Molalla senior Peyton Craven and Siuslaw junior Kale Jensen emerged from the pack as winners in the Mondo Track Club Decathlon/Heptathlon on Friday and Saturday at Summit High School.
Craven scored 3,805 points, comfortably ahead of Redmond sophomore Georgia Koch (3,545), Crater junior Claire Davenport (3,463) and Vale junior Claire Johnson (3,436). Craven took first in the 100-meter hurdles and second in the high jump and long jump.
It was the second career heptathlon for Craven, who nearly matched her score of 3,965 from the Combined Events Festival at Churchill High School following last year's state meet.
“For a beginning-of-the-year score, that's pretty good to already be almost at her PR from the end of last season,” Molalla coach Kenny Schoenfeld said.
Jensen compiled 5,891 points to hold off West Valley (Wash.) junior Erik Borg (5,786), Crook County senior Eli Oelkers (5,733) and Burns junior Carson Volle (5,456). Jensen was the top placer in the high jump and pole vault.
“For his first time ever doing a decathlon, to score almost 6,000 is pretty impressive,” Siuslaw coach Chris Johnson said of Jensen, the reigning 3A champion in the high jump.
Craven, who attends 1A Country Christian and lives in Colton, competed for Colton as a sophomore. She won the 2A title in the 100 hurdles, took second in the high jump and third in the 100.
After Colton dropped its track program, she began competing for Molalla as a junior. In the 4A meet, she won the high jump and 100 hurdles and placed third in the long jump.
“She's one of the best raw athletes I've ever coached, if not the best,” Schoenfeld said of the 5-foot-9 Craven, who has signed with Oregon State. “She can jump out of the building. It's ridiculous.”
Blessed with natural physical talent, Craven's primary focus has been on technique.
“She had never really been coached in it,” Schoenfeld said. “It doesn't really surprise me that her score is that good. All she has to do is work on technique, just get reps on things, and I think that score just explodes.”
Craven is within range of Molalla's heptathlon record of 4,156, set in 2022 by Elizabeth Grandle, a former Country Christian athlete. Craven cleared 5-5 in the high jump last year and threatened the school record of 5-5 ½ (Lacee Quade, 1991), but barely missed on her attempts at 5-5 ¾ at the state meet.
“She's capable of jumping heights that would be placing her very high in college meets,” Schoenfeld said. “She has a 5-8, 5-9 jump in her right now. Its just reps and technique I'm waiting on.”
Schoenfeld said that Craven, who was a starter for Country Christian's state quarterfinal basketball team, has untapped potential in the throws.
“With her length in the javelin and discus, I really think she could get a ton of points added,” he said. “I could put her in six or seven different events and she'd make it to state.”
Jensen was a standout jumper as a freshman, when he placed 11th in the long jump at state, and began competing in the hurdles as a sophomore. In last year's 3A meet, he not only won the high jump, but placed second in the long jump, sixth in the 300 hurdles and seventh in the 100 hurdles.
“He could potentially win three or four events at the state meet,” Johnson said of Jensen, who improved his high jump PR from 6-0 ¾ to 6-4 last summer.
Jensen's decathlon point total of 5,891 is close to the school record of 6,091 (Tyler May, 2001). A composite score of his personal bests (6,130) is good enough to meet the qualifying standard (6,100) for Nike Outdoor Nationals in June.
A rookie pole-vaulter, Jensen cleared 12-0 in the Mondo meet and shows great potential.
“We think he can be 14 feet this year,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the 5-11, 160-pound Jensen, a cross country runner and soccer player in the fall, has the explosiveness to excel in the decathlon.
“That's the No. 1 thing you're looking for,” Johnson said. “But I think what makes Kale really special is that he is very even-keeled. He can handle the ups and downs, and that lends itself very well to being a multi-event person.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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