Fast-improving juniors Trinity Montgomery of Jefferson, Jayce Bartley of Oregon City surprise everyone — including themselves — with 100 victories at Jesuit Twilight Relays

“I wasn’t even expecting the podium at all ... I haven’t even processed it yet.”

René Ferrán | May 1, 2022

Fast-improving juniors Trinity Montgomery of Jefferson, Jayce Bartley of Oregon City surprise everyone — including themselves — with 100 victories at Jesuit Twilight Relays /

By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom

The winners of Friday afternoon’s Varsity division of the 100 meters at the Jesuit Twilight Relays have a lot in common.

Trinity Montgomery of Jefferson and Jayce Bartley of Oregon City were overlooked juniors who until a couple of weeks ago were posting average marks that wouldn’t have suggested what lay ahead for them.

Both also ran in the penultimate heats of their events, meaning their personal-best marks weren’t among the top eight invitees for the competition.

Finally, both wore the same shocked look on their face when the meet official in charge of handing out the backpacks given to Friday’s winners informed them to come over to the podium.

Montgomery especially couldn’t believe she’d beaten out a stacked field. After all, she hadn’t broken 13 seconds in the 100 until two weeks ago, and her winning time of 12.25 seconds Friday was a personal best by 43-hundredths of a second.

“It was unbelievable to me,” said Montgomery, whose winning time would have placed her sixth in the Elite 100 later in the meet.

Montgomery said she has been dealing with a family crisis the past couple of weeks, and she’s been so focused on what’s happening off the track, “I just push and push myself. I just had to because this city, I’m not going to lie, is not a very great city, and if track is how I’m going to move my family out of here, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The thought of challenging the likes of Lake Oswego’s Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Roosevelt’s Lily Jones — just a pipe dream a month ago — still seems a bit unreal to the fast-improving Montgomery.

“Yeah, if you had told me that a few weeks ago, I would not have thought that was true,” she said.

Bartley also showed he shouldn’t be counted out among the contenders for a 6A title a few minutes later, when he came out of Heat 5 to run a personal-best 11.08 that would have been good for fourth in the Elite 100.

“I wasn’t sure it would (hold up) because I wasn’t in the fastest heat, and my PR wasn’t even seeded very good,” said Bartley, who shaved 11-hundredths off his previous best run at a Three Rivers dual meet in late March. “I just came out and surprised myself. I wasn’t even expecting the podium at all, but I’m stoked. I haven’t even processed it yet.”

In fact, of the eight boys to make the 100 podium, only two came out of the fastest heat. Runner-up Malcolm Grant, a Catlin Gabel junior, jumped out of Heat 2 to run a personal-best 11.15.

Bartley had to hold off Hockinson’s Enzo Oliverio and Aloha’s Hunter Reeve to win his heat.

“I felt good in the blocks,” Bartley said. “Then, I came out, and there’s people up with me, but I just found another gear and I felt really good.”