CHENEY — King’s distance runner Naomi Smith’s trophy haul grew larger Thursday at Eastern Washington University.
The junior, who last fall captured a 1A cross country state title, struck gold again winning the 1,600-meter run during the first day of the 1B, 2B, 1A State Track & Field Championships.
Smith finished the four-lap race in 5 minutes, 0.04 seconds, winning by more than 4 seconds. Her state-title run comes after placing seventh in the event last year and fourth as a freshman.
While Smith didn’t beat her personal best of 4:53.76, the 5:00.04 was the best state race of her career.
The King’s standout isn’t done yet. She’ll look to add another individual title during the 3,200, which takes place this Saturday. She placed fifth in the event last year and placed fourth as a freshman.
South Whidbey’s Yale finishes 2nd in boys 1,600
South Whidbey senior Callahan Yale ran the fastest 1,600 of his career to capture second place in the boys’ championship race.
Yale finished with a PR of 4:24.76. He finished 0.57 seconds behind Cashmere’s Rob McManus.
Granite Falls junior Isaac Cortes took sith with at time of 4:32.61.
King’s runners Nick LeBar and Anthony Hart also earned podium spots. LeBar placed seventh with a time of 4:32.91, while Hart took eighth with a run of 4:33.07.
King’s pole vaulter places 4th
Knights junior Maci Hodgins cleared 10 feet in the pole vault and earned a fourth-place state finish.
The finish was a strong improvement from Hodgins’ seventh-place finish last year when she cleared 8-6. Hodgins’ career-best vault came last week when she cleared 10-1 at the district championships.
