Another edition of the Washington State meet is now a part of history and fans, who were on hand Saturday, were treated to some rousing racing and record-setting field events. The day began in the Field events with the 4A Javelin. After two days with rain predominating conditions were rather pleasant with even the Sun making the scene. The downpour plus hail from the previous day, however, did leave its mark and a number of competitors slid a bit, when they made their practice throws. Included in that group were Sean Keller of Heritage & Quinn Hale of Bellarmine Prep. Keller, who is the national leader with 226, easily broke the meet record of 208-04 on his first throw with a mark of 220-06. His concern with the footing left him throwing in protect mode and, although he did have other throws over 200 feet, he did not improve upon his first toss. Sam Ferenchak of Union is another, who threw well in his first effort, and his mark of 195-06 withstood all efforts to dislodge him from second. Like his rivals Cody Melnrick of Monroe cashed in with his first throw (193-10) and earned a third place medal. Quinn Hale struggled early but recovered in the finals with a mark of 193-09, which garnered a fourth place medal. Max Pratt of Auburn took fifth with a toss of 192-06 – a mark established on his second toss.
The 3A Boys’ High Jump was another event that was impacted by weather the previous day, so the approach was a bit more precarious than usual, however nothing remotely compared to the previous day, when Kasen Williams of Skyline had to put up with hail and a drenching on his way to 6-10. Still Brandon Search & his rivals had to put up with less than ideal footing, yet Search went 6-08 to claim the completion title. Three jumpers cleared 6-06 with Liberty-Issaquah’s Joshua Gordan earning second on fewer misses. Tyler Holle of Kamiakin & Brett Watson of Ferndale tied for third place.
Kasen Williams, as noted, had to contend with the elements on Friday but on Saturday he had other issues. On one attempt he was hindered by a person, who was near the runaway & affected his approach and by the time he was left with one last leap he was in second place behind BJ Arceneaux, who had leaped 24-02 earlier. Kasen secured his third victory of the meet by finding the reserve to soar 24-05 on his final attempt. It was a gutty performance, which should be remembered, although his Triple Jump of over fifty feet will probably remain his lasting legacy. Rondle Pate of Mt. Tahoma placed third with 23-07.25.
The girls’ 2A record in the Long Jump was eclipse, when Zoe Moller of Sehome went 19-03. With a wind reading of 0.0 there will be no question that she had any aid, as she nipped the standard of Mary Ann Graves of 19-01. Krissy Buckler (16-10) & Anna Guo (16-08.50) of Pullman scored second & third. Alanna Coker of Juanita won the Girls’ 3A Triple Jump with 39-00.50 and approached the event standard of 39-04.50 of Kolleen Gaites. Taylor Reynolds of Eastmont & Kayla Warren of Holy Names placed second & third with marks of 38-02.50 & 37-08.75 respectively.
Darian Brooks of Kennedy had the best time of all runners in the 100 Meter Dash & was victorious in the 3A division with a mark of 10.71. Tatum Taylor of Bishop O’ Dea was close on his heels with 10.80 & Douglas Sudberry of Timberline was third with 10.88. Darian was also victorious in the Triple Jump and his mark of 48-06.75 topped Casey Burns, also from Kennedy, who went 45-10.00. Cedrique Chaney of Kelso took third with 45-04.50. Darian was also second in the Long Jump. The 4A title in the 100M went to Isaiah Brandt-Sims in a time of 10.74. Aaron Young of Thomas Jefferson & Michael Rector of Bellarmine Prep secured second & third with 10.85 & ‘.86 respectively. Justin Bennett of Renton claimed the 2A crown with 10.88. Auburn’s Danny Shelton triumphed in the 4A Shot Put & cleared sixty feet in the process. He went 60-01.08 to triumph over Brian Hutchison (58-08) of Roosevelt & Billy Powell (56-08) of Central Valley.
