Ending the PIL track and field district championships with a few dozen spraying water bottles never gets old for Lincoln High School head coach Eric Dettman.

On Friday, May 23, the Cardinals swept the team titles once again on their home track, marking the ninth year in a row the girls have won the PIL crown and the third consecutive year for the boys.

The girls scored 170 points to best out Ida B. Wells in second with 126. Grant took third with 78 followed by Franklin and Roosevelt tied for fourth with 75, McDaniel in sixth with 63, Cleveland in seventh with 38, Jefferson in eighth with 21 and Benson in ninth with 15.

On the boys side, Lincoln scored 164 points to take home first, followed by Wells in second with 107, Grant in third with 91, Franklin in fourth with 80, Roosevelt in fifth with 62.5, McDaniel in sixth with 51, Jefferson in seventh with 50, Cleveland in eighth with 34.5 and Benson in ninth with 22.

“It never gets old,” Dettman said. “Every year it’s a different group, every year there is different expectations, different hopes, different dreams. I think there’s something to be said for getting to the top, but there’s something to be said for staying there, and in some ways that’s harder. Just proud of this group for how they battle and show up every day for one another, it’s special.”

Headlining the flock of Cardinals is a familiar group, starting with senior Sophia Malinoski and sophomore Ellery Lincoln.

Malinoski won the girls 800 meter race in a time of 2:11.14 and took home second in the girls 1500 meter race in 4:29.66, finishing behind Ellery Lincoln in first at 4:27.69. Ellery took second in the 800 at 2:11.41.

Both girls were also a part of the 4×400 relay where the Cardinals finished first in a time of 3:57.37, along with Meagan Parke and Rosie Gross.

The Lincoln girls had one more gold with senior Malika Brothesron winning the girls discus event with a top toss of 118 feet, 2 inches.

On the boys side, the field events dominated, including senior Brady Holland who won both the discus and shot put events. He threw 58 feet in the shot put for a new No. 1 mark in 6A this season, meanwhile his throw of 160-4 in the discus is sending him to state as well.

“Ultimate teammate. It’s hard to put into words how much (Holland) means to all of us,” Dettman said. “Amazing kid, incredibly kind, loves his teammates. He’s a dude who will show up for the high jump at 9 o’clock in the morning at the state meet and watch through the whole thing and watches the distance runner run the 3K at the end. That’s Brady Holland.”

Junior Harlan Noxy-Marx took home gold in the boys high jump by clearing 6-4.75 and Drew Dunahugh launched a throw of 187-1 in the boys javelin to take first.

Lincoln’s lone win on the track came at the very end with the Cardinals winning the boys 4×400 relay in a time of 3:23.51, a squad that included Errol Brotherton, Greyson Murff, Ryand Hendrickson and Nicholas Ranalli.

Where Lincoln really does a lot of damage though isn’t necessarily with the amount of individual gold, but the depth in which its athletes possess.

The top two spots in each event automatically qualify for state, and more spots are open for those that hit a qualifying standard that is made from the four-year average of fourth place at the state meet.

Adding it all up, the Cardinals qualified at 24 different spots, easily the most with Wells in second at 12 different positions. And there could still be more with two wild cards awarded to the next best finishers combined from each of the seven district meets.

Those second, third and fourth place finishes mean points, and it’s the battle of margins that Lincoln has continued to dominate in its run of PIL success.

“Sometimes those are the difference makers at the state meet when you’re trying to win titles, win trophies, things like that,” Dettman said. “We have a lot of those kids that scratch and claw … We talk a lot about that. You may not be first, you may not be second, you may not be fourth, but you got to get to the finish line. If you do that, we’ll count the score at the end of the day and we’re probably going to be pretty proud of what that looks like.”

The state tournament will once again be held at May 29-31 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene where the Cardinals hope to keep squawking.

With the depth being thrown at the rest of the state from their squad, there’s no doubt the Cardinals will be in contention to take home a trophy.

And after so many consecutive years of being city champions, the Cardinals have learned a thing or two about what it takes to turn that into state champions.

“I want to believe we have a bit of a blueprint for success down there, so it’s about taking care of what we can control, living in the moment, supporting one another,” Dettman said. “It’s who can stay even keel. And at the end of the day, we have a lot of kids that love each other, and that’s pretty exciting.”

All automatic qualifiers

Boys 100: Antoin Hawthorne (Grant), Peyton Wood (Grant)

Boys 200: Peyton Wood (Grant), Austin Snyder (Jefferson), Antoin Hawthorne (Grant), Kelly Jean (Roosevelt)

Boys 400: Austin Snyder (Jefferson), Ryan Hendrickson (Lincoln), Nicholas Ranalli (Lincoln), Tobias Boydsteen (McDaniel)

Boys 800: Josh Hepner (McDaniel), Josh Prince (Lincoln)

Boys 1500: Josh Hepner (McDaniel), Brennan McEwen (Franklin), Zafer Courcelle (Franklin)

Boys 3000: Zafer Courcelle (Franklin), Brennan McEwen (Franklin)

Boys 110 hurdles: Tyler Marshall (Wells), Greyson Murff (Lincoln)

Boys 300 hurdles: Tyler Marshall (Wells), EJ Cozart (Jefferson)

Boys 4×100: Grant, Lincoln

Boys 4×400: Lincoln, McDaniel

Boys shot put: Brady Holland (Lincoln), Milo Swinth (Cleveland)

Boys discus: Brady Holland (Lincoln), Greyson Murff (Lincoln), Milo Swinth (Cleveland)

Boys javelin: Drew Dunahugh (Lincoln), Cameron Mirzakhalili (Lincoln)

Boys high jump: Harlan Noxy-Marx (Lincoln), Owen Nathan (Roosevelt)

Boys pole vault: John Ladd Steele (Lincoln), Max Smith (Wells)

Boys long jump: EJ Cozart (Jefferson), Elliot Platt (Franklin)

Boys triple jump: Owen Nathan (Roosevelt), Noah Malmon (Cleveland)

Girls 100: Aster Jones (Roosevelt), Tilda Hathaway (Wells)

Girls 200: Aster Jones (Roosevelt), Tilda Hathaway (Wells)

Girls 400: Ellis Heslam (Roosevelt), Elizabeth Ghazi (Franklin)

Girls 800: Sophia Malinoski (Lincoln), Ellery Lincoln (Lincoln), Elizabeth Haendler (Franklin), Rosie Gross (Lincoln)

Girls 1500: Ellery Lincoln (Lincoln), Sophia Malinoski (Lincoln)

Girls 3000: Emily Robertson (Franklin), Sam Reid (Lincoln)

Girls 100 hurdles: Avery Coker (Wells), Clara Sameck (Lincoln)

Girls 300 hurdles: Avery Coker (Wells), Hanna Hatfield (Lincoln)

Girls 4×100: Roosevelt, Wells, Grant

Girls 4×400: Lincoln, Wells

Girls shot put: Lily Mae Buerkle (McDaniel), Princess Fletcher (McDaniel)

Girls discus: Malika Brothesron (Lincoln), Princess Fletcher (McDaniel)

Girls javelin: Lily Mae Buerkle (McDaniel), Osa Olsgaard (Grant)

Girls high jump: Liaa Rose (Wells), Carly Jendritza (Grant)

Girls pole vault: Sophie Weatherill (Wells), Lily Mather (Lincoln)

Girls long jump: Genevieve Tebeau (Jefferson), Samantha Moylan (Wells)

Girls triple jump: LaShya’h Vincent (Benson), Sarah Schooler (Roosevelt)