Cascade’s Timothy St. Marie launches himself to state

Published 10:55 am Saturday, May 22, 2010

SNOHOMISH — One glance at Timothy St. Marie’s muscle-bound frame makes it clear: He was born to throw objects very, very far.

St. Marie, a senior at Cascade High School, has molded himself into quite a thrower. This week at the Class 4A District 1 Track and Field Championships he earned decisive victories, and qualified for the state meet, in both of his events: shot put and discus.

St. Marie won the latter event on Friday with a throw of 151 feet, 9 inches — almost 9 feet better than the second-place finisher’s best throw. On Wednesday, St. Marie dominated in the shot put, launching a throw of 51-6.25, more than 3 feet longer than his next-closest foe.

The top three finishers in each individual event and relay event at the district meet qualified for next week’s 4A state meet in Tacoma. Going into district, St. Marie was ranked Class 4A No. 4 in the discus with a season-best throw of 163-10 and No. 8 in the shot put (53-4.5).

“He’s really worked hard. He’s put a lot of effort in,” Cascade track coach Chris Crockett said. “We’re looking forward to state.”

St. Marie knows all about state. In addition to experiencing it last year as a competitor in the discus, he’s heard stories about his mom, Carrie St. Marie. She was a two-time state champion in the shot put for Meadowdale High in 1977 and 1978. At one point Carrie St. Marie, then known as Carrie Albano, was ranked No. 1 in the country. She earned a full-ride track and field scholarship to the University of Oregon.

Clearly, Timothy St. Marie has great genetics to go along with his work ethic.

Carrie St. Marie plays a dual role as mom and coach. She often helps her son with his technique and his mental approach.

“She gives very positive reinforcement,” Timothy St. Marie said. “She doesn’t like to look at the negative a lot.”

There weren’t many negatives for the Jackson High team, which defended its district title. The Led by double-individual-event winner Grant Grosvenor (800-meter run on Friday; 1,600 on Wednesday), the Timberwolves scored 106 points. Marysville-Pilchuck (84 points) was second.

Senior Mitchell Briggs helped Jackson prevail in the team standings by winning the 3,200 on Friday and taking second behind Grosvenor in the 1,600 on Wednesday. After missing a trip to state by one spot at districts the past three years, Briggs was thrilled to finally qualify.

One athlete who is quite familiar with state is Alec Fellows. The Edmonds-Woodway junior captured first place at the district meet in three events (long jump, 200, 110 hurdles) and placed second in the triple jump behind Cascade’s Tay’lor Eubanks.

Friday was an especially rewarding day for Arlington sophomore Blake McPherson. Favored to win the javelin, McPherson overcame a slow start and launched a personal-best throw of 199-5 on his second-to-last attempt.

Monroe’s Cody Melnrick put the pressure on McPherson by throwing 194-1. But McPherson responded on his next try with what turned out to be the winning throw.

In addition to his excitement about qualifying for state, McPherson was psyched about the performance of his teammate — and best friend since third grade — Maxim Bryson. Seeded fourth in the javelin, Bryson placed third and earned a trip to the state meet.

“He just started throwing javelin this year. He’s finally started to put everything together,” McPherson said of Bryson, who achieved a personal best (170-2).

McPherson and Bryson train together. Does McPherson share his secrets to success with his buddy?

“Not really, because I don’t want him to pass me” said McPherson, grinning.

Friday’s other individual events winners were Stanwood’s Kale Schmidt (400), Kamiak’s Nari Sternen (300 hurdles), Monroe’s Jordan Moses (pole vault) and M-P’s Mark Pangilinan (100). Sporting a Mohawk haircut like many of his Tomahawks teammates, Pangilinan also placed third in both hurdles races.

M-P (400 relay) and Lake Stevens (1,600 relay) won the boys relay races.

At Snohomish H.S.

For complete results go to Athletic.net.

Team scores—Jackson 106, Marysville-Pilchuck 84, Stanwood 76.5, Lake Stevens 70, Cascade 68, Snohomish 62, Arlington 60, Shorewood 55, Edmonds-Woodway 47, Monroe 39.5, Kamiak 30, Mariner 29, Oak Harbor 27, Mountlake Terrace 21.

State qualifiers

100—1. Pangilinan (Marysville-Pilchuck) 11.06, 2. Entwisle (Stanwood) 11.20, 3. Gaillard (Arlington) 11.34.

200—1. Fellows (E-W) 22.37, 2. Weber (Shorewood) 22.39, 3. Reside (LS) 22.83.

400—1. Schmidt (Stanwood) 49.88, 2. Schmekel (LS) 50.99, 3. House (M-P) 51.20.

800—1. Grosvenor (Jackson) 1:56.45, 2. Hopper (Cascade) 1:57.58, 3. Nelson (Jackson) 1:57.74.

3,200—1. Briggs (Jackson) 9:24.23, 2. Roe (Jackson) 9:27.83, 3. Campbell (Cascade) 9:31.28.

110 hurdles—1. Fellows (E-W) 14.68, 2. Sternen (Kamiak) 14.74, 3. Pangilinan (M-P) 14.76.

300 hurdles—1. Sternen (Kamiak) 39.42, 2. Hanke (Stanwood) 39.73, 3. Pangilinan (M-P) 40.57.

400 relay—1. Marysville-Pilchuck 43.25, 2. Shorewood 43.26, 3. Oak Harbor 43.77.

1,600 relay—1. Lake Stevens 3:24.83, 2. Shorewood 3:25.34, 3. Jackson 3:25.61.

Triple jump—1. Eubanks (Cascade) 45-10, 2. Fellows (E-W) 45-6, 3. Rusnak (Snohomish) 43-11.

Pole vault—1. Moses (Monroe) 13-6, 2. Hemming (M-P) 13-3, 3. Baker (LS) 12-9.

Javelin—1. McPherson (Arlington) 199-5, 2. Melnrick (Monroe) 194-1, 3. Bryson (Arlington) 170-2.

Discus—1. St. Marie (Cascade) 151-9, 2. Pickett (Snohomish) 142-2, 3. Niblack (Jackson) 139-7.

1,600—1. Grosvenor (Jackson) 4:19.11, 2. Briggs (Jackson) 4:19.83, 3. Hopper (Cascade) 4:24.32.

High jump—1. Yates (Snohomish) 6-3, 2. Kiehl (Mariner) 6-2, 3. Bryson (Arlington) 6-0.

Shot put—1. St. Marie (Cascade) 51-6.25, 2. Hatley (Stanwood) 48-4.5, 3. Ingersoll (Monroe) 47-9.

Long jump—1. Fellows (Edmonds-Woodway) 22-1, 2. Schmidt (Stanwood) 21-11.25, 3. Yates (Snohomish) 21-1.75.

Wheelchair shot put—Walker (Marysville-Pilchuck) 18-0.5

Wheelchair javelin—Walker (Marysville-Pilchuck) 47-8.

Wheelchair discus—Walker (Marysville-Pilchuck) 55-4.

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