The 800 Meters Run was the first individual race of the day that was contested and Baylee Mires of Mead made it memorable, as did Jasmine Johnson of Federal Way. Jasmine took the lead early & stormed around the first la in an eye-opening 60.32, which had me checking the scoreboard for confirmation. Jasmine would later succinctly state that, “if you want to PR, you have to go out fast.” She certainly achieved her goal to the surprise of everyone including Baylee, who finally reeled the leader in with less than 200 Meters to go. Mires came home with a solid time of 2:10.24, which was not only a PR but the best time in the state for the season. Jasmine followed Mires across the line in 2:13, a PR, and Lauren Perry of Richland followed in 2:15.37. Carly Wilcczynski of Emerald Ridge continued the PR trend with her time of 2:15.96 and Daryl Phill followed in 2:16.05. The times in the 3A division were also quite brisk but Madeline Rathbun ended on top with her time of 2:12.58. Lynelle Decker of Mountain View, a junior who placed third in 4A last year, ran a fine 2:13.60 to claim second ahead of Katie Morris of Shadle Park. Summer Hanson of Interlake nipped Allison Gladhart of Deer Park in a close 2A battle with Hanson getting the victory with 2:15.32. Gladhart’s time of 2:15.98 was secured second and Sarah Reiter of Lindbergh finished third with 2:17.05 as she edged Katlyn Mataya & Madison Heilmann plus Audrey Lichten, who all finished in versions of 2:17.
There are times when there is so little difference between winning and losing that a fan has to be feel impressed with the competitors and the overall experience. Coming into the 4A race in the 800 there appeared to be little difference between Grant Grosvenor of Thomas Jefferson & Derrick Gaigre of Kent Meridian. In point of fact their seed times were only .03 second apart, so it was hardly surprising to see them racing down the stretch shoulder to shoulder. Grosvenor would later note that it was fun & credit the time to his rival but, when the proverbial dust had settled, the runner from TJ runner had won the day with his time of 1:50.06. Daigre’s time of 1:50.26 may have been second but it also dipped under the record of 1:50.43 set by Alex McClary of Shelton in 2004. Nick Boersma of Wenatchee came home third in 1:52.44, which would have been good enough to triumph in all divisions of the Oregon State meet, while Will Drinkwater of Gig Harbor edged Patrick Crews of Federal Way for fourth – both ran 1:53 & change. Andre Wordell of North Central raced home first in the 3A race in a time of 1;54.55 defeating Addison Woolsey of Bellevue (1;55.80) for second. Hiron Redmon of Liberty-Issaquah & Sean White of Glacier Peak garnered third & fourth. Marcus Dickson of White River’s clocking of 1;54.83 led the way in 2A.
More often than note it seems like the State meet is a chance to say farewell to old friends before they head off to college to begin a new stage in their life but on Saturday we saw the emergence of a relatively new face. Hannah Derby of Bellarmine played soccer in the fall and the young freshman concentrated on the 800 meters early in the season. One of the first people we ran into on Thursday was Matt Ellis of BP, who said to “watch” Hannah, who he had decided to move to the 400 Meters. Coach Ellis was certainly prescient, because on Saturday there was young Hannah dueling down the stretch with Mead veteran Baylee Mires. Baylee, of course, had already defended her State championship in the 800M and will move on to the University of Washington after a strong career in both Track & Cross Country but there was tiny Hannah churning up yardage down the stretch & zipping home in 56.41. Baylee placed second with 57.44 & Amia Nash of Edmonds-Woodway was third with 57.53. Just behind them were Haley O’Connor of Eastlake & Rachel Shirley of Skyview plus Jasmine Johnson, who all ran 58. Hannah will run XC next fall and we look forward to that. Megan Kelley of Camas, Ellie Weiden of Kamiakin & Lindsay Burns of West Valley – Yakima dueled to the end with Kelley winning with 56.33. Heiden ‘s 56.84 topped Burns by .04.
Skyview’s Brad Michael sped a circuit in 49.11 to top the 4A field in the guys’ 400M nipping Byron Howell of Garfield in the process by five-hundredths of a second. Derrick Daigre coming back after arousing 800 meters placed third with 50.59. Fourth through sixth positions were cornered by Austin Thummel-Gravitt of Rogers-Puyallup, Kevin Boyd of Skyview & Derrick Jones, who is also from RP. Andrew Brown of Tumwater became the 2A champion after running 49.55 & topping Immanuel Carter of Renton placed second with 49.89. Marquin Russell of Lakes battled Marcus Chambers of Henry Foss to the line winning 49.11 to 49.16.
