Highland junior Spencer Van Orden is now the fastest all-time on record in Idaho in both boys hurdles events.

Over the weekend in California, Van Orden ran the best times of his career en route to claiming gold and silver medals at one of the largest meets in the nation. He ran 13.59 to win the boys 110 hurdles invitational finals and 36.62 to place second in the boys 300 hurdles invitational final at the annual Arcadia Invitational, making him the first Idaho athlete to win an event title in the invitational division at Arcadia since Rocky Mountain's Michael Slagowski won the boys 800 invitational final in 1:50.68 in 2015. Like Van Orden, Slagowski is an Idaho all-time record holder, as he ran an Idaho No. 1 boys 800 time of 1:48.36 in 2016.

Van Orden was already the fastest all-time on record in Idaho in boys 300 hurdles as of last season, but he has continued to improve upon his times in the event this season. On Saturday, he broke 37 seconds in the event for the first time. The 110 hurdles winning time, however, was a long sought after accomplishment for Van Orden because he broke Idaho's previous all-time record of 13.67 set at Idaho's 2022 4A state meet by Landon Helms, who has continued his career at Texas A & M and Boise State.

Van Orden was a middle school track athlete when Helms set that record. Now Van Orden has the No. 13 fastest time in the U.S. this season in the event as of Monday's athletic.net rankings.

"I've been thinking about that record since day one," Van Orden said Monday afternoon by phone. "I remember watching Landon set that record. I was just getting into hurdling and I was like, 'Oh man. I want to do that.' I'm still kinda proccessing it, too."

Breaking Helms' record was made sweeter by winning the event in the toughest division at Arcadia. Known for being the home of numerous national high school records, Arcadia has drawn eventual Olympians such as Noah Lyles, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Michael Norman when they were in high school.

"I remember talking to my dad (beforehand)...I don't care about placement," Van Orden said. "I just want to PR. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about taking first."

The meet's prestige draws large crowds as well, and the two-day meet goes late into the evening. Van Orden said he felt that he did a good job of focusing on himself and staying calm before both of his finals.

"It was pretty electric," Van Orden said. "I really just try to focus on myself. I have things I do before a race, listening to music and things I tell myself. Once I get to big meets, it's hard not to put myself into the shoes of a small kid from Idaho. I take a step back and think about what I've done to be here. I've come to terms with the fact I deserve to be here like everyone else."

A cool moment from the 300 hurdles invitational final was the fact that another Idaho athlete also made it on the podium. Boise senior Chase Lawyer placed third right behind Van Orden in a personal best 36.98.

Thanks to that race, Van Orden and Lawyer are the only Idaho boys on record to break 37 seconds for 300 hurdles. Additionally, Van Orden's time is No. 6 fastest in the U.S. in the event this season as of Monday's athletic.net rankings, Lawyer's is No. 15 and Nampa senior Tegon Lords' personal best 37.21 is No. 21. Those three boys are the three fastest all-time on record in Idaho in the event with their respective times.

"Chase is doing phenomenal," Van Orden said. "Idaho is kinda going through a golden age right now in hurdles. These guys are coming along with me and it's great."

Also at Arcadia, Lawyer teamed up with Boise teammates Jordan McDonald, William Studebaker and Kellen Hulquist to place second in the boys shuttle hurdle relay invitational final in 58.97. Additionally, Lawyer placed second in the boys 110 hurdles open final in 14.02.

In the girls 3,200 open final, Capital senior Lily Sullivan placed fourth in 10:45.24, a personal best and her first time breaking 11 minutes. In the boys pole vault open final, Eagle senior Jacob Farmer cleared 14-7 to place sixth. In the boys long jump rising stars final, Fruitland junior Ezekiel Van Hofwegen won with a mark of 22-11.5. And although she did not place in the top six with her time, Coeur d'Alene Charter junior Annabelle Carr placed 12th in the girls 800 seeded final in 2:12.80, the fastest time so far this season in Idaho and the second sub-2:13 time of her career.

Moving On Up

A little more than two weeks into the month and April is continuing to treat Idaho high school track and field athletes well.

There are new leaders in Idaho's newest state meet sanctioned event, javelin, as of this past weekend. Lewiston senior Cole Arlint achieved a mark of 154-9 at the Pasco Invite while Sandpoint junior Jetta Thaete attained a mark of 126-0 at the Lake Pend Oreille Invitational to keep her undefeated in the event this spring.

On the topic of undefeated field event athletes, Prairie junior Sage Elven won girls discus at the Leah Swanson Memorial/Deary Invite this past weekend with a mark of 141-4 to remain undefeated in the event this season. She has not lost discus since last year's 1A District 1-2 championships. That mark also leads Idaho this spring.

Mountain View junior Kami Clayton won girls discus this past weekend at the Patriot Invite at Centennial High School with a mark of 43-0, her first time surpassing 40 feet in her career. Additionally, this makes her one of 17 girls on record in Idaho to reach 43 feet or better in shot put and she leads Idaho thus far this season in the event with that mark. Clayton's teammate, senior Joseph Miraya, won the boys shot put and discus at the Patriot Invite with marks of 61-11.5 and 164-6, respectively. Miraya is not only undefeated this season in shot put, but his 61-11.5 is a personal best and is the No. 19 best mark in the U.S. this season as of Monday's athletic.net rankings. He leads Idaho this season in both boys throws.

On The Horizon

The DirectCom Invitational takes place this weekend at Idaho State's Davis Field in Pocatello. The meet is a two-day meet and 30 teams are registered as of Monday.

The two-day Rigby Physical Therapy Invitational takes place Friday and Saturday in Rigby. As of Monday, 15 teams are registered.

Up north, Prairie hosts the White Pine League League Championships on Saturday in Cottonwood. As of Monday, 13 teams are registered.