Islanders Shine At The Oregon Relays

Mercer Island, April 6, 2025 – This weekend 26 Mercer Island High School Track and Field Athletes boarded Amtrak for a trip to Eugene, Oregon, and the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field.

This is the third consecutive year MIHS athletes have competed at the Oregon Relays.

While Eugene brought the sunshine, Mercer Island brought the heat! Islanders delivered impressive performances, setting personal records and season bests in hurdles, throws, high jump, pole vault, sprints, and distance events.

Victoria Rodriguez and Sophia Rodriguez both claimed gold in their events—the Steeplechase and the two-mile run.

The Islanders boys and girls teams both competed in the Distance Medley Relay (DMR), a track and field relay event where teams of four runners compete in a 4,000-meter race, with each leg covering a different distance: 1200 meters (3 laps), 400 meters (1 lap), 800 meters (2 laps), and 1600 meters (4 laps).

The girls’ DMR team of Victoria Rodriguez, Lauren Balousek, Katie Kolpa, and Sophia Rodriguez ran an electrifying race, finishing in second place and breaking the Washington State DMR record by an amazing 15 seconds.

The boys followed suit with a thrilling win in the DMR. Matthew Lawrence, Alexander Dusseau, and Matthew Greer passed the baton to Owen Powell for the final 1600 meters, and Owen’s strong finish, picking off seven runners one by one, brought the team across the finish line with grace and determination.

“Every single one of our eight runners left it all on the track, and it was exhilarating to watch,” said MIHS track and field co- head coach Amy Posner Wolf.

MIHS track and field photographer Scott Knoblich made the trek down Eugene and took some amazing photos of Saturday's events and the DMR! You can view a selection of these awesome photos below. a