Royal senior off to solid start

Published 11:41 am Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Lynnwood boys and girls track teams might not have the depth to compete with their bigger rivals in the Western Conference South Division, but the Royals have some of the top individual athletes in the league.

Lynnwood has a potential state champion in senior Dylan Burnett-Lewis, who finished second in the javelin at last year’s Class 3A state championships.

Burnett-Lewis is off to a solid start in 2009, according to Lynnwood coach Duane Lewis. The senior standout was busy in the offseason preparing for his final year.

“He’s worked a lot more on the weights and a little more on his technique,” Lewis said.

Burnett-Lewis had never gone to a throwing camp, before attending the Duncan Atwood camp in Spokane last summer.

His best throw of the year so far is 182 feet, 9 inches during the preliminaries at a Wesco South Division meet against Shorecrest and Meadowdale on March 26. Until last week, Burnett-Lewis had the longest throw in the state, but he’s been surpassed by some others.

“He’s still one of the top 10 in the U.S.,” Lewis said.

The Royals’ other state returner is senior high hurdler Alex Williams.

Williams, the defending league champion in the 110 high hurdles, has the second fastest time in the Wesco South Division and the fastest among the 3A competitors.

A newcomer who Lewis expects to be a factor is junior Typhis Cochran, a transfer student from San Diego. Cochran has among the fastest times in the league in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He finished first in the 100 and second in the 200 in Thursday’s meet.

Cochran’s younger sister Tajah also is a sprinter and has clocked in under 13 seconds in 100. Another sprinter to watch is sophomore Stephanie Bidondo, who runs the 100, 200 and 400.

Sophomore Danielle Alexander leads the league in the long jump. Other individuals expected to be key point scorers including junior distance runner Mawa Ali and junior thrower Jessika Barlow.

Senior Amanda Overdick is only two inches off her personal best in the high jump. Overdick suffered two torn ACL injuries in both of her legs through the years.

“She’s one of the hardest working kids,” Lewis said.

Lynnwood’s turnout numbers about 60 and is evenly divided between the two squads.

“We don’t have a lot of depth, but we’ve got some pretty good individual kids,” Lewis said,

Here is a look at the other three Edmonds District teams.

Edmonds-Woodway

Alec Fellows is proving that his freshman season was no fluke.

The sophomore standout has started off 2009 strong with two school records and some of the league’s top performances.

In the Warriors’ first meet, Fellows league recorded a school best 21-9 in the long jump and then broke his own record in the triple jump with a 40-2.5. He also clocked in with a personal best time of 15.35 in the 110 hurdles, the top time in the league. His triple jump also leads the league and his long jump is the second best among the Wesco South Division competitors.

“He’s definitely picking up where he left off,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Rick Fillman said. “I think he’s probably an inch or an inch and a half taller. He’s getting stronger. Even as a freshman he was good athlete. He’s fluid and smooth. He’s maintained all that and gotten stronger.”

Another top performer is senior Chris Routen, who throws the shot put.

“In the first two meets, he’s been over 45 (feet),” Fillman said. “He’s always had a lot of talent and a lot of potential, but he’s not always been consistent. It’s very good that he’s putting together some consistency with that talent.”

Senior Will Broadlick has put in a lot of work in the discus and it’s showing. He took first in a March 26 meet against Mariner, Glacier Peak and Shorewood.

His throw of 140-5 was a personal best and is close to the school record. Broadlick finished fifth at districts, just out of the runner for state.

“I think Will has a very good chance of making his goals come true — breaking the school record and qualifying for the state meet in the discus,” Fillman said.

Senior Noah Martin set a personal best of 11.25 in the 100 in the first meet of the season. Martin and his teammates in the 400 relay are significantly ahead of last year.

The Edmonds-Woodway girls also returns some of the top athletes in the league.

Junior Katie Tougas, a state returner in the 200, ran a 12.84 in the 100, her fastest time in the event in two years.