Fans of distance running were in for a treat with a number of spirited races and number one on my list was the 3A girls’ version. The trio of Amy-Eloise Neale, Katie Knight & Kendra Weitz had dueled in Thursday’s 3200 and it would be no surprise, if they went at it again on Saturday. The surprise came, when the diminutive Weitz was leading the field after the first lap. Kendra noted after the race that Amy & Katie sort of backed off and put her on the lead, but she accepted the challenge. Kendra was well aware of the ability of her challengers to kick at the end of the race, so she continued to press the pace. Her first lap of 73 seconds with Katie and Amy-Eloise in tow led to an 800 meter split of 2:25, which then turned into 3:38. Her rivals remained in hot pursuit through the penultimate turn and then Katie Knight made a move to try to distance herself from the trio. For a time it appeared that the surge might work but the Glacier Peak sophomore took the lead in the stretch to win in a divisional record of 4:46.56. Katie Knight placed second and her 4:46.83 was also well under the record of 4:51.05. It was an excellent race with national caliber times but the end result was predicated by the early efforts of Kendra, who is a 2010 Foot Locker finalist, and the Shadle Park star finished in a time of 4:53.69 : a very fine time. Megan Beauchene of Kamiakin broke the magic five minute barrier with 4:59.21. Madeline Rathbun of Lakeside ran 5:0.41 to place fifth & was followed by Katie Morris of Shadle, Lily Engelbrekt of Bishop Blanchet, Lynelle Decker of Mountain View and Stephanie Spiekerman of Blanchet. Austin Reiter of Camas rounded out the top ten with 5:10.
North Central has been dominant in 3A cross country the last few years & they have captured the 3A track title as well of late & the 1600 meter run showed why that is the case. Casey Adams of NC cut the pace early and lead the pack through the first lap in 70 seconds. He continued to lead through 800 Meters, when his NC team mate Vince Hamilton took over honors. Early in the race there was a definite pack problem but after running two-and-a-half laps things opened up allowing Nathan Weitz a chance to assume the lead. Obviously Weitz family is not afraid to be on point and Nathan not only led the next lap but he put in a surge, which gave him a clear opening, when he headed into the last turn. He held that lead into the stretch but Anthony Armstrong of Kamiakin began his patented late surge. At the line his time of 4:12.27 placed him less than a second ahead of Foot Locker qualifier Weitz. We look forward to both runners challenging each other next fall on the way to a fortuitous match at Foot Locker. Casey Adams in spite of his early work came back to claim third with 4:14.15 and Vince Hamilton finished fourth in 4:16. Izaic Yorks of Lakes took fifth with 4:17 and was followed by Jeff Bastian & Sean White of Glacier Peak. The North Central distance power was in evidence once again, as Andrew Wordell earned 8th in 4:19. Curtis King (4:20) of Peninsula & Aaron Elefson of Mercer Island (4:22) rounded out the top ten.
Last year Baylee Mires of Mead had won both the 800 Meter & 1600 Meter runs but this year she had the added task of competing in the 400M. Tansey Lystad on the other hand had dominated on Thursday in the 3200M, so a showdown had been anticipated. Such, unfortunately was not meant to be for, although Tansey led the way after a first lap of 76 with Baylee in tow, the second circuit found Baylee in tears as she raced into the next turn. She finally collapsed at the side of the track in pain by the high jump pit in obvious distress moving this on-looker from fan –reporter to concerned bystander. Lystad unaware of her fallen challenger moved into over-drive shortly thereafter and opened up a gap over her would-be challengers, while Baylee almost frantically labored to remove her shoes. Such are the vagaries of running that, while Tansey strided away to an impressive victory in a time of 4:5425 – a very fine time for a prep, Baylee was forced to limp off the field & we pray it not be too serious. Still distance running can be so fickle for Chandler Olson ran a very fine race in their wake to come home an excellent third with a time of 5:00. Although things had not gone nearly as hoped on Thursday, she had recovered to take second in a PR, while finishing ahead of Jordan McPhee of Mt. Rainier, who finished with 5:01. Trailing her were Lucy Cheadle of Roosevelt (5:02) & Carly Wilczynski of Emerald Ridge, who came home in 5:03. Katie Mahoney & Lauren Perry of Richland, Maureen Tremblay of Gig Harbor, Jordan Stephenson of Stanwood, Rachel Atwood of Auburn Riverside & Priscilla Timmons of Skyview rounded out the top eleven runners.
