Caldera freshman Rikaiya Griffin won middle-school state titles in the long jump, 100 and 200 as an eighth-grader.

It didn't take long for Caldera freshman Rikaiya Griffin to announce her presence on the Oregon high school track and field scene.

In her first long-jump attempt as a member of the Wolfpack – during a 5A Intermountain Conference meet against Summit and Redmond at Caldera on Wednesday – Griffin soared 19 feet, two inches, the No. 10 mark in state history.

The 5-foot-9 ½ Griffin crushed her previous best of 17-6 ½ that she set as an eighth-grader, when she won middle-school state titles in the long jump, 100 meters and 200 meters. Also Wednesday, she won the 100 and high jump and ran the anchor on the winning 4x100 relay.

“As a freshman, we knew she was going to be high impact, so we weren't terribly surprised,” Caldera coach Dirk Matthias said. “She kind of blew up in middle school track around here. Everybody was talking about her. She's a pretty unique athlete.”

Griffin, who also plays soccer and basketball at Caldera, hit 19-2 on her only jump before being shut down to focus on other events.

“That was a great jump for her,” Matthias said. “Maybe we were surprised by that a little bit, but we knew in that first meet, she was going to show. … She had a blast doing it. As long as she's in super high spirits and healthy and enjoying herself, let's go.”

Griffin has quickly moved into position to become the second girl in state history to long jump 20 feet. Oregon City's Sophia Beckmon, now a junior at Illinois, set the state record of 22-4 as a senior in 2023. The national high school record is 22-5 (Kate Hall, Maine, 2015).

“Sooner or later, she's going to be an over 20-foot long-jumper,” Matthias said. “Right now, we're just trying to be super conscious that she's only 13. If we're sensitive to it, we can make sure that she has a very long career in athletics, beyond Caldera High School.”

In Wednesday's meet, Griffin also recorded personal bests of 12.42 seconds in the 100 and 5 feet in the high jump and helped the 4x100 relay clock 49.38. In last year's 5A meet, those performances would have been good enough to place fifth in the 100 and high jump and tie for second in the relay.

Griffin also excels in the 200, but she probably will focus on the other four events this season, according to Matthias.

“She can do a lot of events at a really, really high level, but those are probably the basics, especially for freshman year,” he said. “Just keep things simple.”

Griffin will get a chance to build on her improvement in the long jump at Hayward Field, the state championship venue, when she competes in the Oregon Relays on April 3-4. Junior teammate James Heinly, the reigning 5A girls triple jump champion, is entered in the triple jump and long jump at the meet.

The addition of Griffin further bolsters a Caldera program that won 5A girls and boys team titles last season, ending Summit's long-standing domination at state. In the fifth year of the program, the Wolfpack boast 170 athletes.

Matthias said that district rival Summit is among the many teams that will be coming hard after Caldera this season.

“We have a lot of respect for them, and they're very respectful to us,” Matthias said. “They're enjoying having a really competitive peer in the district. Everybody else is kind of stirred up because they saw last year that if you put together a real high quality program, you can take it to Summit. There's no mystery in it.”

South Albany sprinters shine

South Albany junior Pharalynn Dickson and sophomore Charis Rettman – who finished 1-2 in the 100 and 200 at the 5A championships last year – started their season with career-best performances Saturday in the PNW Invite at Oregon State University.

Competing for Impact Athletics Track Club against a field of college athletes, Dickson and Rettman finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 with times that rank seventh and eighth on the state's all-time list.

Dickson, the two-time reigning state champion in the 100, 200 and 400, finished in 23.86 to lower her PR from 24.07. Rettman, state runner-up in the 100 and 200 last year, clocked 23.96, down from her best of 24.41.

Anderson starts fast

Thurston senior Brooklyn Anderson, last year's 5A champion in the 100 hurdles, ran to a personal-best 14.44 to win the event in the Jim Barks Grizzly Bear Open on Thursday at McMinnville High School.

The time ties her for No. 16 all-time in the state with Centennial's Madison McHone (2019). Anderson's previous best was 14.45, although she ran a wind-aided 14.40 last season.

Aside from the hurdles, Anderson is a two-time state placer in the 100, taking fourth in 2024 and second last year.