Hellberg takes fourth in long jump at state meet
Hellberg jumped 42 feet, 11.5 inches for fourth at the 4A state meet, and several Bulldogs moved into finals at Hayward Field.
Kane Hellberg gave Baker a medal-level finish at Hayward Field, taking fourth in the Class 4A long jump Friday with a mark of 42 feet, 11.5 inches. He was one of several Bulldogs who moved through preliminaries and into finals at the state meet, a sign that Baker arrived in Eugene with more than one event threat and could measure itself against Oregon’s best.
That depth was built a week earlier at the Greater Oregon League championships on May 22, where Baker finished second in both the girls and boys team standings behind La Grande. Hellberg won the triple jump there and placed second in the long jump, with his 43-10 triple jump ranking second on the Baker High School record list. Sammy Gressley matched that standard of performance for the Bulldogs, winning the district long jump with a school-record 18-3.25 and taking the 100 meters in 12.04 seconds, breaking Lynne Edmonson’s 53-year-old Baker High School mark of 12.30 from 1973.
Gressley also qualified for state by winning the 400 in 58.10 and the 200 in 25.23, underscoring how much Baker’s sprint and jump groups carried the program through the spring. The Bulldogs’ state roster also included Kate Norton, Henry Gaslin, Henry Kamerdula, Gwen Rasmussen, Wayland Thomas, Gabriel McBride, Molly Rasmussen, Meren Jesenko, Jack Joseph, Gavin Scott and both 4x400 relay teams, a large contingent for a Class 4A program.
At the 2026 OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union Track & Field State Championships, held May 28-30 at Hayward Field in Eugene, that kind of breadth mattered. Hayward Field is one of the toughest stages in high school track, and Baker’s results showed the Bulldogs were not simply attending the meet. Hellberg’s fourth-place finish in the long jump and the team’s presence in finals reflected a program that had already proven itself at district and then carried that momentum into state competition. For Baker High School, that is the kind of showing that keeps the Bulldogs visible statewide and confirms they belong in the conversation with the best 4A programs in Oregon.
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