Track and Field Highlights vs. Olympia
The Jags traveled south to take on the Olympia Bears on Saturday, and while we did not leave with the team wins, we garnered several lifetime and season bests as we speed by the halfway point of our shortened season.
The Jaguar distance runners continue to ride the momentum they established in cross country. On the women’s side, Emily Wells returned to the track after a short layoff to win the women’s 1600 meter run in a time that ranks her fifth in 4A. Teammate Piper Bostick also established a new personal best in the same race after a gutsy finish to outkick her nearest foe. The distance group also picked up a win in the women’s 400 meters, as Ainsley Guay led wire-to-wire to pick up a win and a personal best and was joined by teammate Jake Cox in the PR club, as Cox established a new PR in the 800 meters.
On the men’s side, Conner Wirth and AaronWells established personal bests, with the former finishing in second place and running one of the top-sophomore times in school history in his first crack at the distance – his time of 2:03 also makes Wirth the second fastest half-miler in 4A. Junior Joel Brown ran a savvy race to win convincingly in the 1600 meters and establish a new lifetime best against a tough Olympia field. Jordan Cazaras-Blas also picked up a personal best at 1600 meters.
In the men’s sprints, junior Cantrell Thomas was a double-winner, earning victories and season best times in both the 200 and 400 meters, both of which rank him in the top-5 in 4A. In the windy conditions, it was tough sledding for many of our competitors, but ColinRice, Anthony North, Jamari Martin, ColtenHollenbeck, and Tommy Wirth set new lifetime bests.
The female speedsters also set several personal bests, including Alondra Lopez, who finished runner-up in 4 events and established a new personal best at 200 meters. She was joined by teammates Peyton Maines, Samantha Llapitan, Racheal Nakhale, Willow Marx, Ella Sharp, and Ryleigh McCain-Whipple, all of whom earned lifetime bests in the sprints.
Two of Lopez’s runner-up finishes came in the hurdles, where she finished second to senior captain Carley Huber, who notched wins at both hurdle distances. While her 300 hurdle time was off her state-leading mark in the windy conditions, Huber did race to a personal best in winning the 100 hurdles and establishing a top-10 time in 4A.
The men’s hurdlers also notched some lifetime bests with CodyLybbert, Xander Storts, and Jamari Martin finishing 2nd-4th in the 110 hurdles and Alex Baladad ran to a new personal best in the 300 hurdles, despite the wind.
Junior Jazmyne McGirt got her second win in a row in the shot put on the women’s side, while the men went 2nd-4th in the shot put, with Nick Weber and Jagger Landsperger earning lifetime bests. In the discus, sophomore Danny Meade threw another lifetime best to join the 100’ club with his toss of 104’5” for second place and was joined by Ethan Bankord, who set a personal best of his own.
Senior Hugo Ntanda remained impressive in the jumps, notching a first place in the high jump and a second place in the long jump. Sophomore Elijah Neilson scooped up two personal bests in his Jaguar debut in both the long jump and the triple jump.
Frosh Grace Wesenberg earned her third win in as many attempts to keep her unbeaten streak alive in the high jump and was joined by Meggie Kilcup and Dava Herron to complete the team sweep in the event for the three freshmen. Fellow frosh SamanthaLlapitan leapt to a lifetime best in the women’s long jump to earn second place points for the team.
The next opponent for the Jags are the Vikings of Puyallup, who will host field events on Friday at 3:00PM at Sparks and running events beginning Saturday morning at 9:00AM.
Full Results can be found at: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=420151&show=all