By Michael Ko
Seattle Times staff reporter
/
In girls throwing events, one name has been the benchmark for success the past three years: Whitney Hooks.
Could there finally be a worthy contender?
Inglemoor junior Elisa Bryant muscled the discus a state-best 148 feet, 8 inches at the Sea-King District track-and-field Championships Wednesday at the Southwest Athletic Complex.
Hooks, a senior at Cascade in Everett who won the Class 4A discus championship last year and also owns three consecutive shot-put titles, has thrown the discus 141 feet this year. Hooks will attend the University of Washington on a track scholarship.
\"If I ever had a chance of beating Whitney at state, I\'d be really excited about that,\" Bryant said of their looming showdown next weekend in Pasco. \"But honestly, I can\'t worry about what Whitney does. I\'m just mainly focusing on my technique and making big throws.\"
Bryant, the middle of five children, picked up the discus and the shot in the seventh grade. Her father, Eric, a strength-and-conditioning coach at Washington from 1998 to 2001, said his daughter was intrigued by the Olympics — and the possibility of getting free gear from sponsors.
\"She exploded after that,\" said Eric Bryant, who coaches his daughter in weightlifting. \"The strength is there, now we\'re waiting for the technique to catch up.\"
Bryant also has the sixth-best shot put in the state: 40-5 ¼. Hooks leads with a 49-2 ½.
On the boys side, Nathan Hale junior Abdi Hassan continued to dominate the 3A distance races in his first year in track. He has yet to lose and owns a state-best 4:14.2 in the 1,600 meters.
Hassan won the 1,600 on Wednesday in 4:18.48, drifting close behind Seattle Prep\'s Max O\'Donoghue-MacDonald, the reigning 3A cross-country champion, and bursting past in the final lap.
\"It feels like I\'m going to the Olympics,\" Hassan said. \"I love it.\"
Hassan said he and his family left Somalia for England about six years ago because of civil strife in their homeland. In 2003, Hassan moved with his father, Rashiid, to SeaTac, where Rashiid enrolled at Highline Community College and Abdi attended Tyee High School.
Two years ago, Rashiid started attending Washington and they moved to Lake City. Abdi still attended Tyee but transferred to Nathan Hale last summer because \"I was wasting three hours every day on the bus.\"
Hassan has surpassed all of his expectations.
\"I\'m very, very surprised,\" Hassan said. \"I cannot believe myself.\"
Notes
• Skyline junior Matt Frerker beat Ballard senior Zack Gussin in the most exciting race of the day, the 4A 1,600. In fourth heading into the final lap, Gussin mustered a dramatic kick and lost by three-hundredths of a second.
• Newport sophomore Jeremy Taiwo won the Class 3A boys triple jump with a 45-10. Taiwo has the second-best triple jump in the state: 46-3 ¼.
• Rainier Beach freshman Charnay Combs ran a Class 3A girls 100-meter preliminary heat in 12.06 seconds, the second-fastest time in the state this year.
• Finals continue Friday, starting at 3 p.m.. The top two finishers in all 4A events advance to state, and the top four finishers in 3A events advance.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company