Central Catholic track and field’s Joseph Donnelly is coming for it all

Published 2:59 pm Thursday, May 22, 2025

By Austin White

After a senior-heavy group led the 6A Oregon high school boys track and field sprinting class last season, some new blood was certainly bound to show in 2025.

Jesuit senior Grant Valley has set the tone all year, returning from a leg injury to finally have a healthy spring season on the track.

But Central Catholic junior Joseph Donnelly isn’t going to let this season be a one-man race.

In the Mt. Hood Conference boys 100 meter final May 21 at Gresham High School, Donnelly crossed in a blistering 10.48 seconds, tying the fourth fastest time all-time in Oregon and taking over the No. 1 time in the state this year from Valley’s 10.50.

Oh yeah, Donnelly is also sitting No. 1 in the long jump this year and No. 2 in the 200, along with being the anchor leg for the Rams 4×100 relay squad sitting at No. 8 in the state.

“All the training has been paying off to peak at the end of the season, which is what we want,” Donnelly said. “Ran 10.61 (in the 100) in the prelims. Today was just a better day, warmed up a lot earlier. Just came out and gave it my all, had a really good reaction time and held it to the end.”

That No. 2 time in the 200 also came at the MHC finals with Donnelly posting a time of 21.31, the eighth best time in the event in Oregon history.

The day prior doing the long jump, Donnelly reached a mark of 23 feet, 9.5 inches, a new outdoor personal record that’s only .75 inches off from his true PR of 23-10.25 set indoors back in February of this year.

Needless to say, the two days out in Gresham were quite successful for the junior Ram.

“It’s been truly amazing, I always thought the 200 wasn’t my race with my old PR of 21.9,” Donnelly said. “Today I just felt something a little bit different, something clicked for the running. Definitely gonna be enjoying the 200 more, it’s been an amazing day.”

Last season, Donnelly found himself on the outside looking in, taking 11th and missing the finals at state in the 100 and not making it to state in the 200.

His best event was the long jump, where he came up just short of a state title with a third place finish of 22-2.5 and the winning mark set at 22-8.5.

Another year older and having made significant leaps in all three events, Donnelly is using the feeling of that loss in the long jump to remind him of where he wants to be after each of these events.

“The long jump for sure, I wanted to win more than anything, but sometimes things just don’t go your way,” Donnelly said. “This year, I’m coming for it, I’m ready and I want it. Same for the 100 too.”

More Mt. Hood qualifiers

Donnelly’s great performance helped the Rams win the boys MHC title with 150 points, besting Clackamas in second with 115. Sandy took third (90), Nelson took fourth (85), David Douglas took fifth (74), Barlow took sixth (70), Gresham took seventh (47) and Reynolds took eighth (30).

On the girls side, Nelson ran away with the team title with 201 points while David Douglas was second with 93. Barlow finished in third (77.5), Central Catholic finished fourth (69), Sandy finished fifth (62), Reynolds finished sixth (61), Gresham finished seventh (49.5) and Clackamas finished eighth (46).

A total of 25 spots for state championship events were filled locally between Central Catholic and David Douglas, which are set for May 30-31 down at Hayward Field in Eugene for the 6A competitions.

Here are all the official qualifiers as they either took first or second in the event, or met the qualifying standard time/mark to earn a state bid. Two wild cards for each event will also be selected from the next two best times/marks from across all seven districts.

Boys 100: Joseph Donnelly (Central Catholic), Jayce Fowler (David Douglas)

Boys 200: Joseph Donnelly (Central Catholic), Giovanni Bogarin (Barlow), Jayce Fowler (David Douglas)

Boys 400: Giovanni Bogarin (Barlow), Miles Haynes (Reynolds)

Boys 800: Kruz Mogel (Clackamas), Nathan Peters (Clackamas)

Boys 1500: Greer Shorr (Central Catholic), Conal Devine (Central Catholic)

Boys 3000: Kaiji Alleman (Central Catholic), Mason Hawkins (Central Catholic)

Boys 110 hurdles: Jackson Tiller (Clackamas), Jordan Dillard (Central Catholic)

Boys 300 hurdles: Jordan Dillard (Central Catholic), Ke’Shawn Norman (David Douglas)

Boys 4×100 relay: Sandy, Central Catholic

Boys 4×400 relay: Clackamas, Central Catholic

Boys shot put: Mark Tabiolo (Gresham), Porter Maciag (Nelson)

Boys discus: Blake Irby (David Douglas), Porter Maciag (Nelson)

Boys javelin: Caleb Perry (Barlow), Isaac Ellis (Clackamas)

Boys high jump: Topher Gabel (Sandy), Armani Williams (Clackamas)

Boys pole vault: Owen Post (Nelson), Asa Kirkland (Nelson)

Boys long jump: Joseph Donnelly (Central Catholic), Hudson Pearson (Sandy), Chace Braden (Sandy), Jasiah Cochran (Sandy)

Boys triple jump: Jasiah Cochran (Sandy), Hudson Pearson (Sandy)

Girls 100: Lauren Puerta (Nelson), Kyra Aguon (Nelson)

Girls 200: Molly Harrison (Nelson), Ja’lan Abdullah (David Douglas)

Girls 400: Molly Harrison (Nelson), Ja’lan Abdullah (David Douglas)

Girls 800: Lilley Wedell (Sandy), Marli Phelps (Central Catholic)

Girls 1500: Mira Danish (Central Catholic), Emma Wazny (Central Catholic)

Girls 3000: Natalie Summers (Nelson), Molly Nelson (Nelson)

Girls 100 hurdles: Ariya Abdullah (David Douglas), Khloe Huskic (David Douglas), Yani Naknakhone (Reynolds)

Girls 300 hurdles: Ariya Abdullah (David Douglas), Abigail Nesmith (Clackamas)

Girls 4×100 relay: Nelson, David Douglas

Girls 4×400 relay: Nelson, Barlow

Girls shot put: Anna Orlowski (Sandy), Alithia Lam Tiang (Barlow)

Girls discus: Alithia Lam Tiang (Barlow), Paula Reis (Gresham)

Girls javelin: Esme Acevedo (Barlow), Maddy Galstad (Sandy)

Girls high jump: Gabrielle Hill (Nelson), Ja’lan Abdullah (David Douglas)

Girls pole vault: Kinsley Juliano (Nelson), Itzel Umana (Nelson), Maggie Zielinski (Barlow)

Girls long jump: Alexus Hudson-Williams (Reynolds), Ava-Lane Floyd (Nelson)

Girls triple jump: Kinsley Juliano (Nelson), Khloe Huskic (David Douglas)

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