Siuslaw and North Bend have had the Far West League’s top track and field programs in recent years.

That trend should continue at this week’s district meet at North Bend, which starts Friday and concludes Saturday.

North Bend’s boys and Siuslaw’s girls are the team favorites for the meet, according to a form chart compiled from the top season marks for the athletes.

With strength in the field events and distances, North Bend’s boys are expected to have a comfortable margin over Siuslaw, with Douglas a distant third.

Siuslaw’s girls, meanwhile, will ride the team’s outstanding distance runners and field events specialist Alexis Reavis and are expected to beat the Bulldogs by about 20 points.

At stake are the district titles and also individual berths in next week’s Class 4A state track meet in Eugene, awarded to the top two finishers in each event and others who meet the automatic qualifying standard, most likely this year in the high jump and boys pole vault.

North Bend’s Lane Seals is favored in both the long jump and triple jump, while teammate Lane Davison is the top seed in the pole vault and is seeded second in the long jump. Elliot Adams has the top mark in the shot put and the second-best mark in the discus, while Luke Clark is seeded second in the high jump.

On the track, North Bend’s top threats are Spenser Lynass in the 1,500 and 3,000, Trevor Berrian in the 800 and 1,500, and Steven Garboden in the 1,500.

They combine to give North Bend a top-heavy group that will be bolstered by the team’s depth throughout the various events.

“The clear favorite is North Bend,” said veteran Siuslaw coach Chris Johnson, whose team is trying to extend an impressive run. The Vikings shared the title with North Bend last year and have not lost a district meet since 2001, when a powerful Myrtle Point team that included Jamil Wynn and Caleb Krantz beat Siuslaw.

The Vikings swept the titles their four years in the Sky-Em League before returning to the Far West League last year. North Bend, meanwhile, had similar success in Siuslaw’s absence after dropping down to the Far West League from the Midwestern League.

“Just like those Myrtle Point teams, this North Bend team has the same kind of big-meet potential and also they are deep enough to easily win the district title,” Johnson said.

That doesn’t mean the Vikings won’t put up a strong fight.

Siuslaw has the one distance runner who can challenge the top Bulldogs, Travis Stevens, as well as multi-talented Mason Keck in the long jump, discus, javelin and triple jump.

Douglas has one of the meet’s top athletes in Kevin Godfrey, the favorite in the high jump and high hurdles and a 15-foot pole vaulter, as well as throwers Michael Ruppert, Tim Urista and Ethan Powell.

Two other pole vaulters have cleared the automatic qualifying standard of 13-5 — Triton Crane of South Umpqua and Kyle Botnen of Brookings-Harbor.

In the high jump, Godfrey has a best of 6-5, while Clark has been over 6-2 several times and Seals and Brookings-Harbor freshman Geoff Gowman have season bests of 6-1, the automatic qualifying standard.

In the girls meet, Siuslaw’s Reavis is seeded first in the shot put and second in the discus and javelin and is one of four competitors who have cleared 5 feet — the qualifying standard — in the high jump.

Many of the rest of Siuslaw’s points are expected to come from members of the state champion cross country team.

The Vikings took a big hit when Samantha Pummer was sidelined by an illness, but will have Clarita Twombly, Jennifer Hague, Raelyn Robinson and Nadja Warren competing in two or three individual running events each.

“We are asking a lot out of the other four girls who scored on the state championship cross country team,” Johnson said.

Robinson and fellow freshmen Leigh Aurich, Brooke Swesey and Linda Parades have been key contributors for the Vikings all year, as has Seabre Church. Senior Jessica Dodson, who missed part of the season due to injury, also will play a big role in the team’s success.

North Bend, meanwhile, has several of the league’s top athletes, including standout pole vaulter/sprinter Sammie Clark and multi-talented Jessianne Heley, a future heptathlete.

Heley will go up against Siuslaw’s distance runners in the 800 and 1,500 meters, with a chance to qualify for state in each event. She also will throw the discus and run on North Bend’s 4x400-meter relay.

Heley could have chosen a number of other events, but picked some where she can best help the team.

“If I can just about do anything, I might as well do it where people aren’t already,” she said.

Brooke Davison is the top seed in the triple jump and will try the pole vault — she was third at state last year — after not being able to compete in it most of this season due to an injury. Kayla Yokbay has the top mark in the javelin, and Miranda Hatcher and Kristina Hossley are seeded first in the two hurdles races for North Bend.

Brookings-Harbor freshman Ally Manley has the top time in both the 1,500 and 3,000.

The only running final on Friday is the 3,000, with several field events also being contested. The rest of the running and field events will be held Saturday.

The district meet begins at noon each day. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for students.