In her high school career at Lincoln, junior Ellery Lincoln has made her mark as a 6A champion in the 1,500 meters and cross country.
Up until last week, though, she had not tried her hand in the 3,000 as a Cardinal. That changed in a big way Friday in a Portland Interscholastic League home meet against Wells.
Running in a combined girls-boys heat, Lincoln obliterated the state record in the 3,000. Her time of 9 minutes, 6.61 seconds eclipsed the previous mark of 9:15.14, set by Lake Oswego's Kate Peters in 2022.
“We knew we wanted to attempt the state record, but I didn't necessarily have a special time on my mind, because I haven't raced a real 3K in high school before,” said Lincoln, who has committed to Oregon. “I feel pleasantly surprised with how it went.”
She not only stands atop Oregon's all-time list, but she ranks No. 4 outdoors in the national record book. Jane Hedengren of Provo, Utah, ran the record time of 8:40.03 in Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field last June.
Lincoln finished third in the heat behind two Lincoln boys, sophomore Henry Tachouet (9:04.23) and junior Tariku Johnson (9:04.42). With a 68-second final lap, Lincoln was closing the gap on Tachouet and Johnson.
“She was flying to the finish line,” Cardinals coach Eric Dettman said. “It felt like a race. It didn't feel like a time trial.
“In typical Ellery fashion, it was funny, she was going, 'You know, that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.' Which was cool. To be like, 'Wow, you ran 9:06 and that's your first response.'”
Lincoln said she glanced at the clock with a lap remaining and did some quick math.
“I was like, 'Oh, I could run like a 70 right now and still run well under the state record,'” she said. “So I felt excited. I ran a pretty good last lap, so I felt pretty good about that. I was just trying to turn my brain off and just trust what was going on around me.”
She was buzzing after the finish.
“I couldn't stop jumping,” she said.
Lincoln has specialized in the 1,500 and 800 in track. In the 6A meet as a freshman, she won the 1,500 and was runner-up in the 800. Last year, she took third in the 1,500. She is No. 6 on the state's all-time list in the 1,500 at 4:20.89.
Lincoln said she decided to dabble in the 3,000 “to work on my ends to try to make my mile even better. I'm definitely not moving away from the 800 and 1,500, but I'm just wanting to work on those ends to have some good range.”
The idea to run against boys came from Lincoln pacing girl teammates in the 3,000 and 1,500 this season.
“After that, she was like, 'Hey, we've never had anybody pace me. Can we do that?'” Dettman said. “I was like, 'Yeah, I like that idea, let's do that.' We thought it would be a really cool opportunity.”
It helped that the PIL combines boys and girls in 3,000 heats for league meets.
“It was a little bit spontaneous, but we had been thinking about it for a few weeks before it happened,” Lincoln said.
Dettman had Cardinals junior Peter James set the pace for Lincoln to run in the 9:06, 9:07 range.
“I know it sounds crazy because it's so fast, but just seeing what she's done in the mile, I felt pretty good that we could get around that time,” Dettman said.
Lincoln had a hunch it could be special.
“I had the best cross country season of my life this year, so I knew my aerobic ability was better than it's ever been, which gave me some confidence,” she said. “And the 72s had started feeling easier recently. But just kind of sticking your nose in it, you figure out that you're capable of more than you thought you were.”
The record run raises questions about Lincoln's pursuits this season. Dettman said she will probably run the 800 on Friday in a meet at Sunset and it will help shed light on future plans.
“She could do the 800 prelim-3K double at our district meet and probably the state meet, but the 1,500 is kind of her baby,” Dettman said. “That's her favorite event, and I want to honor that.
“I don't anticipate us trying to run another really fast 3K this year, but I would guess if we did in another month or so, she could probably give nine minutes a scare. We might try to leave that to next year or sometime down the road.
Girls 400 record in jeopardy
Newberg senior Sophia Castaneda is pushing toward taking down the state record in the 400.
The reigning 6A champion in the event, Castaneda ran a personal-best 53.02 on April 8 in a Pacific Conference meet at McMinnville. She is No. 2 on the state's all-time list behind Lake Oswego's Josie Donelson, who ran 52.83 as a senior in 2024.
Castaneda's previous best was 53.16, which she recorded last June in finishing third in the USATF U-20 national championships.
Arcadia Invitational
Sunset junior Naomi Cesar, the 6A runner-up in the 800 last year, now stands at No. 12 in state history in the event after recording a time of 2:09.40 in the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational last weekend. Her old PR was 2:10.19.
Also at Arcadia, four Oregon boys ran the fastest times in the state this season in the 3,000, all recorded en-route during the 3,200: Sheldon senior Malachi Schoenherr (8:15.15), Summit sophomore Clayton Jero (8:15.54), Jesuit senior Kellen Williams (8:20.59) and Crater sophomore Garrett Faught (8:21.08).
Rettman blazing
South Albany's Charis Rettman continued the terrific start to her sophomore season by running to a personal-best 11.87 in the 100 in the T Smith Need for Speed Invitational on Saturday at Sherwood.
It was the second PR in six days for Rettman, who ran 11.93 in the Oregon Relays the previous weekend. She is ranked second in the state in the 100 behind Roosevelt senior Aster Jones (11.61), the reigning 6A champion in the 100 and 200.
Smith rising in 200
Oregon City junior Colin Smith moved to No. 15 in state history in the 200 by clocking 21.37 in the Vic Downs Mac Invite on Friday at McMinnville. He broke his previous outdoor best of 21.64.
Smith leads the state in the 200 and is second in the 400 (49.00). In the 6A meet last year, he was second in the 400 and third in the 200.
Lions dominate relays
West Linn's boys established the state's top times this season in both relays in the T Smith Need for Speed Invitational on Saturday at Sherwood.
The Lions timed 41.94 in the 4x100 with juniors Ashden Marquis and Cooper Roms and seniors Bellu Vixamar and MJ Kennybrew. They ran the 4x400 in 3:23.79 with Aidan Sauer, Kennybrew, Roms and junior Isaac Compaore.
jerryu@osaa.org
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