SNOHOMISH — It was a day of overcast skies, cool temperatures and intermittent showers, meaning it was not really the kind of weather that leads to big performances.
Kaleb Dobson of Cascade turned in a big performance anyway.
Dobson placed first in the long jump, the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the 110 high hurdles — the latter in school-record time — to become the top individual winner at Saturday’s Larry Eason Invitational track and field meet at Snohomish High School.
Dobson began his day with a personal best of 14.62 seconds in his 110 hurdles preliminary heat, and then came back and ran 14.48 in the finals to break a Cascade record that had stood for seven years. He followed up with a leap of 21 feet, 11/2 inches to win the long jump, and then capped his day by winning the 300 hurdles in 40.46.
“I think I performed well, although I always hope for better,” said Dobson, a junior. “I always try to push myself to do better than I know I can. I thought I did well even though there’s always room for improvement.”
The highlight, he said, was definitely the 110 hurdles because he claimed a school record at mid-season of his junior year. “I’m very proud of my 110 hurdle race,” he said.
Dobson’s showing drew high praise from his coaches, who realize what a special talent he is.
“The kid had a fantastic day,” said Bruins head coach Chris Crockett. “He was really excited about this meet and it showed. His goal was to win all three events today, and then he went out and did it.
“For a junior, stepping up this way, it’s just going to be exciting to see where he can go from here,” Crockett added.
Cascade assistant coach Greg Font, who coaches Dobson in the long jump, said his athlete “has great potential to do even better. He’s only a junior, but he’s still growing, he’s still getting faster, he’s still learning a lot and he still wants to learn a lot. And that’s the great thing about him.
“I remember the day I looked in his eyes when he was a freshman and told him, ‘You can do (good) things here. If you put the effort in and work hard, I’m going to try to give you all the tools and show you how to use them.’ And he took that to heart,” Font said.
As a sophomore, Dobson failed to place at state last spring in the 110 hurdles and the long jump “because I was kind of nervous,” he said. “I wasn’t really ready for (top state) competition, but I’m definitely looking to change that this year.”
His performance Saturday made Dobson one of only two multiple individual winners at the Eason Invitational. The other was Gina Flint of Squalicum, who won the girls discus (156-09) and shot (44-101/4).
Dobson was also named the male track athlete of the meet. The girls track athlete of the meet was Jordyn Edwards of Lynnwood, who won the 200 (25.55) and placed second in the 100 (12.60).
Two other Wesco athletes had first- and second-place finishes. Christian Linder of Snohomish was first in the 200 (22.15) and second in the 100 (11.04), while Dan Boyden of Arlington was first in the shot (51-11) and second in the discus (157-08).
The meet’s most dominating performance was turned in by the Glacier Peak girls distance medley relay team. The quartet of Mikayla Ingram, India Smith, Amy-Eloise Neale and Katie Bianchini won with a time of 12:06.40, nearly a full second better than runner-up Burlington-Edison (13:05.10).
Neale also won the 800 (2:12.00), while Bianchini won the 1,600 (5:06.90).
Another decisive victory was turned in by Arlington’s Lyndsay Leatherman, who won the girls javelin with a toss of 132-10, more than 21 feet better than runnerup Mikayla Pivec of Lynnwood (111-08).
In the team scores, the boys title went to Sehome, which finished with 70 points. Cascade was second with 53, while Arlington and Tahoma tied for third with 51. The girls champion was Holy Names Academy, which had 74.5 points to narrowly edge Sehome with 72 and Arlington with 70.5.
At Snohomish H.S.
Boys
Local team scores: 2. Cascade 53, t-3. Arlington 51, 5. Arlington 47, 7. Shorewood 34, 10. Edmonds-Woodway 31, 11. Lynnwood 23, 12. Kamiak 22, t-14. Cedarcrest 20, t-18. Glacier Peak 17, t-18. Archbishop Murphy 17, t-22. Granite Falls 15, 28. Mariner 7.5, t-29. Mount Vernon 4, t-29. Meadowdale 4.
Top local finishers
110 hurdles—1. Kaleb Dobson (Cascade) 14.48; 100—1. David Fan (Shorewood) 10.98; 1,600—1. Tomislav Smith (Kamiak) 4:25.68; 400 relay—3. Shorewood (names not reported) 44.51; 400—1. Ryan McArthur (Lynnwood) 49.74; 300 hurdles—1. Dobson (Cascade) 40.56; 800—4. Tyler McArthur (Lynnwood) 1:59.49; 200—1. Christian Linder (Snohomish) 22.15; 3,200—2. Logan Orndorf (Cedarcrest) 9:35.60; 1,600 relay—2. Snohomish (names not reported) 3:32.11; High jump—1. Ryan Chabot (Granite Falls) 6-00; Long jump—1. Dobson (Cascade) 21-01.50; Triple jump—3. Daryl Derbecker (Glacier Peak) 40-00; Shot put—1. Dan Boyden (Arlington) 51-11; Discus—2. Boyden (Arlington) 157-08; Hammer—3. Beau Huffer (Snohomish) 139-08; Javelin—1. Hans Vanderwel (Archbishop Murphy) 167-11; Pole vault—5. Bennett Minnie (Cedarcrest) 12-06;
Girls
Local team scores: 3. Arlington 70.5, 5. Glacier Peak 60.5, 7. Shorewood 42.5, 9. Lynnwood 38.5, 10. Edmonds-Woodway 34, 11. Snohomish 25, 15. Mount Vernon 17, 17. Mariner 13, t-18. Archbishop Murphy 11, 23. Kamiak 9, 25. Meadowdale 8, 26. Cedarcrest 4.5, t-27. Everett 3, t-27. Cascade 3.
Top local finishers
100 hurdles—6. Tyra Gilbert (Mount Vernon) 17.03; 100—2. Jordyn Edwards (Lynnwood) 12.60; 1,600—1. Katie Bianchini (Glacier Peak); 400 relay—3. Edmonds-Woodway (names not reported) 51.11; 400—6. Lauren Wheatley (Snohomish) 62.04; 300 hurdles—3. Megan Ransom (Shorewood) 800—1. Amy-Eloise Neale (Glacier Peak) 2:12.00; 200—1. Edwards (Lynnwood) 25.55; 3,200—2. Haley Suarez (Meadowdale) 11:04.58; 800 relay—4. Shorewood (names not reported) 1;49.70; 1,600 relay—3. Glacier Peak (names not reported) 4:11.41; Distance medley—1. Glacier Peak (names not reported) 12:06.40; High jump—2. Kellianne Cavin (Snohomish) 5-02: Long jump—1. Charity Ijiomah (Shorewood) 17-03.50; Triple jump—1. Ella Brown (Mount Vernon) 36-10.50; Shot put—2. Marissa Swegle (Arlington) 39-00.25; Discus—1. Danielle Openiano (Mariner) 121-03; Hammer—2. Swegle (Arlington) 103-02; Javelin—1. Lyndsay Leatherman (Arlington) 132-10; Pole vault—7. Ransom (Shorewood) 9-06.
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