“It was good for her confidence,” Fillman said. “She’s refocused and rededicated. She was disappointed last year not having done better than her freshman year. It’s good to see that pay off early.”

Tougas advanced to state in the 100 as a freshman but missed out last year. The 400, 800 and 1,600 relay teams all should have a decent shot at qualifying for state, Fillman added.

Senior Amia Nash should be among the league’s top 400 runners. Her early season performances have been phenomenal, Fillman said.

“She’s much stronger than last year,” he added.

Sophomore Victoria Felton has recorded a personal best time of 12.93 in the 100 and also produced solid times in both hurdle events. Her favorite is the 300 hurdles.

“She’s really just kind of learning how to run that race,” Fillman said. “When she puts that all together – strength and speed – and learns how to fully run that race, I think she’s going to make it pop.”

Sophomore Betsie Hopper should be among the top 1,600 and 3,200 runners.

Freshman Ruby Herbert is showing promise in the sprints and especially the triple jump.

“We’re pretty young,” Fillman said. “A lot of kids are learning what track is at the high school level. … Our boys have had a pretty successful early season. So have the girls. I’m excited to see how we do.”

Meadowdale

Both Maverick squads finished a distance third in the March 26 Wesco South Division meet against 3A rivals Shorecrest and Lynnwood, but there were some solid individual performances.

Meadowdale brings back one of the top 400 runners in senior Phillip Stevenson, who won his race. Stevenson also runs the 200.

“His speciality is the 400,” said Meadowdale coach Tony Perkins. “We’re looking to get him to state in the 400.

Senior Jace Sherrill also should be a strong 400 runner.

Sophomore Matt Crichlow took first in the 1,600 and finished third in the 800. Junior Joe Morellia won the shot put and was fourth in the discus. Freshman Mason Fraker finished first in the high jump and second in the 200. Junior Cody Hopkins won the pole vault.

Freshman Lucas Takeuchi (discus), freshman Thomas Curry (high jump) and sophomore Stuart Zickelfoose (pole vault) placed second in their respective events.

The lone winner on the girls team was junior Julia Young, who captured the pole vault.

Freshman Payton Shrum took second in the 400 and was third in the 100. Freshman Leah Bennett took third in the 100 and 300 hurdles. Junior Julia Fjortoft is expected to be among the top 300 hurdlers.

Perkins added that both the boys and girls sprint relay teams are shaping up well.

Mountlake Terrace

Hawks coach Russ Vincent definitely is bullish on his 2009 squad. Turnout is up from a year ago and numbers in the 80s and the team wrapped up what he described as a successful week of practice during spring break.

Top returners include senior distance runner Michael Tran, junior hurdler Josh Ursino and senior sprinter/long jumper Billy Lechtenburg, who is headed to Eastern Washington to play football.

Ursino isn’t necessarily the biggest or faster hurdler.

“He’s just a good basic guy. He’s not fancy,” Vincent said. “He has the heart to tackle (the hurdles).

Mountlake Terrace’s 400 relay is expected to among the league’s best. In addition to Lechtenberg, Vincent can call upon Ursino, Brandon Eckhart, Mikael Rasmussen and Max Wicklander.

“I don’t know which four are going to do on any given day,” Vincent said. “That’s a good problem to have.”

The Hawks saw an influx of throwing talent. Of the team’s 27 throwers, 22 are newcomers.

The top athlete on the girls team is junior Jenna Donahue, who finished eighth in the long jump and 11th in the triple jump at last year’s Class 4A state championships.

Donahue, a top volleyball player, just missed out on advancing to state in the high jump.

Senior Titi Chikoore should contend for a state berth in the 100 hurdles and the triple jump. She has the second fastest time in the 100 hurdles this season.

Freshman Nina Penner brings versatility to the team. She is a solid sprinter, who also can run the distance races.

“We’re still working on where she’s going to be,” Vincent said.

The numbers for the girls team are a little down this year but the enthusiasm is not.

“We had the best spring turnout ever,” Vincent said.