A year ago, when Blaine’s track and field program sent 10 athletes to compete at the 1B/2B/1A State Championship in Yakima, one glaring omission from that roster was hurdler Josiah Weeda.
One of the most promising athletes in the track and field program, and a leader on Blaine’s basketball team, Weeda was forced to end his spring season early due to injury. He missed the majority of the 2024 season, competing in just a smattering of competitions in March and April.
Flash-forward one year later, Weeda – now a freshly graduated senior – finished his high school track career with a dominant season in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. Weeda posted the best times among 1A Northwest Conference athletes in the bi-district and state championship hurdle races, earning second place in each 110- and 300-meter race. It was the highest placement by a Borderite in either state event in years.
“I wasn’t sure how the season would go just because it had been almost a full year since I was able to do [hurdles],” Weeda said. “But it really helped my mentality because I feel like [injuries] knocked me down, but it just pushed me harder to get back to where I was before I got hurt.”
Weeda trained hard through the offseason and produced on the track in a way that hasn’t been seen in Blaine in years. He said his ultimate feeling being back on the track was gratitude.
Blaine’s record-holder for boys hurdles is Shayne Moore, who posted times of 14.61 in the 110-meter hurdle and 38.89 in the 300-meter hurdles in his 2009 senior year. Blaine’s current head coach Roberto Aguilera introduced Moore to Weeda after the Eason Invitational on April 26.
“He introduced himself and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s crazy’ because I’d been chasing after those records a little bit,” Weeda said. “It was a cool experience to meet him in person and just talk about [hurdles].”
Weeda finished the season achingly close to beating Moore’s records, etching his name directly below Moore’s with the second-best 110-meter (14.74) and 300-meter (39.2) hurdle times ever by a Borderite. Weeda and Moore are now the only two Borderites to record a sub-40 second 300-meter hurdle time and sub 15-second 110-meter hurdle time.
“He was excited that there was another hurdler coming through and was encouraging me to keep going,” Weeda said.
Those records wouldn’t be close to threatened by Weeda’s stellar season without support from his family, teammates, coaches and faith in God to get him through a tough stretch, Weeda said.
Having spent time away from the sport, he learned that not only does he have a robust net of supporters, but also there’s more to him than stopwatch times and hurdles.
“I learned that sports isn’t necessarily my identity,” Weeda said, looking back on his multi-sport high school career. “My identity is really my faith in God rather than in sports. I think that momentary setback helped me realize that I don’t need to be on the basketball court or the track to just be me.”
Weeda is on to his next chapter in life, attending Colorado Christian University to pursue a business degree and compete for the track team. He’ll join his older sister, Hope, at the Lakewood, Colorado campus and hopes he can quickly adapt to the thin air.