The young men’s 1600 Meters produced a face-off between Grant Grosvenor of Henry Jackson, who had triumphed earlier in the 800 Meters, and Kenji Bierig of Lewis & Clark, who was victorious in Thursday 3200 Meter run. It was hardly a stretch of imagination to find the two facing off as they entered the last stretch but Bierig pulled away in the final fifty meters to win with a time of 4:12.66. Grosvenor, who usually is not passed in the final surge came home with no excuses in a fine time of 4:14, while Meron Simon of Federal Way annexed third with 4:15. Blake Nelson of HJ was the first underclassmen with his time of 4:15.72. Nate Brennand of Olympia (4:16) edged Chase Braxmeyer of Thomas Jefferson for fifth and sophomore Andrew Gardner of Mead earned seventh with 4:16.30. Marina Roberts of Kingston came back from a second place finish in the 3200M to capture the 1600M by edging Audrey Lichten of Sequim 5:05.53 to 5:05.68. Sanne Holland of Cheney garnered third with 5:11. Following Holland were Kate Hannah of Sehome, Sarah Reiter of Lindbergh and Allison Gladhart of Deer Park, who garnered fifth through seventh respectively.
There was also spirited action in the 2A division of the guys’ 1600 Meter run with Dylan Creoni of Washougal leading for a bit and Dakota Parker of W F West making his presence felt as well. In the end the final stretch duel between Marcus Dickson of White River & Nicholas Schippers of Kingston, which proved the difference and Dickson prevailed in the end with a time of 4:17.38. Schippers, who commented: “I gave it everything I’ve got” finished a hard-fought second with 4:17.66, while Parker (4:20.85) & Croeni (4:22,95) claimed third & fourth ahead of David Elliott of Squalicum, who crossed the line in 4:23.
In other events of note Jennifer DeBellis of Columbia River indelibly etched her name into the Washington record books with her victory in the 3A Pole Vault with a record vault of 12-06. Courtney Bray of Mt. Spokane (11-06) & Britta LaVoie (10-06)of the same team secured the next two posts. Nick Majeske of Anacortes scored in the 2A Discus with 165-07 and Holly DeHart of Kentwood won the girls’ 4A 100 Meters with 11.97. Shreese Daniels of Steilacoom added the 2A Discus to her victory total (she also had claimed the Shot Put with 43-11.00) with a heave of 136-00 to best Courtney Fairhart of Eatonville, who threw 128-11. Gina Flint was a close third with 127-00 and Pullman’s Shelby Cheslek went 120-07, which was good for fourth. Christine Kirkwood, who won the Javelin with a record toss on Thursday, earned fifth with 116-07.
There was so much of note & too little time but yet we should add two athletes. The first is Isaiah Brandt-Sims of Wenatchee, who added the 200 Meter Dash title (21.29) to his triumph in the 100 Meters at 4A (10.74. Rachel McQuivey began her final day with a second place effort in the 100 Meter Hurdles behind Sadie Sparks of Chiawana and then zipped home in the 300 Hurdles with 43.34 to triumph over Erin Allen of Inglemoor, who went 43.80. Allen, incidentally had finished 4th in the 100 H earlier. Rachel also contributed to Skyview’s four by 400 Meter Relay, which placed second to Bellarmine (3:55.74 to 3:57.33. The Skyview girls finished fourth overall in the meet with 39 points behind Kentwood, which had 66. Inglemoor (43) & Richland (39.5) place second & third while Bellarmine was fifth with 34. The Skyview guys won the 4 X 400 in a tie of 3:19 to easily out-distance Kent Meridan. Kent, however, won the team trophy with 45 points. Mead (41), Wenatchee (37) & Skyview (34) followed Kent Meridian.
The meet also had a very special touch, which was added by one of the track officials. Kelly Rankin has served as a starter in the Vancouver area for a number of years and naturally has been on the scene at the State meet for some time. After a number the running events I noted that he offered the spent cartridge from the starter’s pistol as a souvenir to a number of people including Baylee Mires & Rachel McQuivey. The girls were most appreciative and Mr. Rankin’s souvenirs are now a part of the scene, as children of runners, who once earned a bullet want to win what their parents once did. It’s great to see the officials contributing on a personal level to a great event.