By Derek Munson - MileSplit Correspondent
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If there was any question how eager Washington's top track and field athletes were for a championship-level event, you didn't need to look any further than the Tacoma High Performance Meet on Saturday.
A strong field of talented runners, throwers and jumpers from across the state -- including nine athletes with state-leading No. 1 marks in their events -- arrived at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma for a rare chance at some Covid-era competition.
From the first starting gun, the meet didn't disappoint.
Here's a recap of the top performances from Saturday's meet.
Boys Track Performances:
- Anthony Smith, the state's top 100m and 200m sprinter, powered his way to first-place finishes in the 100m (10.71) and 200m (21.51). Miguel Rosario's second place time of 22.15 currently ranks No. 4 for the current season.
- In the boys 1,600m, Kamiakin's Isaac Teeples pulled along a stacked field on his way to a new state-leading time of 4:09.21. Brenden Charbeneau (4:10.44) and Rob Mcmanus (4:10.90) rounded out the top three, with Bishop Blanchet's William Schneider (4:11.19) running the second-fastest time for a sophomore in the nation this year. The race saw six of the state's top ten times for the year, with nine runners under 4:16.
- Cooper Quigley, the state's top 800m runner, took top honors in that race with a time of 1:55.46. Arlington's Aiden Emerson was second in 1:57.28.
Boys Field Performances:
- The field events also saw some powerful performances, with the state's top discus and javelin throwers competing. Rainier's Jeremiah Nubbe, ranked No. 1 in the state for discus and No. 6 nationally, took first with a throw of 192-09. Olympia's Jack Olsen, the state's top javelin thrower -- who's currently ranked No. 7 in the nation -- won his event with a launch of 190-02. Standout freshman Brayden Platt had a solid meet, winning the shot put with a throw of 51-07 and taking second in the javelin with a personal best of 168-03.
- For the jumpers, Jacob Huset's high jump of 6-6 was a new personal best, and puts him in a tie for No. 1 in the state. Brayden Bowers, tied for No. 1 in state for the pole vault, won his event with a vault of 14-06.
Girls Track Performances:
- Alyssa Cullen (WA No. 3 in the 100m and 200m), and Morgan Little (WA No. 4 in the 100m and 200m) battled it out to photo finishes in both events. Cullen took the 100m in 12.35 and was five-hundredths of a second ahead of Little. The 200m was even closer, with Cullen taking the win in 25.64, which was two-hundredths of a second ahead of Little's 25.66.
- For the distance runners, Hometown favorite Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep ran away early in the 1,600m, cruising to victory with a time of 5:00.04. In the 800m, Olympia's Katelyn Rigg took the win in 2:13.23, edging out Issaquah senior Julia David Smith, who finished in 2:13.49.
Girls Field Performances:
- Long jumper Hannah Ganashamoorthy launched herself to a first place finish with a jump of 18-3, which was good for No. 2 in Washington this year. And Kaiha Gayles had a busy meet, winning the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.99 seconds, the fastest this year in Washington. She also won the 300m hurdles (46.73), and took second in the long jump (17-4.75).
