PREP TRACK: Arlington’s Jensen repeats as discus champ
Published 11:28 pm Saturday, May 24, 2008
PASCO — A weekend that started with a downer ended with a bang for Kjirsten Jensen.
Jensen, a thrower from Arlington High School, was unable to defend her state title Friday in the Class 3A girls shot put. She placed second.
But Saturday was a different story. Jensen bounced back in the discus and launched a personal-best toss to win the event for the second consecutive year. It’s her third state title.
“Today I was just like, ‘It’s my last time I’m ever going to throw for (Arlington) so I want to go out with a big bang,’” the senior said of her performance during the Class 3A/4A state track and field championships at Edgar Brown Stadium.
Jensen’s winning throw of 133 feet, 3 inches came on her second preliminary attempt and her second of six total throws. It demolished her previous season-best discus mark by more than 4 feet.
“I didn’t want to come out there with two (second-place finishes) or anything. I wanted a championship. I wanted to bring one home,” said Jensen, who will throw for Washington State University.
Everett’s Kirsten Smith placed second in the discus with a top distance of 127-8 after coming in as the No. 1 seed. On Friday she won the shot put and upset Jensen, who was the top seed and defending champ in that event.
The defeat was frustrating and provided lots of motivation, Jensen said: “Yesterday was kind of really depressing for me because I was ranked first (in shot put). I came (into discus) ranked third so where else can I go from here? I have no pressure on me. I was just going to go for it.”
Meanwhile, Smith said she wasn’t disappointed with her runnerup performance in the discus. Last year she placed fourth.
“Top eight — I get a medal. I get to the podium. How awesome is that?” she said.
Throughout their prep careers Smith and Jensen battled each other for high honors, especially this spring. At their final state meet they both walked away with a state title. The head-to-head competition pushed the girls to perform better, they said.
“Most definitely it helped me a lot. I truly believe you have to go against people who are better in order to better yourself,” said Smith, who will throw for Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, Idaho) — about 30 miles from Pullman, where Jensen will compete for WSU.
“I think it really says something about our league and how strong it really was,” Jensen said.
In the 3A team standings, Arlington scored 19.5 points and placed 11th. Everett wasn’t far behind. The Seagulls scored 18 points and tied Rainier Beach for 13th. Eastmont (51 points) won the team championship.
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
