Take your pick: 800 or 1,600.
When asked what he classifies as the better of his two middle-distance events, Camas’ Daniel Maton wavered.
That’s because the sophomore’s posted big times at big meets all spring, including the final day of the 4A Greater St. Helens district track meet at McKenzie Stadium.
There, he won the 4A boys 800 meters in 1 minute, 53.87 seconds. He sat in third after a sub-57-second first lap, and felt good enough to make his move early for a 3-second personal-best and a time that ranks second in Class 4A.
“I was expecting to go fast,” Maton said, “but I didn’t know how fast. It felt good.”
But then, there’s the 1,600; he, too, won that Wednesday (4:22.89), but at the Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland two weeks ago, ran the mile in 4:10.
“I was planning to use the 800 to prep for the mile,” he said.
It’s nice to have options.
Camas’ distance runners were the story Thursday, as the Papermakers — led by Maton’s 800, plus a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 3,200 — won the 4A GSHL boys team title with 114 points. Union was second (98) and Heritage was third to round out the top three team scores in the five-team meet.
Yacine Guermali, David Connell, and Jackson Lyne all ran sub-10-minutes in the 3,200, and LJ Floyd ran a 10:01.21 as Camas eanred 20 out of 21 possible points in that event.
It also was a Camas sweep for team titles. The girls team used its depth to top Union, 154-106, highlighted by a 1-2-3-4 finish — like the boys — in the girls 3,200. Sisters Emma and Halle Jenkins finished first (11:19.83) and second (11:22.75), respectively.
For the Titans, 22 of their points alone Thursday came from Dai’lyn and Jai’lyn Merriweather. The twins called the two-day event a good start to the postseason on their quest to become three-time state champions in the sprints.
And they didn’t disappoint in their final races at McKenzie Stadium.
The duo led a 1-2-3 Union finish in the 4A girls 200, and also ran the final two legs of the Titans’ winning 1,600 relay (3:52.57), a time that’s just shy of the relay team’s season best 3:51.02 set two weeks ago.
Having competed — and won — at elite meets such April’s Oregon Relays and Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays, the sisters said they’re in a good spot as May heats up.
“At state is where we want to be at our best,” Dai’lyn said.
