6A district track: Five meet records, six state bests highlight two-day event
Ambrose Brainard spent the first two hours of the boys high jump walking around in his socks cheering on his competitors.
While many of the 32 athletes in the event started the competition at the opening height of 5 feet, 6 inches, the Eagle senior passed until the bar reached 6-4.
It didn’t take long after that for Brainard to dispel his competition, ultimately clearing 6-8 to win his second straight 6A District Three track and field title in the event Friday afternoon at Meridian High School.
But the most impressive part?
Brainard is only in his second season competing in track and field.
“He’s gonna go jump in college and the sky’s the limit, pretty much,” Eagle high jump coach Tori Sloan said. “The amount of talent and success that he’s gonna have in the next four years are gonna be crazy, especially all the accomplishments he’s already done in such a short time frame. He’s gonna go crazy.”
Originally a basketball player, the Eagle track staff saw Brainard dunking a basketball last season and knew he had the kind of vertical ability that would make him a good fit for the high jump.
“Even my parents thought I should be doing track since middle school,” Brainard said. “I never wanted to, but now I’m doing it every day and it’s fun. I love it.”
In the first meet of his track career in March of 2025, Brainard cleared 6 feet and won. And he just kept getting better, setting a personal-best at the time of 6-8 and eventually winning the state championship last May.
“I jumped 6 foot basically sitting over the bar,” Brainard said. “That’s when my coaches realized that I needed actual coaching a lot more, instead of just telling me to go run out there and jump. After meeting Tori and all my Eagle coaches, they’ve helped me out so much.”
Sloan, a former University of Oregon high jumper who still holds the girls 6A District Three meet record in the event, has helped Brainard reach heights he never thought possible.
Brainard soared over the bar at 7 feet to win the high jump at the Boise Relays in mid-April, a mark that put him among the top 10 in the nation at the time.
Nursing a sprained ankle, Brainard attempted to match the district meet record of 6-10 on Friday — a height he’s cleared three times this season — but it wasn’t meant to be.
The Idaho State signee is hopeful he’ll be back to full strength at next week’s state meet at Mountain View High School. The overall state record is 7-1 set by Minico’s Tory Bailey in 1993.
Brainard also qualified for state in the long jump, taking second with a distance of 22-7.
“I don’t think about it too much. I just do what’s comfortable and focus on getting over the bar,” Brainard said. “It’s not you against other people. It’s kind of a one-person sport. It’s just you and the bar.”
MEET RECORDS AND STATE BESTS
• In just the second season as an official IHSAA event, Capital junior Elliot Schrack set a new meet record in the boys javelin. Schrack won the event with a throw of 169-8, besting the record established last year by Rocky Mountain’s Carter Gleave of 151-3.
“Last year was my very first year, and I didn’t expect to throw good,” Schrack said. “But I ended up being good. I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m gonna stay in it.’ It’s definitley cool that the sport is becoming bigger in the state now.”
• With nine of the top 10 athletes recording personal bests in the girls triple jump, Timberline junior Nadja Burkholder outdid them all by nearly 2 feet. Burkholder finished with a mark of 39-5.25, which is a meet record and the best distance in the state this season. The previous record was held by Mountain View’s Josie Lawrence, who jumped 39-0.25 in 2013.
“I’ve been trying to hit 39 for a while now, so I’m very proud of myself,” said Burkholder, the defending state champion in the triple jump. “I had a really good environment with a lot of people cheering me on, which is really nice. It was a cool experience.”
• Over the course of eight laps, Boise senior Audrey Orme found another gear in the final sprint to the finish line. Orme, a Gonzaga signee, passed leader Hallie Heemeyer of Rocky Mountain for the win in 10:46.79. Her time breaks the district meet record of 10:48.14 held by Borah’s Sara Christianson since 2014.
“I kind of knew we were gonna take it out conservative, so I was just gonna be conservative all the way through,” Orme said. “Then I didn’t really plan to do that. I guess, honestly, I just kind of felt good in the moment and decided to (take the win).”
• Eagle junior Trev Larson overtook top-seeded Noah Fisher of Owyhee across the final two hurdles to win the boys 300 hurdles in a personal-best 37.66. It is a school record and the No. 1 time in the state this season, surpassing Highland’s Spencer Van Orden, who previously ran a 37.79.
“I just kind of felt it coming off the curve. I felt really strong,” Larson said. “I always have a really good finish, and there was a lot riding on it today, so I just pushed to the finish.”
• Defending state champion Kami Clayton set a personal best and a district meet record on her way to the girls shot put title. The Mountain View senior recorded a distance of 43-11, eclipsing the previous record of 43-5.5 by Capital’s McKenna Chavez in 2024.
• Boise’s Quinton Williams, Colton Bureau, Henry Terhaar and Eli Rich teamed up to win the boys 4x200 relay in 1:26.29. It is the top time in Idaho this season and was just shy of the meet record of 1:26.17 held by Mountain View from last season. Williams and Bureau then polished off the meet with a win in the 4x400 relay alongside teammates Valon Winn and Luke Bruce. Their time was also a meet record and a state No. 1 in 3:19.17, just ahead of Kuna’s old record of 3:19.31 from last season.
• Rocky Mountain’s Dylan Anson, Aidan Lowry, Ray Clark and Michael Majors clocked a 7:56.31 to win the boys 4x800 relay. Their time is No. 1 in the state this season.
• Mountain View’s Bree Cardon, Quincy Keller, Tenley Johnson and Brinley Lathrop won the girls 4x200 in a state-leading time of 1:41.62.
• Boise’s Reese Kindig, Belen Hoobing, Lucy Spiess and Audrey Orme finished first in the girls 4x800 relay in 9:25.55 — the No. 1 time in Idaho this season.
• The Mountain View boys and girls swept the team titles with 136.5 and 121 points, respectively. Senior Quincy Keller led the Mavericks’ girls team, running her way to first individually in the 100 and 200 and running legs on the team’s winning 4x100 and 4x200 relays. The Mountain View boys fought their way to the team title with a deep roster, winning only the 1,600 (Koda VanDahlen) and long jump (Beau Stewart).
