Jackson adds district title to league crown

Published 9:00 pm Friday, May 18, 2001

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

BELLINGHAM – Jackson’s Caleb Knox did his best to keep a straight face as he stood on the awards stand.

His older teammates were yelling, “You’re my favorite freshman,” among other things as Knox accepted his award for his victory in the 3,200-meter run during Friday’s 3A Northwest District meet at Bellingham Civic Stadium.

And when his team began its victory lap around the stadium after the Timberwolves won the team championship, they even let the freshman carry the trophy for a little while.

In two weeks, Knox has gone from one of the many interchangeable Jackson distance runners to one his teammates – and no one else – can seem to beat.

Knox shaved nearly 10 seconds off of his time from last week’s Western Conference 3A meet. His time of 9 minutes, 42.88 seconds was more than enough to send him to next week’s state meet.

“I really didn’t think I would win,” Knox said. “I just wanted to see what I could do.”

Knox proved to be the only Jackson event winner Wednesday or Friday, but in just about every event, the Timberwolves seemed to pick up points. In Knox’s race, Jackson finished first, third, fourth and fifth to rack up 30 of its 130 points. Lake Stevens, which was beaten by the Timberwolves by a point at the Wesco meet, finished second again with 124 points.

“I’m very excited,” Jackson coach Eric Hruschka said. “We really came through in the last four events.”

Knox said he has learned from guys like Evan Wirkkala, who finished third in the 3,200 to join Knox at state, and Jackson’s Corey Nuro qualified for the 800 with a second-place finish.

The top three finishers in each event qualify for the May 25-26 state meet at the Lincoln Bowl in Tacoma.

Lake Stevens athletes were a somber bunch Friday. They couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been different if not for a rash of injuries.

Despite constant knee pain while facing the best hurdlers from the Wesco 3A and Northwest League, Lake Stevens’ Ryan McKinney won both hurdles events with ease. The senior, who is suffering from a knee injury, also brought the Vikings 1,600-meter relay team back from the dead when he anchored the team to a second-place finish.

“It’s gotten worse every meet,” said McKinney, who was told by a doctor that he likely has torn cartilage in his left knee. “I’m doing all I can, but it’s not a good sign.”

The injury bug has bitten many members of the Lake Stevens team recently. Nik Williams, who won the 400 at state last season, finished second Friday. And the vaunted 1,600-meter relay team that became the first in 3A meet history to break the barrier of three minutes, 20 seconds last spring, spent much of the first two laps in or near last place. Williams moved the team up to fourth during the third leg, and McKinney staved off elimination by taking the lead briefly before settling for second place.

“All of our guys are kind hurtin’ right now,” Lake Stevens assistant Ken Collins said. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck.”

In the 100-meter dash, Lake Stevens’ Matt Williams and Jackson’s Craig Chambers finished second and third respectively. Chambers also finished third in the 200 and anchored the Jackson 400-meter relay team to a second place finish.

Lake Stevens’ Brad Baughman hurled the javelin of 174 feet, 9 inches to finish second. Fellow Vikings Chris LaPlante and Mike Johnson finished first and third, respectively in the discus.

Brenton Bodewig of Arlington was second in the long jump, and Jackson’s Jason Morris was third.

Stanwood’s Nick Cairus finished second in the 3,200 and teammate Chris Poh was third in the 800. The Spartans 1,600-meter relay finished third.

Arlington’s Andrae Goffe claimed third in the 400.