Brooklyn Anderson didn’t cross the finish line of the Oregon state track championship 5A girls’ 100m hurdles on her feet. But she still crossed it first.
The Thurston High School junior pulled off one of the most memorable finishes you’ll ever see when she clipped the final hurdle, crashed forward, and impressively somersaulted across the line, all while holding on to win the state title in 14.93 seconds.
A video of the moment has since gone viral, racking up over 4 million views after being posted by MileSplit and reposted across Instagram.
“I wasn’t sure how far back everyone else was behind me,” Anderson said. “I just knew I had to keep rolling to keep going, because I wanted to get first.”
The crowd at Hayward Field roared as Anderson tumbled toward the finish.
For a few seconds, she didn’t even know whether she had pulled it off. “The first emotion was confusion—I didn’t know if anyone had caught me yet,” she said. “Once I saw it up there, I was so proud.”
While the finish grabbed the spotlight, Anderson’s weekend was already shaping up to be one of the most impressive across all classifications. In addition to her dramatic win in the hurdles, she placed third in both the 100m and the long jump.
No other athlete in the 5A girls’ division reached the podium in all three of those events.
Anderson, who has a background in gymnastics, seemed to benefit from that training in her unplanned recovery. While it’s unlikely she’s ever practiced a forward roll into a finish line, the kinesthetic awareness and agility she showed in that moment may have roots in earlier years of training.
Sports science supports this; studies have shown that former gymnasts often transition well into explosive athletic events due to enhanced body control and proprioception (BMC Sports Science, Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2024).
Her state title came amid a deep field and a packed championship weekend at Hayward Field, where several of Oregon’s top high school athletes were capping off their seasons—or in some cases, their careers. Anderson, however, will be back next year as a senior with one of the most unforgettable finishes in recent memory already under her belt.
The win, and the way it happened, won’t just be a viral moment. It’s now part of Oregon track history.
