By Bob Mortenson
Herald Writer
LYNDEN – Lined up cheek by jowl along with his competition on the starting line for the 1,600-meter run about the only thing that distinguished Brandon Bilyeu from the pack were his flashy shades.
His performance proved to be even flashier.
The South Whidbey junior toyed with the field, before turning out a 62-second gun-lap to cruise to victory in a time of 4:30.01. That effort was one of a host of outstanding performances that sparked the Falcons to the team title in the North Cascades Conference meet at Lynden Christian High School Friday.
South Whidbey won the title, amassing 160 points. Runnerup Mount Baker had 124.5, while Lakewood finished third with 92.
“I don’t go for time in the 1,600, I make it a race,” Bilyeu said. “I sort of feel the field out and with 600 to 800 yards to go, depending on conditions, I’ll surge.”
Conditions could not have been more perfect with temperatures in the 60s and negligible wind to contend with.
“It could have been a little cooler,” Bilyeu lamented.
Leave it to a runner to begrudge the rest of us a bluebird special of a day.
Bilyeu came back later on for a comfortable victory in the 800 with a time of 1:59.83. Bilyeu is currently ranked No. 1 in the state in that event.
The Falcons also benefited by the fourth- and sixth-place finishes of Joe Candelario and Holton Schmitt.
“He worked really hard in the off-season,” South Whidbey coach Doug Fulton said of Bilyeu, “He runs a sub-51 400 relay split and he’s just got really good foot speed.”
Candelario, Nick Plastino, Zach Taylor and Andy Wills comprised South Whidbey’s victorious 400 relay unit. The Falcons posted a time 50.84. Sultan was second in 51.34.
Candelario and Wills also finished 3-4 in the 400-meter run with Lakewood’s Cameron Hartman taking second behind Mount Baker’s Mike Rawlins, who shattered the meet record.
“That Rawlins is a stud,” Fulton said. “The Baker boys will be a force at state.”
In the 1,600-meter relay Postino, Bilyeu, Wills, and Candelario blew away the field in a meet-record time of 3:25.86.
“They were tired, but ran well,” Fulton said. “Candelario was the key, he ran a :49.7 anchor leg. Blaine gave us a solid run.”
Postino also gave the Falcons an inspiring victory in the 100-meter dash.
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