By Michael Ko
Seattle Times staff reporter
PASCO — Bent over sideways in pain, barely able to tug off her racing spikes, Jessica Pixler rested on the turf at Edgar Brown Stadium on Saturday afternoon swallowing ragged breaths and contemplating the daunting task before her.
In less than two hours, the senior from Eastlake High in Sammamish would have to run in the Class 4A girls 800-meter final. She had just finished the 1,600 finals in 4 minutes, 48 seconds, the 13th fastest mark all-time, but lost to Megan O\'Reilly (4:46.58) of Mount Spokane.
Pixler stretched in the shade, guzzled Gatorade and came out to win the 800 in 2:09.72, the state\'s best time this season and 14th fastest in state history. She sidestepped a crash in the first lap involving two runners.
\"The main thing I\'ve discovered about myself running all these years,\" Pixler said, \"is I\'ve been most upset with myself if I give up in a race. So for me it doesn\'t matter if I win or lose but whether I gave it 100 percent. I gave 100 percent today.\"
Pixler\'s efforts highlighted the theme of perseverance on the last day of 4A events at the state track-and-field championships.
Andrew Chapin, a senior from Redmond, won the triple jump with a distance of 46 feet, 11 inches, a personal best by almost a foot and a half.
Chapin, who will compete for Brown University next season, missed about seven weeks this season with a variety of leg injuries.
\"This season has been very tough,\" Chapin said. \"It\'s good to finally be 100 percent healthy and get a good mark in.\"
Jessica Duran, a senior from Kent-Meridian, was ecstatic after winning the girls 300-meter hurdle title in 44.66 seconds. She had been experiencing a stressful, frustrating meet.
In her previous three events, she had placed seventh in both the shot put and the 100 hurdles and had failed to qualify for the long-jump finals. Coming into state, Duran had notched a state-best long jump of 18-2 ½.
The 300 hurdles was her last shot at a high-school championship.
\"This is all I wanted,\" said Duran, who is going to Eastern Washington to train as a heptathlete. \"I got a state title. It\'s so incredible.\"
Garfield girls sprinters won the 400 relay in 48.48 seconds, .07 seconds ahead of Kamiakin. Alexis Williams-Edwards, Biance Greene, Erica Hayes and Megan Chapin persevered despite being unsure most spring who was running which leg of the relay.
They had changed up the order all season, finally getting comfortable two weeks ago at the KingCo conference meet.
Greene was especially impressive Saturday. She also won the 200, beating Franklin freshman Ariana Jones.
Meagan Ferguson, a senior at Lake Washington, came back from surgery on her left knee just seven months ago to take second place in the girls 100. She tore her ACL playing basketball.
\"I\'m happy I\'m here,\" Ferguson said. \"Not many people can say, \'I tore my ACL and I\'m still at state.\' \"
Wilson of Tacoma won the boys 4A team title. Gig Harbor finished second and Skyline and Kamiakin tied for third. Skyline was led by senior Brandon Graef, who finished second in the 110 hurdles, and junior Matt Freker, who took second in the 3,200.
Olympia won the girls 4A team title. Kamiakin finished second and Bellarmine Prep was third.
Notes
• Whitney Hooks of Cascade in Everett repeated as girls discus champion (136-07).
• Cameron Elisara of Ferris repeated as boys shot-put champion (63-4 ½).
• Auburn Riverside senior Joe Churchill won the boys 1,600 (4:15.15).
• Woodinville senior Trent Arrivey won the boys high jump at 6-10.
• Victor Marshall of Juanita finished second in the 100 and the 200. In the 100, he was just 0.01 second behind the winner and in the 200 just 0.09 second behind. Dak Kongela of North Kitsap won the 100 in 10.95, and Moses Lake\'s Aaron Wafer took the 200 in 22.08.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company