Neale leads Glacier Peak to Wesco South track title

Published 11:42 pm Friday, May 14, 2010

EDMONDS — Glacier Peak’s Amy-Eloise Neale pushed hard and went into what looked like her strongest kick of the day as she crossed the finish line as the sun set over Edmonds Stadium Friday night.

The freshman distance specialist was the last runner to cross the finish line in first place at the Wesco South track and field championships, taking the baton for the anchor leg of the Grizzlies’ 1,600 relay team.

Neale and her relay teammates started strong and finished stronger, capturing the girls title. Shorecrest finished second in both the final relay and team standings.

“With a second-year school, we’ll take it,” Glacier Peak coach Brannon Jackson said happily after the scores were finalized.

Individually, Neale accounted for 36 of GP’s 155 team points — not including her contribution to the relay — with wins in the 3,200-meter race Wednesday and the 800 and 1,600 Friday. In the 1,600, Neale’s blistering time of 4 minutes, 52.23 seconds smashed the meet record by more than 14 seconds. But the soft-spoken Neale wasn’t satisfied with her performance.

“Time wise it’s the next step in between (where I want to be),” Neale said. “I want to run a 4:45, so it’s pretty good.”

Pretty good and 13 seconds ahead of fellow freshman teammate, Katie Bianchini, who finished in second place.

Neale’s performance was a happy end to a day that began with some concern when Glacier Peak coaches discovered that Stephenie Cummings had suffered a concussion while a passenger in a car accident Thursday. The senior sprinter would have the favorite Friday in the 200 and 400, but trainers held her out of the competition. The Glacier Peak coaches expect she will be fine to compete in next week’s 3A District 1 meet, to which she received an exemption to compete despite not participating Friday.

Jackson was impressed with how his team responded to her absence.

“It shows the rest of the team that we are a team and as a team we are capable of accomplishing anything if we put our minds to it,” Jackson said. “Without one of our top kids and probably a guaranteed 20 points or 24 that’s saying something.”

Edmonds-Woodway runners were the biggest beneficiaries in Cummings’ absence.

Katie Tougas, despite a minor hamstring injury, captured the 200 in 26.55 seconds after outleaning Shorecrest’s Alexis Ramos by three hundredths earlier in the day to take the 100 in 12.84 seconds. E-W’s Amia Nash took the 400 in 1:00.42.

“She (Cummings) was going to be my main competition today and I was hoping she was going to push me.” Nash said.

Fellows stands out

Much like its heralded cross country team, the Jackson boys track team ran away with the South title. The Timberwolves, in large part because of their domination of the distance races, tallied 160 points — 55 ahead of Glacier Peak and 69 ahead of the next closest 4A school (Mariner).

Timberwolves Mitchell Briggs, Sean Roe and Connor Frederickson finished atop the field in the 3,200-meter run with Briggs coming in first at 9 minutes, 24.96 seconds.

Grant Grosvenor gritted his teeth to the finish in the 800, breaking the two-year old meet record with a time of 1:55.33.

“I had a pretty good starting pace and I just did what I could to try and close it,” Grosvenor said. “It’s my second-best (race this year). Earlier this season I ran a 1:55.”

The Jackson junior also anchored the 1,600 relay team that edged Glacier Peak by 2 seconds.

As impressive as Jackson was as a team, Edmonds-Woodway’s Alec Fellows was even more so as an individual.

The Warriors junior captured the triple Jump, 200 and 110 hurdles to go with his victory in the long jump Wednesday. His 14.90 in the 110 hurdles was .10 seconds off the meet record he set a year ago.

In the 200 he held off Shorewood’s Blaine Weber by .25 seconds with a 22.52. His triple jump of 43 feet, 8.5 inches was less than 2 feet shy of his 2009 meet record.

It was all in day’s work for the low-key Fellows

“I just wanted to get through to next week that was a the main goal,” Fellows said.

Fellows said he puts most of his focus on the decathlon. Since it is not a WIAA sponsored event he has to wait until after the end of the season before he gets his shot at the title he cares most about.

Until then he’s made it to next week when he will compete in the 4A District 1 meet.

At Edmonds Stadium

Boys

Team scores—Jackson 160, Glacier Peak 105, Shorecrest 103, Mariner 91, Shorewood 69, Mountlake Terrace 62, Edmonds-Woodway 60, Kamiak 58, Meadowdale 44, Lynnwood 30.

110 hurdles—Alec Fellows (E-W) 14.90; 100—Keivare Russell (Mar) 11.5; 1,600—Grant Grosvenor (Jack) 4:18.21; 400 relay—Shorewood 43.90; 400—Blake Nelson (Jack) 51.60; 300 hurdles—Nari Sternen (Kam) 39.50; 800—Grant Grosvenor (Jack) 1:55.33; 200—Alec Fellows (E-W) 22.52; 3,200—Mitchell Briggs (Jack) 9:24.96; 1,600 relay—Jackson 3:25.70; High jump—Devon Kiser (GP) 6-4; Long jump—Alec Fellows (E-W) 23-3.25; Triple jump—Alec Fellows (E-W) 43-8.5; Shot put—David Cannon (Sct) 53-0.75; Discus—John Froland (GP) 157-8; Javelin—Alex Martin (MT) 166-10; Pole vault—Ryan Weed (GP) 12-6.

Girls

Team scores—Glacier Peak 155, Shorecrest 148, Jackson 123, Edmonds-Woodway 113, Shorewood 94, Meadowdale 59, Lynnwood 38, Mountlake Terrace 34, Kamiak 32, Mariner 29.

100 hurdles—Alexis Ramos (Shorecrest) 16.07; 100—Katie Tougas (E-W) 12.84; 1,600—Amy-Eloise Neale (GP) 4:52.23; 400 relay—Edmonds-Woodway (Katie Tougas, Awa Marenah, Victoria Berg, Amia Nash) 50.11; 400—Amia Nash (E-W) 1:00.42; 300 hurdles—Victoria Berg (Jack) 48.66; 800—Amy-Eloise Neale (GP) 2:18.16; 200—Katie Tougas (E-W) 26.55; 3,200—Amy-Eloise Neale (GP) 10:31.01; 800 relay—Shorewood 1:47.79; 1,600 relay—Glacier Peak 4:10.89; High jump—Emily Corona (Shorecrest) 5-4; Long jump—Emily Corona (Shorecrest) 16-2.5; Triple jump—Elisa Ahern (Shorecrest) 35-7.25; Shot put—Samantha Bowers (Jack) 37-5.25; Discus—India Matheson (Shorecrest) 117-3; Javelin—Emily Corona (Shorecrest) 102-5; Pole vault—Catherine Tomber (Jack) 9-4.