Clark helps vault M-P to girls 4A district track title

Published 12:24 am Saturday, May 23, 2009

SHORELINE — In sprinting it doesn’t matter how tall you are, only how fast you go. Just ask Katie Tougas.

A speedy junior from Edmonds-Woodway High School, Tougas is just 4-foot-11. Many girls she competes against are at least a half-foot taller.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. Tougas is too fast.

Using explosive starts that helped her get a jump on the competition, Tougas won two individual races (the 100- and 200-meter sprints) and ran the opening segments on two first-place relays (400 and 800) Friday during the Class 4A District 1 track and field championships at Shoreline Stadium.

Tougas’ winning time in the 200, 25.85 seconds, was a personal best and school record. Both of her relay teams set meet records.

“It feels amazing,” said Tougas. “This season I’ve really been peaking at the right time. I’ve been dropping times every week. It looks like the state weekend will be even better than I could have imagined.”

The top three finishers in each district event qualified for the state meet next week in Tacoma. The two-day district championships concluded Friday with about half of the field finals and most of the track finals, which were set up by Wednesday’s prelims.

Marysville-Pilchuck won its second straight district girls title. The Tomahawks scored 120 points and edged Stanwood (111). M-P ended the meet by beating Stanwood for first in the 1,600 relay. Alexandra McDonald (300 hurdles) and Sarah Clark (pole vault) won individual events for M-P.

Other multiple-event winners were Jackson’s Alison Ponce (1,600 and 3,200) and Oak Harbor’s Shantae Young (triple jump, long jump).

After setting a meet record Wednesday in the 3,200 final, Ponce capped a stellar week by finishing first in the 1,600 in a personal-best time of 5:03.6. The senior made her move on the final lap and outlasted Stanwood’s Minna Fields (5:04.8) and Cascade’s Breanna Huschka (5:05.49).

“I get stronger at the end. I just hung on and used my kick to my advantage,” Ponce said.

Ponce is a first-time state track qualifier. Last year she barely missed out, placing fourth in the 3,200.

“I’ve wanted to make it to state for the longest time,” she said. “Four years of hard work have finally paid off.”

In addition to winning the long jump Wednesday, Oak Harbor’s Young, a junior, won the triple jump Friday and placed second behind E-W’s Tougas in the 100. Young won the triple jump by nearly a foot.

It was a special day for Cascade’s Katy Gross. She broke a school record by winning the 100 hurdles in 15.42 seconds. Then Gross headed to the high jump, where she cleared 5-1 and placed second.

At Shoreline Stadium

Girls team scores: 1. Marysville-Pilchuck 120 points, 2. Stanwood 111, 3. Edmonds-Woodway 86, 4. Cascade 78, Tie-5. Arlington, Oak Harbor 64, 7. Jackson 59, 8. Snohomish 57, 9. Mountlake Terrace 52, 10. Monroe 47, 11. Lake Stevens 45, 12. Shorewood 29, 13. Kamiak 16.

State qualifiers (go to Athletic.net for complete results)

*3,200-1. Alison Ponce (Jackson) 10:53.81#, 2. Minna Fields (Stanwood) 11:01.6, 3. Breanna Huschka (Cascade) 11:06.57; 100 hurdles-1. Katy Gross (Cascade) 15.42, 2. Alexandra McDonald (Marysville-Pilchuck) 15.47, 3. Kristin Goff (Monroe) 15.92; 100-1. Katie Tougas (Edmonds-Woodway) 12:43, 2. Shantae Young (Oak Harbor) 12.72, 3. Claudia Morse (Monroe) 12.82; 1,600-1. Alison Ponce (Jackson) 5:03.6, 2. Minna Fields (Stanwood) 5:04.8, 3. Breanna Huschka (Cascade) 5:05.49; 400 relay-1. Edmonds-Woodway 49.02#, 2. Marysville-Pilchuck 49.52, 3. Lake Stevens 50.46; 400-1. Leiran Cornish (Snohomish) 58.65, 2. Alisha Oden (Marysville-Pilchuck) 58.73, 3. Amia Nash (Edmonds-Woodway) 58.76; 800-1. Erin Johnson (Shorewood) 2:17.06, 2. Nina Penner (Mountlake Terrace) 2:18.23, 3. Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe) 2:18.59; 200-1. Katie Tougas (Edmonds-Woodway) 25.85, 2. Victoria Felton (Edmonds-Woodway) 25.94, 3. Alisha Oden (Marysville-Pilchuck) 26.12; 300 hurdles-1. Alexandra McDonald (Marysville-Pilchuck) 46.07, 2. Allison Duvenez (Oak Harbor) 47.29, 3. Amanda Wreggelsworth (Arlington) 47.59; 800 relay-1. Edmonds-Woodway 1:44.87#, 2. Lake Stevens 1:47.5, 3. Cascade 1:47.97; 1,600 relay-1. Marysville-Pilchuck 4:01.54, 2. Stanwood 4:02.31, 3. Snohomish 4:03.84; *Javelin-1. Kaci Jones (Stanwood) 125-9, 2. Jenna Welsh (Marysville-Pilchuck) 125-9, 3. Stephanie Van Slageren (Arlington) 122-5; *Discus-1. Brittany Jones (Cascade) 135-7, 2. Emily Anderberg (Kamiak) 119-4, 3. Kaci Jones (Stanwood) 112-8; Triple jump-1. Shantae Young (Oak Harbor) 36-4, 2. Cali Cull (Marysville-Pilchuck) 35-6.5, 3. Jenna Donohue (Mountlake Terrace) 35-5; Shot put-1. Trista Peterson (Stanwood) 40-4, 2. Samantha Bowers (Jackson) 37-9.5, 3. Brittany Jones (Cascade) 36-9.5; High jump-1. Denae Fitz (Jackson) 5-2, 2. Katy Gross (Cascade) 5-1, 3. Virginia Wilson (Arlington) 5-1; *Long jump-1. Shantae Young (Oak Harbor) 17-6.25, 2. Jenna Donohue (Mountlake Terrace) 16-11, 3. Titi Chikoore (Mountlake Terrace) 16-10.75; Pole vault-1. Sarah Clark (Marysville-Pilchuck) 10-0, 2. Christina Lancaster (Stanwood) 9-6, 3. Alecia Longsine (Monroe) 9-6.

* Events completed Wednesday. # Meet record.

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