Overview:

Connections to teammates and friends were key for one of Oregon best prep middle distance runners as he capped his high school career with a 3,000-meter state title at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships.

With 1,000 meters to go in his last 3,000-meter race as a high schooler, Sheldon senior Malachi Schoenherr opened a gap. 

Before the race at the OSAA State Track and Field Championships, Saturday, May 30, at Hayward Field, Schoenherr’s coach told him to wait “longer than he thought” to kick. He stretched it out during the first 2,800 meters, then hung on as Jesuit senior Kellen Williams nearly tracked him down at the finish line.

“It’s been a long year,” Schoenherr said. “Long couple of years, actually. I won sophomore year and then winning senior year to bring it back was pretty amazing. I’m just happy with how I raced. I raced gutsy, and that’s what I had to do.”

Schoenherr’s final-stretch kick was enough to secure the 3,000-meter title Friday by 0.66 seconds, and he did it alongside Benjamin Kehrein, a friend he shared the podium with in 8th grade. Saturday, he took the 1,500-meter final out as a “sacrificial lamb” for another friend, South Eugene High School junior Yosuke Shibata, who took the title while Schoenherr finished fifth. 

“I’ve always wanted him to be there with me,” Schoenherr said of Kehrein.

Kehrein, a self-diagnosed non-kicker who prefers to create his advantage early, led the race through 1,400 meters but drifted back down the stretch, finishing in 8:30.28. Schoenherr pulled him into the post-race media to give him a hug.

“To be able to come out here and race together one last time at Hayward, obviously, is amazing, and I’m so blessed to have [Schoenherr] as a training partner,” Kehrein said. “We push each other every day and it makes running 10 times better to have a training partner that you can rely on and be there with every day. I’m so grateful for him for that reason.”

In the 1,500-meter race, meanwhile, Schoenherr and Shibata had a plan. They’re not teammates, per se, but they’re the two dominant runners in their district, and good friends. Before the district final last week, Shibata agreed to take the race out fast and allow Schoenherr to close hard. Saturday, it was Schoenherr’s turn to lead the pack.

“When you have two 4:05 milers in the same district, you’re going to push each other, and you’re going to want to push each other,” Schoenherr said after the race. “And I think we build a lot of strength together, and it’s easier to get faster together than by yourself.”

Schoenherr took the final out at an unmatched pace, before drifting to the middle of the pack over the final lap as Shibata crossed the finish line with outstretched arms.

The South phenom is just a junior, and while Schoenherr (BYU) and Kehrein (Boise State) will head to college, Shibata will continue on the track with his friend’s advice.

“I just hope he keeps having fun, because that’s what’s kept me up this season,” Schoenherr said. “Just keep having fun and don’t make running your life, because that’s when you’re going to burn out. He’s having a fun time, I know.”