The tightest race of the day was the 3200 Meter Run waged by Dakota Parker & Colby Gilbert. Gilbert of Skyview had opened up a good ten meter lead with 300 to go but Parker came on strong at the finish. It was anyone's guess, who won as Parker literally threw himself to the finish. . Parker was credited with the victory with 9:37.17, while Gilbert was given second in 9:37.17. Here is what our camera caught at the end. Truly an exciting finish. The raced had begun with a lap of 72 & was followed by a split of 2:27 at the 800M mark. At that point Battle Ground's Jay Mason & Mark Tedder led the way but shortly thereafter Gilbert & Parker took command. They hit the 1200M in3:41 & already there was little doubt that the race belonged to the duo. Preston Bahr of Heritage did the work of leading the chase pack from that point. Upfront the leaders had splits of 6:07 & 7:20 but neither runner seemed to have an advantage. Gilbert made a move during the penultimate lap and had a margin of five meters as the bell sounded. With less than 300 meters to go he widen the lead to a good ten yards but on the turn Parker began to reel the leader back in and, as they headed down the final straight Parker had a mere five yards to go. Gilbert, just a sophomore, was more than game, however, and as the pair meared the finish line he still held a slight lead over his senior rival. Just before the end Parker made a final lunge and eventually fell to the ground and the race became a challenge for the officials. In the end both had gone under the meet record set by Columbia River's Kyle Boe last year.
Priscilla Timmons of Skyview left no doubt her 3200M race as she was clocked in 11:24, which was not far off the meet record of Sarah Porter. Although Nicole Goecke of Prairie took the lead through a first lap of 82 seconds and Timmons' Skyview team mate Katie Hendricks gave chase as well through an 800 meter mark of 2:46, Timmons assumed control at the 3:17 mark in the race and from that time onward the only question was if she could break the record of Shannon Porter (11:18.18). She had little help from the weatherman for the wind picked up during her race considerably but at least the rain held off until the end. Priscilla clicked off splits of 4:10 and 5:26 and then 7;05 by which point she had begun to lap runners, who according to the new modern custom do not clear the lane. Timmons appeared to have a shot at the record as she rolled off the final turn but alas it was not to be, yet it was a solid time for this early in the season. Her time is the 7th best in the state at this point.
Lynelle Decker of Mountain View was victorious in both the 1600M (5:13.96) & in the 800, which she claimed in 2:18.89. She is shown here edging Jessica Bottelberghe of Columbia River in the 800M. Lynette had a fine day as she won the 1600M leading the bulk of the way through splits of 72 - 2:32 & 3:57. Her final time was two seconds off of Shannon Porter's record & is in the top ten times in the state. Decker's 800 mark s would appear to be second in the state thus far. Dallas Smith of Chehalis' W F West is only a sophomore but he is another to watch after taking down Chase Horrocks' 2010 meet record of 4:30.79. Nate Starr of Mark Morris & Roman Kirkov challenged him most of the race through splits of 68, 2:14 & 3:21 but no one responded to his last lap surge, as he pulled away to a two second victory in a time of 4:26.87. Starr of Morris (4:28.87) & Kirkov (4:29.34) of Union placed second & third respectively. Andy Robertson of West added his name to the record books, when he won the boys' 800M with a time of 1:55.88. That mark was well under the record of 1:59.92. Tanner Sork of Union (1:57.75) & Chase Bussing (1:58.63) of Morris both went under the former record as they placed 2nd & 3rd.
Dallas Snider of W F West won the 1600 in 4:26.87 to best Nate Starr of Mark Morris, who ran 4:28.87.
The meet was rather remarkable, that in spite of what had to be considered inclement conditions with rain, hail & wind plus the chill of the cold, which was only made worse by the wind, in the fact that a good number of records were broken yesterday. The 400M is but one example, because the former guys’ record was 50.32 from 2009 but Skyview’s Brad Michael won in 49.28 and was followed by his team mate Kevin Boyd, who went under the old record by one-hundredths of a second. Kaitlyn McKinney of Union made her contribution to the record-setting by running 58.16. She defeated Megan Kelley, the state leader with 57.34, who ran 58.60 and almost dipped under the meet record of 58.29.
Rachel McQuivey of Skyview had her own special record day & she claimed victory in the 300M Hurdles with her time of 45.58 breaking her own meet record from the previous year. Rachel also triumphed in the 100M Hurdles with a time of 15.97. Kelly Nigro of Woodland earned second in that event with 16.28. William Davis of Woodland won the boys’ 300M Hurdles with a time of 42.23 & also annexed the 100M Hurdles with 15.78. Michael Brad of Skyview won the 100M with 11.11 with Ryan Stanford of Union & Chase Lawrence of Evergreen taking 2nd & 3rd. Mountain View’s Kathryn Dean (12.74) claimed the girls’ 100M topping Jessica Ojukey of Union. Ojukey came back to take second in the 200M (26.78) behind Megan Kelley of Camas, who ran 26.51.
The girls’ field events secured their place in the record book, when Johna McEllrath of prairie made a toss of 39-08 breaking the meet mark of 38-01. Tori Dixson ‘s heave of 37-03 was good for second place & not far off the record. McEllrath also was victorious in the Dscus (117-03.50). Kathry Dean of Mountain View was a double winner with victories in the Triple Jump (33-03), edging Jennifer DeBellis (33-02), and in the Long Jump (16-02). Megan Kelley, who had been a force in the sprints, took second with 16-01, while Katelyn Wright of Washougal (15-09) was third. In other field event Michelle garnered the High Jump due to fewer misses with her jump of 5-01. Lauren Ness of Camas & Ccharity Arn of Woodland also cleared that height. Amanda Wallis won the Pole Vault going 9-06 to easily claim that event over Cassie Wallis of West, who went 9-00. Anna Adamko of Columbia River closed out a record-setting day with one of her own in the javelin. Her heave of 146-10 was easily best of the day and well over the former record of 140-11.
The lone boys’ record in the field events was scored by Jon Lawson of Prairie, who won the discus with 181-02.50 to shatter the meet record of 163-01. Scott Feather of Camas was 2nd with 150-11. Grayson Anderson had a bit of a problem on Saturday yet still won the high jump with his leap of 6-02 & just missed the mark of 4-03. Keith Kirkland of Fort Vancouver went 5-10 to take third. Joe Thompson of Union won the Pole Vault with 13-00, Rajheem Wallace of Heritage took the Long Jump (21-02)and Nehemiah Beavers annexed the Triple Jump with 42-00. Marcus Ekeya of Columbia River & Jesse Zalk of Prairie finished 2nd & 3rd with fine efforts of 41-02 & 40-00.
While the weather made things a bit more of a challenge the meet offered some fine competition. Of note also was the fact that every effort was made to adhere to the time-schedule, which unfortunately is not always the case. It is still early in the season but it was hard to tell from the results, although the chill in the wind was a constant reminder. Still it bodes well for many young athletes as this season progresses.