho high school state track and field championships all the more impressive.
With barely a month of preparation, the Boise High junior won the 5A boys high jump on Friday morning at Mountain View High, clearing a personal-best 6 feet, 8 inches.
“At first I was bummed, because I wasn’t going to get much of a season,” McDonald said. “But I think it made me better mentally, because I learned that it’s OK and to just keep smiling, instead of being like, ‘Oh, this sucks.’ ”
McDonald and Rocky Mountain’s Timothy Price were the only jumpers left of 18 who qualified for state after both cleared 6-4. McDonald was able to get over 6-6, but Price failed on three attempts, leaving McDonald to continue on his own, the title already his.
He missed his first two tries at 6-8 before springing over the bar on his third and final attempt, leaping up from the mat with a roar while flexing his muscles.
“What was amazing is you got to see his resilience and his mindset in overcoming that adversity,” Boise high jump coach John Clark said. “... He’s learned to forget what just happened and move on to the next one. You could see that in his attempts at 6-8. He had already won state. He took two jumps (and missed), went after it again and got it on the third.
“He’s an incredible competitor with an incredible mindset.”
McDonald is a threesport athlete at Boise, also starting at wide receiver for the football team. He played in all 10 of the Brave’s games last fall, catching 38 passes for 589 yards and seven touchdowns. He has offers to play football at the next level, but is hoping he might be able to play football and compete in track.
He’s still got a senior year of high school ahead of him to figure it out. And a state championship to defend, too.
“It feels great. That was the goal,” McDonald said. “I was runner-up last year, so being a state champ is pretty cool.”
McDonald was among 11 Treasure Valley athletes to win state titles on Friday, and there were seven meet records set. Here are those performances:
The pressure was on
● for Centennial senior Kai Twaddle-Dunham after he fouled on his first throw and lost his grip on the disc on his second try in the prelims of the 5A boys discus. Another mishap and he wouldn’t make the finals, despite ranking among the top 10 in the nation this season.
But Twaddle-Dunham found his form with a throw of 184-9 on his third toss in the prelims. He then recorded a distance of 185-0 in the finals to win the state title after a runner-up finish in 2023.
“It was a lot of pressure,” said Twaddle-Dunham, who has signed with Washington State. “It was either I hit it and I have a chance to go to the finals and throw three more, or I end my senior year off with a bad throw. Luckily, it was a decent throw.”
Bishop Kelly senior
●
Rakeem Johnson put the rest of the 4A boys shot put field on notice with his first throw in the prelims. Johnson recorded a career-best 59-7.25, and no one got anywhere close the rest of the competition. Second place went to Pocatello’s Gavin Schiffman, who reached 51-9.75.
Johnson has signed to play football for Michigan State this fall, but there’s a chance he could also compete for the Spartans in track. He owns the No. 1 throw in the discus in Idaho this season, at 201-4, which also ranks No. 6 in the country. He’ll compete in the state finals of the 4A discus at 9 a.m. Saturday.
“I think when I get (to Michigan State), we’ll see how it conflicts with my schedule,” Johnson said. “If it’s not too bad, I might try discus there, too.”
The overall state meet record in the discus is 203-9 by Post Falls’ Ian Waltz — a former Olympian — in 1995.
Sandpoint senior Ivy
●
Smith repeated as the 4A state champion in the girls shot put, and she did it in record fashion. Smith’s winning throw of 44-7 broke the previous class record of 44-3.25 set by Bishop Kelly’s Jacoba Luteyn in 2022.
Bishop Kelly senior
●
Cam Davis defended his title in the 4A boys long jump with a mark of 235.75. He’ll go for a second straight championship in the high jump beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
A nagging hamstring
● injury kept Owyhee senior Matt Irwin out of district competition in the boys triple jump last week. He received a medical exemption to compete at state, and he showed no signs of rust.
Irwin went a personalbest 46-5.75 to win the 5A triple jump, beating defending state champion Victor Byaundaombe (46-3) by mere inches. And Friday’s state meet was only his fourth time competing in the event.
“I was surprised,” said Irwin, who has signed to play football for the University of Idaho, “but I was also really excited.”
The 4A girls pole vault
● title went to Emmett freshman Addi Richards. She entered the competition with a personal-best height of 11-0, but Richards cleared 11-4 to beat runner-up McDaniel Devin (10-6) of Sandpoint.
Skyline senior Nelah
●
Roberts won her fourth straight 4A state championship in the girls 3,200, finishing the eightlap race in 10:20.36. The time was an overall state record, bettering the previous record Roberts set in 2022 of 10:30.63.
After finishing second
● last season, Mountain View senior Rilyn Stevens ran her way to the top of the podium in 2024 with a victory in the 5A girls 3,200. Stevens crossed the finish line in 10:25.51, breaking the 5A class record of 10:30.80 set by Mountain View’s Lexy Halladay in 2017.
BYU-bound Landon
●
Heeymer repeated as the 5A champion in the boys 3,200. The Rocky Mountain senior clocked a 9:02.01.
Highland sophomore
●
Spencer Van Orden became the first to dip below the 14-second barrier in the boys 110 hurdles this season, qualifying for Saturday’s final in a 5A class record of 13.96. The previous record had been held by Boise’s Darrin Harris (14.08) since 1985. The overall record is 13.69 by Emmett’s Landon
Helms in 2022.
Century senior Matejah
● Mangum has not lost a race in the girls 100 this season, and she continued that trend with a win in the first heat of the 4A prelims. Mangum’s time of 11.97 set an overall record. The previous record of 12.01 was set just last year by Skyline’s Claire Petersen.
Mangum’s record
● didn’t last long, though. Capital sophomore Christine Huckins outdid her in the first heat of the 5A prelims, clocking an 11.85.
Mountain View sophomore
● Quincy Keller, who qualified second in the 100 to Huckins in 11.94, set the pace in the 5A girls 200. Keller had the fastest time in the prelims at 24.57, breaking the overall record of 24.74 from Cole Valley Christian’s Brooke Weimer in 2019.
Rocky Mountain
● moved into the lead on the second lap of the third leg of the 5A girls 4x800 relay and never looked back. Emme Hamm, Hallie Heemeyer, Belle Draney and Brighton Heywood combined for a 9:06.62. The time was an overall state record and ranks No. 20 nationally, surpassing the previous best of 9:09.65 by Boise in 2021.
As he rounded the
● final turn, Boise senior Noe Kemper overtook Coeur d’Alene’s anchor runner for a victory in the 5A boys 4x800 relay in 7:52.05. Noe was joined by teammates Jack Sheesley, Jacob Fornander and Jens Knutsen.
Mason Schweitzer,
●
Owen Kane, Isaac Edwards and Liam Durcan teamed up for Bishop Kelly to win the 4A boys 1,600 medley relay in 3:36.29.