PREP TRACK NOTEBOOK: Pair primed to notch Glacier Peak’s first track titles
Published 11:01 pm Wednesday, May 26, 2010
No athlete from Glacier Peak High School has ever won a state track and field championship. That could change very soon.
Glacier Peak runners Stephenie Cummings and Amy-Eloise Neale are favored to win a total of three individual races during the three-day Class 3A state track meet at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma. The meet (along with the 2A and 4A state meets) begins today and ends on Saturday.
Cummings, a senior, is seeded first in the 400-meter dash with a season state-best time of 56.26 seconds. She will run her 400 preliminary heat Friday evening and try to advance to Saturday’s final.
Last year, as a member of Glacier Peak’s inaugural track team, Cummings finished second in the 400. The girl who beat her graduated.
Cummings “is primed and ready for this week,” Glacier Peak track coach Brannon Jackson said. “She knows what it’s going to take.”
Cummings’ other individual event at state is the 200. She has the ninth-fastest 3A time this season (25.62).
Meanwhile, Neale hopes to cap her first prep season with wins in the long-distance races: the 1,600 and the 3,200. Glacier’s Peak’s stellar freshman is ranked first in both events with season-best times of 4:52.06 and 10:31.01. The latter time is more than 15 seconds faster than No. 2 seed Kathryn Knight, a freshman from North Central of Spokane.
Neale, who won the 3A state cross country title in November, has a target on her back but savors the chance to prove herself against top competition.
“She’s a bulldog,” said Jackson, “when it comes to her attitude towards the track.”
Originally, Neale considered trying for a rare state triple by competing in the 800 in addition to her longer races. But Neale and her coaches decided that it will be better to focus on the 1,600 and 3,200 this season and “not bite off more than she can chew,” Jackson said. As a result, Neale dropped the 800 from her slate at last week’s state-qualifying district meet.
Neale kicks off her state quest tonight in the 3,200 final, which starts at 7 p.m. She gets a day off before the 1,600 final, scheduled for 3:35 p.m. on Saturday.
Cummings and Neale will combine forces on the Grizzlies’ 1,600 relay team. Prelims for that event are at 8:45 tonight.
Eubanks fueled by frustration
When Tay’lor Eubanks’ 2009 track season ended prematurely because of a disqualification, he didn’t give up; he got better. Last year at the Wesco North championships Eubanks of Cascade would have placed third in the triple jump and advanced to district, except for one big problem: He wore a wristband, after being warned not to, during the North finals. Meet rules forbid athletes from wearing jewelry or bracelets, so Eubanks, who simply forgot to remove the lucky wristband, was DQ’d. Season over. “Ever since then, it’s like he’s been on a mission,” Cascade track coach Chris Crockett said. Now a sophomore, Eubanks is jumping 3 feet farther than last year and is seeded third in the 4A triple jump.
Ultra-focused freshman
For Naomi Walker, a freshman sprinter, track isn’t a pastime; it’s a way of life. The Oak Harbor standout is mature beyond her years. “She has a great work ethic,” Wildcats coach Jay Turner said. “Some kids in track are out here to have a good time but she takes it very seriously.” Walker has the fastest state-qualifying time (12.38) in the 4A 100 dash. She also qualified in the 200 and is a member of Oak Harbor’s 400 relay team that advanced to state. Last week Walker overcame a severe flu that forced her to go to the hospital the night before the final day of the district meet, Turner said.
Hopper signs with WWU
Before he headed to Tacoma to make his state track debut, Cascade senior Dylan Hopper became a Viking. Hopper, a mid- and long-distance runner, signed an NCAA National Letter of Intent with the Western Washington University Vikings’ cross country and track teams on Tuesday during a well-attended, emotional ceremony at Cascade High. Praising Hopper’s leadership, passion and mental toughness, Cascade coach Steve Bertrand said of the runner: “In 33 years of coaching, this is as good as it gets.” Asked about his eventful week, Hopper said, “It’s pretty crazy. It’s a lot at once, but I’m excited. I’m going to go give it everything I’ve got” at the 4A state meet, where Hopper will compete in the 800 and 1,600.
Coupeville’s King and King’s Clauson primed to rule 1A
Tyler King and Curtis Clauson might have quite a bit of hardware to haul back from Cheney this weekend. King, a Coupeville junior, and Clauson, a King’s of Shoreline junior, are both ranked first in three individual events going into the 1A state meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday (along with the 2B and 1B meets) at Eastern Washington University. King is ranked No. 1 in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Clauson is ranked first in the long jump, 300 hurdles and javelin. He is the defending champ in the latter two events.
