State’s javelin big shots brave the rain at Eason

SNOHOMISH — An unexpected entrant, Mother Nature, stole the show in the highly anticipated boys javelin event Saturday at the 2010 Eason Invite.

Going into the 21st Larry Eason Invitational Track and Field Meet at Snohomish High School, three of the state’s top-five-ranked boys javelin throwers were expected to battle for the prestigious Eason title. For a while the trio — Curtis Clauson (King’s High), Blake McPherson (Arlington High) and Malaki Seanoa (Everett High) — put on an impressive show.

But when the action was really heating up, the weather washed it away.

The Eason boys javelin contest was shortened because of a massive downpour — and then some hail — that struck during the finals. Instead of getting the usual three throws in the finals, athletes had to settle for one, in addition to the standard three preliminary round tosses they had already taken. All four throws counted in the overall standings.

The winner of the anti-climactic, drenched competition was Clauson, whose best throw in four attempts was 199 feet, 1 inch. Arlington’s McPherson was second (192-8) and Everett’s Seanoa was third (185-10).

“It’s disappointing,” Everett coach Doug Hall said, “with the (horrible weather) conditions with such a great field, but it was impressive that the kids wanted to go out and compete because they’re so hungry.”

Coming into the meet, King’s Clauson (second, 202-2), Seanoa (third, 200-11) and McPherson (fifth, 198-9) had season-best throws that ranked among the state’s top five, regardless of classification. None of them beat their season-bests Saturday but they performed well considering what they dealt with: Lots of rain and a chewed-up, slippery grass runway.

“That runway was totally torn up. … But it would have been nice to finish the competition, definitely,” said Clauson, a junior, who was a few feet short of his season-best but broke the meet record of 197-7, set in 1998 by Jesse Aust of Capital.

Rain and lightning caused a 35-minute delay in the early evening portion of the meet, which included more than 1,300 male and female athletes from about 60 teams. Skyline won the boys team title, scoring 54 points — eight more than runnerup Federal Way.

Federal Way ran scorching, meet-record times en route to wins in the 400 relay (42.49) and the 1,600 relay (3:23.0).

Male field athlete of the meet Kasen Williams of Skyline won the high jump (6 feet, 8 inches) and the triple jump (47-8). Cascade’s Tay’lor Eubanks was second behind Williams, a heavily recruited football star, in the triple jump with a mark of 45-10.

The top local team was Glacier Peak, which scored 29 points and tied Olympia for eighth place.

One slot ahead of those teams was seventh-place Elma, fueled by male track athlete of the meet Todd Jackson, who won the 800 and the 1,600.

Despite an unexpected snag, Edmonds-Woodway’s Alec Fellows enjoyed a fine all-around day. The multi-talented E-W junior won the long jump with a distance of 22-6, tied for third in the high jump (6-4) and placed fourth in the 110 hurdles, one place behind Kamiak’s Nari Sternen.

Fellows was the No. 1 seed in the 110 hurdles but suffered a mishap midway through the race. As he jumped over the fifth hurdle, Fellows clipped his right shoe. The impact loosened the shoe, which finally fell off completely when Fellows elevated over the final hurdle.

It’s the first time that’s happened to Fellows, he said after the race. The unfortunate footwear incident left him grinning, not fuming.

“The good thing is it’s just an invitational,” Fellows said. “It’s not like it’s the state finals where it’s the last race (of the season). There’s plenty more races.”

Fellows, a do-it-all, state-ranked athlete who plans to focus on the decathlon in college, is on pace for a strong finish this season, Edmonds-Woodway coach Rick Fillman said.

“He’s obviously among the best in the state in each of his main events,” said Fillman. “That’s not going to stop. He’s just going to continue to do that.”

With a smile, referring to Fellows’ shoe trouble, Fillman added: “The only thing that can slow him down is a wardrobe malfunction.”

Other top performances by local athletes included Coupeville’s Tyler King (second in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600). King barely lost the longer race, finishing less than a second behind Redmond’s Mack Young.

In the distance medley relay, area teams took two of the top three spots. Glacier Peak placed second and Cascade finished third.

At Snohomish H.S.

Team scores

Skyline 54, Federal Way 46, Abbotsford 35, Sehome 33, O’Dea 33, Burlington-Edison 32, Elma 30, Glacier Peak 29, Olympia 29, Anacortes 26, Edmonds-Woodway 20.5, Mt. Baker 20, Camas 20, Snohomish 20, King’s 19, Emerald Ridge 19, Issaquah 18, Liberty-Issaquah 16, Willapa Valley 16, Monroe 14, Cascade-Everett 14, Arlington 13.5, Everett 13, Shorewood 13, Blaine 13, Coupeville 12, Redmond 12, Capital 12, Bellingham 11, River Ridge 11, Lindberg 11, Kamiak 11, Surrey Athletics Club 8, Juanita 7, Meadowdale 7, Mount Si 6, Kingston 5, Ferndale 4, Nooksack Valley 4, Sequim 4, Timberline 3, Franklin Pierce 3, Newport-Bellevue 3, Port Angeles 3, Mt. Vernon Christian 2, Hersey Harriers Athletic Club 1, Meridian 1.

Event winners

Distance medley-Burlington-Edison 10:37.84

110 hurdles-Cory Okazaki (Emerald Ridge) 14.99

100-Trenton Pinson (Federal Way) 10.93

200-Thomas Kassa (Anacortes) 22.86

1,600-Todd Jackson (Elma) 4:15.46

400 relay-Federal Way 42.49*

400-Kris Durr (Emerald Ridge) 51.40

300 hurdles-Robert Shelby (Federal Way) 39.58

800-Todd Jackson (Elma) 1:55.53

3,200-Mack Young (Redmond) 9:32.09

1,600 relay-Federal Way 3:23.00*