The Kamiak boys track and field team’s strength is in its relay teams — or will be once the teams’ lineups are solidified later in the season. Between talented runners such as Taylor Barnes, Adam Alayli and Patrick Olson, Knights coach Paul Kirkpatrick has no shortage of options to choose from.

“In our sprint corp, we don’t have anyone that can run 11 (seconds) flat, or is a 10.8 burner,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we do have three or four kids that work well together. Our 4×100 team should do fairly well by the end of the year; those kids have run together for the last couple of years. And we will have a strong 4×400 group. We have depth (with our sprinters).”

Kirkpatrick also likes the potential of one of his top throwers, Poun Phongprasansak, who is the leader in Wesco 4A in the shot put and is also an accomplished discus thrower. But Phongprasansak’s best event isn’t officially sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association — he’s an enthusiastic hammer thrower.

“There’s a fair number of hammer throwers around. It’s kind of a tight-knit community,” Kirkpatrick said. “They have their own meets — probably eight to 10 during the season. Poun’s kind of taken it to heart. After our practices are over, he’ll stay late with (assistant coach Chris Beard) to work on the hammer. He’s not the tallest person around, but in that event, technique matters more than size. He’s become a technician.”