4A BOYS TRACK: Mariner’s Marzell Jenkins shows his talent, winning all three sprints and setting a meet record in the 400-meter event.

Published 12:02 am Saturday, May 17, 2008

EVERETT — Asked what motivates him to sprint, Marzell Jenkins gave a very straightforward answer.

“To show everybody I’m good at something,” Jenkins said Friday during the Class 4A Northwest District Boys Track and Field Championship Meet at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Based on how Jenkins performed at the final competition before next week’s state meet, “good” is an understatement. “Great” is arguably more like it.

Jenkins, a senior at Mariner High School, swept the three sprints, zooming to victory in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter races. His winning time in the 400, 48.97 seconds, broke the meet record and was nearly a second faster than his previous personal record.

Earlier in the evening, before the 400, Jenkins won the 100 in 11.01. He capped a stellar individual showing with a triumph in the 200 in 22.28 seconds. After the latter event he celebrated by spreading his arms to his sides, looking as if he might fly away like a Boeing jet.

The top three finishers in each individual event and the top three relay teams qualified for the state meet (May 23-24 in Pasco).

Jenkins made it in all three sprints. The 400 is the most difficult, he said.

“It’s not how fast you are, that’s for sure. (It requires) strategy, endurance and how well you handle pain,” Jenkins said.

Lake Stevens scored 130-2/3 points and won the team district championship for the third consecutive year. Kyle VanSanten (3,200), Joey Bywater (800) and Colton Tupen (110 hurdles) won individual events for the Vikings. Lake Stevens’ 1,600 relay team placed first as well.

Bywater broke the 800 meet record by one-hundredth of a second. He already had meet records in the 3,200, set in 2006, and the 1,600 (2007).

Stanwood (96-1/3 points) was second in the team standings. In the pole vault, Stanwood’s Nathan Simunds said he surprised himself by breaking a school record. He won with a height of 15 feet, eclipsing the Spartans’ old record — which he had previously tied — by 6 inches.

It didn’t seem possible after he struggled to clear 14 feet Thursday at practice, Simunds said. But everything came together Friday.

“I was completely at peace. I was just out there having fun,” said Simunds.

Based on results through Thursday, his winning vault is the No. 1 4A mark in the state.

Snohomish, which placed third as a team, dominated in the discus and triple jump finals. Marlyn Anderson led a 1-2-3 Panthers’ sweep in the discus. Anderson won the shot put Wednesday.

In the triple jump, Clayton Johnson and teammate Christopher Rusnak placed first and second for Snohomish. Johnson’s top jump (44-6) beat the old meet record by 2 inches.

“They push each other so much because they’re so competitive. One isn’t (easily) going to let the other one jump further, that’s for sure,” Snohomish jumps coach Jerrod Akins said.

Cascade’s 400 relay team also set a meet record. The Bruins, ranked No. 1 in the state regardless of classification entering the week, won in 42.64.

At Everett Memorial Stadium

Team scores: 1. Lake Stevens 130.6, 2. Stanwood 96.3, 3. Snohomish 91, 4. Marysville-Pilchuck 74, 5. Oak Harbor 66, 6. Jackson 62, 7. Mariner 61, 8. Cascade 48, 9. Edmonds-Woodway, 10. Kamiak 41, 11. Monroe 35, 12. Mountlake Terrace 22, 13, Shorewood 12.

State meet qualifiers

110 hurdles-1. Tupen (LS) 15.44, 2. Chong (OH) 15.57, 3. Pangilinan (M-P) 15.59; 100-1. Jenkins (Mar) 11.01, 2. Bridgford (Casc) 11.06, 3. Abadam (M-P) 11.23; *1,600-1. Bywater (LS) 4:17.56, 2. Goodman (Sno) 4:18.26, 3. Cooper (Kam) 4:19.64; 400 relay-1. Cascade 42.64, 2. Oak Harbor 42.9, 3. Marysville-Pilchuck 43.91; 400-1. Jenkins (Mar) 48.97, 2. Johnson (Mar) 49.84, 3. Molstre (LS) 50.05; 300 hurdles-1. Schmidt (Stan) 39.48, 2. Hanke (Stan) 40.1, 3. Sanderson (M-P) 40.31; 800-1. Bywater (LS) 1:55.15, 2. Goodman (Sno) 1:55.48, 3. Cooper (Kam) 1:55.62; 200-1. Jenkins (Mar) 22.28, 2. Wafer (E-W) 22.74, 3. Molstre (LS) 22.84; 3,200-1. VanSanten (LS) 9:21.57, 2. Lance (Jack) 9:24.72, 3. Yilma (E-W) 9:25.91; 1,600 relay-1. Lake Stevens 3:24.15, 2. Stanwood 3:26.03, 3. Oak Harbor 3:26.37; Javelin-1. Lucke (Mon) 179-08, 2. Wells (MT) 179-6, 3. Kurisu (LS) 168-5; Discus-1. Anderson (Sno) 150-6, 2. Froland (Sno) 145-10, 3. Surdyk (Sno) 140-7; Triple jump-1. Johnson (Sno) 44-6, 2. Rusnak (Sno) 44-2, 3. Truong (Jack) 43-7; Pole vault-1. Simunds (Stan) 15-0, 2. Gibson (M-P) 13-6, 3. Ochs (Jack) 13-3; *Shot put-1. Anderson (Sno) 53-5.75, 2. Kurisu (LS) 52-6, 3. Hatley (Stan) 46-8; *High jump-1. Rumble (OH) 6-4, 2. Fellows (E-W) 6-2, 3. Greene (M-P) 6-2; *Long jump-1. Hunt (OH) 22-0.25, 2. Abadam (M-P) 21-10, 3. Schmidt (Stan) 21-9.5; *Wheelchair 800-1. Howard (Stan) 2:29.43; *Wheelchair 1,600-1. Howard (Stan) 5:16.79; Wheelchair 3,200-1. Howard (Stan) 10:16.1; Wheelchair discus-1. Tatum (Mar) 55-2; Wheelchair javelin-1. Tatum (Mar) 42-10.

*Events completed Wednesday.

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.