The Crook County girls pose with their 4th place trophy at the OSAA 4A State Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon on May 31, 2025.

The Crook County Cowgirls finished fourth in the 4A Girls State Track and Field Championships May 30-31 at Eugene’s Hayward Field.

The Cowgirls did just enough to get forth, finishing with 39 team points. Mazama and Molalla/Colton each finished with 38 for tie for fifth. Philomath took the team title with 80 points and La Grande was second at 69.5. Cascade was third at 52.

“It was like a Disney movie,” said head coach Ernie Brooks. “We were projected to finish probably seventh or eighth, but the girls came through.”

Natalia Crass, Crook County’s middle distance ace, won the 800 meters by more than two seconds Saturday, May 31 to cap her high school track career with a state title. Crass finished in 2:15.97, easily topping runner-up Haley Butenschoen of Stayton, who finished in 2:18.19.

Crass had a good shot to win two state titles at Hayward Field but she finished second in the 400. Lillian Pickett of Cascade ran a personal-best 55.77 to edge Crass, who also ran her best-ever 400, finishing in 56.70. The first and second by Crass powered the Cowgirls to the fourth-place trophy.

Some good work in the field was also key to the Cowgirls getting hardware. “Our throwers went to work!” said Brooks.

Crook County got a fourth-place finish from Lucy Brooks, the coach’s daughter, in the discus, setting a personal best in going 117-11. McKenna Maykut also PR’d in taking sixth with an 111-4. Paige Wood kept the personal records going for CC with her 126-3 in the javelin, which earned her fourth place. Drew Hood of North Bend won the javelin with a 133-9 heave. A scratch on a great effort cost Wood in the shot and she finished 11th with a 32-9.5 Estacada’s standout Abby Behrman won both the shot put and the discus titles.

The Cowgirl foursome of Dylanne Smith, Hanna Zapf, Chantai George and Harper Smith clocked a 50.53 to take fifth in the 4×100. Cascade won with a 48.79.

The Rice twins, Jane and Emily, tied for sixth with Marshfield’s Isabel Ashton in the pole vault, all three going 8-4. Mada Lee of Mazama won with a 9-11.75.

Zapf, a freshman, took ninth in the 200 preliminaries and just missed making the top eight and the finals.  George was 13th in the preliminaries.  Smith was 13th in the 100 preliminaries.

“I call this year’s girls team the few and the proud,” said Brooks. “They overcame a lot of adversity of the year. It was an amazing ride.”

2025 4A Girls State Track and Field Championships

Hayward Field, May 30-31

Top 10 Team Scores – Philomath 80, La Grande 69.5, Cascade 52, Crook County 39, Mazama 38, Molalla/Colton 38, Klamath Union 37, North Bend 34, Junction City 31, Stayton 28