MARYSVILLE On an almost blindingly sunny Saturday, April 28, some 15 teams from around northwestern Washington descended on Marysville-Pilchuck High School to compete in the Tomahawk Track & Field Classic.
The hosts boys team won the meet, while the girls narrowly placed third behind squads from Burlington-Edison and Issaquah.
All of the boys individual first-place finishes came in the field events.
Senior Kenny York continued his string of first-place finishes in the javelin. His first throw of 165 feet, a warm-up, was good enough to win the event. Then in the finals, he let fly a new personal best of 171-11.
Duane LaPeyri cleared 6-0 to win the high jump and ran a leg of the winning 4×100 relay. Sophomore Fono Vakalahi won the discus with a 151-10 throw, more than 10 feet beyond the second-place finish by Arlingtons Jeff Boyden.
LaPeyri and Vakalahi each had notable finishes in other events. LaPeyri took fourth in the triple jump on the strength of a 40-9 leap. Vakalahi took second in the shot put.
The boys 4×100 relay of Andy Abadam, LaPeyri, Jonathan Jorgensen and Josh Rabung set a new best time at the Classic.
They ran a 43.85, which is their fastest time of the year. They looked good doing it. We think that as they taper down here these last few weeks, we hope theyre going to go a little bit faster, said M-P head coach Randy Davis.
We had PRs all over the place. Which happens. We tell kids not to worry about marks, he added. Saturday was the best weather day weve had all year. The breeze was just perfect.
The M-P girls team had two individuals win their events. Junior high jumper Jade Hanson tied her personal best jump and tried for a personal record at 5-3. Though she came up short, her 5-2 performance was two inches better than the next three competitors, among them, teammate Nancy Couls.
Freshman Cali Culls time in the sandpit paid off as she won the triple jump at 34-3 and placed fifth in the long jump with a best jump of 16-2. Culls winning triple jump was a foot and a half longer than the second place finisher, and another inch further than teammate Couls who took third in the event.
Another M-P freshman placed in several events. Alicia Oden took third in the long jump, eighth in the 100-meter dash and ran the third leg of a second-place 4×400 relay.
That relay team has been a source of pride all season for Davis, returning three upperclassmen senior Megan Crenshaw and juniors Nicolette Runyan and Haley Nemra and running neck-and-neck with a defending-state-champion Issaquah squad.
At the Classic, M-P led for the first three legs and finished in 4:08.58. Issaquah clocked in at 4:06.48.
I consider it a good time. We beat them (last year) and they ended up winning state. Theyre an absolutely fantastic team. That was not a bad loss in any form, Davis said. To be honest with you, Ive never had a girls 4×4 team run as fast as these girls are this season.
Runyan set new personal records for her performances in the 100 and 200 as well. Her 12.66 time in the 100 was good for third place and about half a second faster than Oden. She took second in the 200 with a time of 26.07.
Weather aside, how does an athlete go about shaving off fractions of a second to improve their time in events like sprints?
For me, Ive been working out since the volleyball season, Oden said of her new best 100 time, 13.14.
Runyan viewed it a little differently.
I think its more mental for me. I work at it all the time. If Im running with someone, I try to keep up with them, she said.
Though the two legs of the 4×400 raced against each other in the 100, the competition doesnt get to them.
Said Oden of Runyan, She way motivates me.