SHORELINE — Kjirsten Jensen and her competitors could only laugh on the awards podium as another announcer butchered the Arlington senior’s first name.
A pair of state titles will earn you plenty of respect in track and field circles, but it provides no guarantee of proper pronunciation.
“I get a new name every week,” Jensen joked.
Despite hearing another interpretation of her first name — it’s pronounced “chursten,” by the way — Jensen was all smiles Friday after bouncing back from a disappointing performance in Wednesday’s discus by winning the shot put. Jensen’s winning put of 40 feet was enough to beat Everett senior Kirsten Smith, who had topped Jensen in Wednesday’s discus.
Jensen, the defending state champion in both events, said the shot put win should carry over to both events at next week’s state meet.
“It will help a lot,” said Jensen, who will throw at Washington State next year. “I was kind of scattered in the discus. Now after this I’m going to have more of a drive to go out there and do well. I’m feeling a couple of victories. My mindset is a lot more focused now.”
Jensen didn’t make state as a sophomore, but her two victories as a junior assures that she will have a target on her back in Pasco next week. She says that won’t be a problem, however, since that has been the case most of this season.
“Everyone has been wanting to beat me this year, especially in shot put, so I’ve really just gone with that feeling,” she said. “It’s going to be hard for me in discus though because I have been doing so poorly this year, but I’m hoping this win helps build me up.”
Jensen’s two-day performance was part of a strong showing for Arlington in the field events, which helped the Eagles to a second-place finish in the team competition. Shorecrest easily won the team title with 149.5 points, while Arlington had 114. The win was the second straight for Shorecrest, which hadn’t won a district title before last year.
Ferndale finished third, largely on the performances of just three runners. Freshman Haley Locker, the cousin of Washington quarterback Jake Locker, won the 100- and 200-meter dashes, beating teammate Chantel Green in both events. Tanya Bjornsson won both hurdle events and teamed with Locker, Green and McKensie Clark to win the 400 and 800 relays.
The only other Snohomish county athlete to win Friday was Everett junior Elizabeth Dickson, whose time of 1 minute, 0.58 seconds in the 400 was a personal best by two seconds.
“I knew there were two other girls whose times were close to mine, so I just tried to keep up with them and see if I had enough to finish it,” she said.
Despite a big PR on Friday, Dickson thinks she can knock even more time off at state.
“I felt like I had a little bit more in me at the end,” she said.
Dickson, along with Alex MacCormac, Suzy Olsen and Ally Lund, qualified for the state in the 1,600 relay by finishing second to Shorecrest.
Other local athletes earning state berths Friday were Meadowdale’s Renee Gittins, who was second in the triple jump; Arlington’s Amanda Wregglesworth, who was second in the 300 hurdles, and Arlington’s Virginia Wilson, who took second in the high jump.
Wilson was second to Shorecrest freshman Emily Corona, who surprised herself by jumping 5-4, 5 inches above her previous best.
At Shoreline Stadium
Top two advance to state
Team scores—Shorecrest 149.5; Arlington 114, Ferndale 103.5, Everett 97.5, Squalicum 80.5, Sedro-Woolley 54, Mount Vernon 41, Meadowdale 37, Lynnwood 20.
100—1, Locker, Ferndale, 12.44; 2, Green, Ferndale, 12.54. 200—1, Locker, Ferndale, 25.51; 2, Green, Ferndale, 26.06. 400—1, Dickson, Everett, 1:00.58; 2, Springer, Shorecrest, 1:00.76. 800—1, Curl, Squalicum, 2:19.52; 2, Benson, Mount Vernon, 2:27.09. 1,600—1, Curl, Squalicum, 5:08.40; 2, Crossman, Squalicum, 5:09.67. 110 hurdles—1, Bjornsson, Ferndale, 15.51; 2, Warman, Sedro-Woolley, 16.20. 300 hurdles—1, Bjornsson, Ferndale, 46.72; 2, Wreggelsworth, Arlington, 48.26. Shot put—1, Jensen, Arlington, 40-0; 2, Smith, Everett, 38-11. High jump—1, Corona, Shorecrest, 5-4; 2, Wilson, Arlington, 5-1. Triple jump—1, Warman, Sedro-Woolley, 37-11; 2, Gittins, Meadowdale, 33-7.5. 400 relay—1, Ferndale (Locker, Green, Bjornsson, Clark) 49.60; 2, Shorecrest (Brown, Desharnias, Wanamaker, Ramos) 50.67. 800 relay—1, Ferndale (Locker, Green, Bjornsson, Clark) 1:46.24; Shorecrest (Brown, Wanamaker, Corona, Ramos) 1:48.64. 1,600 relay—1, Shorecrest (Schrote, Oliver, Desharnias, Springer) 4:11.14; 2, Everett (Dickson, MacCormac, Olsen, Lund) 4:13.23.
For complete results go to Athletic.net
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