BOYS TRACK: Everett wins Shoreline Invitational

Published 11:22 pm Saturday, April 26, 2008

SHORELINE — Snowed out last Saturday at the Eason Invitational, J Hopkins, Rendel Jones and the Everett Seagulls didn’t get to show their stuff at a big-time meet.

But Saturday at the Shoreline Invitational at sunny Shoreline Stadium they got their chance to shine.

“With the snowout we loaded up for this one and the kids performed in this one,” Everett coach Doug Hall said.

Hopkins swept the 110- and 300-meter hurdles and ran on the second-place 400 relay and fifth-place 1,600 relay to lead Everett to the team title. Everett, the defending state 3A champions, usually uses Eason as a springboard for districts and state.

“It’s a big step for us to state to defend our title,” said Jones, who won the triple jump and was named field athlete of the meet.

Everett won its first Shoreline Invitational title. Eighty-six teams and more than 1,000 athletes were represented at the meet, which is the largest all-boys invitational in the Northwest.

The 1,600 relay team of D.J. Grim, Joseph Giesick, Hopkins and Jones had tired legs when it was time to run the last heat of the night after 8 p.m., but they managed to finish fifth in 3:26.93.

“They sucked it up,” Everett coach Doug Hall said. “I’m proud of everybody.”

“I didn’t think our relay was going to do that,” Hopkins said. “I was pretty nervous. I’m pretty sure I didn’t have the best start.”

Jones, a senior, won the triple jump with a mark of 47-3.5, more than three feet longer than second-place finisher Christian Crain of West Seattle. The leap was a personal record for Jones.

“I felt pretty good,” Jones said. “Hopefully I can jump farther in bigger meets.”

Jones finished a disappointing 12th in the long jump, but said his victory in the triple jump made up for it.

Lynnwood’s Dylan Burnett-Lewis, the top seed in the javelin entering the meet, won the event with a throw of 183 feet.

“I felt it was a pretty good day,” Burnett-Lewis said. “It was a nice day out. My run-up felt good.”

Burnett-Lewis recently shortened his last series of steps by two steps to give him more speed and power.

“It’s a lot more explosive,” he said.

He finished sixth at the Pasco Invitational on a cool windy day with a throw of 176 last Saturday.

“Much better than last week,” his javelin coach Wael Abou-Zaki said. “He was consistent today.”

He placed third at the state 3A meet last year. His goal this season is to make the podium again and break the school record of 204, which was set in 1985.

At Shoreline Stadium

Team scores: 1. Everett, 55; 2. Todd Beamer, 52; 3. North Central, 29; 3. Sehome, 29; 5. Thomas Jefferson, 27.5; 6. Inglemoor, 26; 7. Bonney Lake, 25; 8. Skyline

110 hurdles—1. Hopkins (Everett) 14.55; 100—1. Griffey (Decatur) 10.67; 200—1. Griffey (Decatur) 22.05; 400— 1. McNeal (Tacoma Baptist) 49.01; 800—1. Berg (Seattle Prep) 1:58.59; 1,600—1. McHenry (Sehome) 4:12.56; 3,200—1. Prentice (Mt. Rainier) 8:59.76; 300 hurdles: 1. Hopkins (Everett) 39.05; Freshman/sophomore 1,600—1. Berhe (Roosevelt) 4:28; 4,000 distance medley—1. Auburn-Riverside (Allen, Krotzer, Serdahl, Cowan) 10:54.67; 800 sprint medley—1. Inglemoor (Mukai, Terry, Ena, Palmer) 1:35.66; 400 relay—1. Todd Beamer (Drayer, Waller, Ward, Hogan) 42.77; 1,600 relay ; High jump—1.Williams (Skyline) 6-4; Long jump—1. Crain (West Seattle) 22-9.5; Triple jump—1. Jones (Everett) 47-3.5; Shot put: 1. Andrey Levkiv (Hazen) 56-10; Discus—1. Larned (Enumclaw) 168-7; ; Javelin—1. Burnett-Lewis (Lynnwood) 183-0; Pole vault—1. George (Yelm) 15-0.