SULTAN — A district title in the girls javelin by Cedarcrest and a strong team showing by the Lakewood boys highlighted the second and final day of the 2A District 1 track and field meet at Sultan High School on Friday.
Senior Ashton Griffen of Cedarcrest took the district title in the javelin, with a throw of 118 feet, 7 inches, more than 5 feet further than anyone else.
“She got state experience last year to build upon,” Cedarcrest girls track and field coach Bruce McDowell said. “She’d like to come home with some hardware.”
Griffen, who was well ahead of the pack after the preliminary throws, was able to continue to dominate in the finals.
“It’s a tough district,” McDowell said. “You’re always a little bit wary. This is what we’re shooting for.
“She finished 12th or 13th last season,” McDowell continued. “Now she throws eight to 10 feet further and is a lot more consistent. I’m expecting big things out of her.
Lakewood’s Samantha Adams, with a throw of 104-2, finished fourth in the javelin toss and also earned a trip to state. The Cougars finished eighth as a team with 43 points.
Sehome won the team title pretty handily with 129 points, followed by Burlington-Edison (80.5) and Blaine with 76.
South Whidbey led the Cascade Conference in the team standings with 53 points, putting it in sixth place. South Whidbey’s Laura Barrow finished third in the 100- (16.2) and 300-meter (47.96) hurdle events. Chrystle Clark of Lakewood also qualified in the 100 hurdles finishing fourth with a time of 16.31.
Rici Morrill and Madison Stillwell were the two hometown Turks to qualify for state in the second day of the district meet. Morrill with a second-place finish in the 800 run (2:17.62) and Stillwell in the shot put, with a second-place throw of 32-5.25. Kelsey Anderson of Lakewood finished right behind Morrill in 2:20.90.
The 800 relay team from Archbishop Murphy was the lone qualifier on the girls side to make it to the state tournament. The all-sophomore team of Christine Towey, Allyson Beck, Tasha Pabisz and Kortney Yant finished the race in 1:48.94.
Granite Falls had one runner advance to the state tournament. Freshman Rhiannon Alexander finished third in the 3,200 with a time of 11:27.15.
In the boys’ events, Lakewood completed a strong showing with 57 points, finishing fourth behind Sehome (88), Lynden (80) and Burlington-Edison (70).
“Compete as if to win,” said Jeff Sowards, one of the co-head coaches of the Cougars’ track and field teams. “Guys and girls are going to compete that way. They’re going to compete their best.”
Lakewood’s Andre Scott finished second (20-11.5) in the long jump, edging out Will Hallberg (South Whidbey) by half an inch. Scott, who was actually behind Hallberg after the prelims, was only another half an inch from tying Anacortes’ Thomas Kassa for the title.
“Our kids know that they gave it the best that they had today,” Sowards said.
Sowards credited his staff with much of the team’s success, exclaiming he has “the best coaching staff in the state.”
The Cougars’ Blair Diamond and Cedarcrest’s Nick van Veen finished 3-4 in the 110 hurdles to earn state berths.
Diamond, a senior, decided at the beginning of the year to try hurdles.
“(Diamond) decided he wanted to be a hurdler,” Sowards said. “He just caught on.”
Late in the evening, Lakewood added two more state berths. Nick Howe finished third in the 800 (1:59.06) and Taylor Guske, also a third place finisher, ran the 3,200 in 9:34.46.
Like his teammate on the girls side, the Falcons’ Poolman from South Whidbey finished third in the 100 and 400 with times of 11.24 seconds and 49.75, respectively. Both races were remarkably close. Poolman beat the fourth-place runner in the 100 by two hundredths of a second and was four hundredths of a second away from third. First through fourth places in the 400 were only 39 hundredths of a second apart.
James Guy was the lone Archbishop Murphy boy to earn a state berth, finishing the 200 in 22.61, good enough for fourth. Guy, a sophomore, was tied for the fifth-best qualifying time after prelims (23.04) with the Falcons’ Poolman, who, in another close race, was right on Guy’s tail, four hundredths of a second behind.
At Sultan H.S.
Boys team scores—1. Sehome 88, 2. Lynden 80, 3. Burlington-Edison 70, 4. Lakewood 57, 5. Mt. Baker 55, 6. Bellingham 54, 7. Anacortes 49, 8. Squalicum 38, 9. South Whidbey 36, 9. Blaine 36, 11. Cedarcrest 35, 12. Archbishop Murphy 34.5, 13. Sultan 27.5, 14. Granite Falls 2.
Cascade Conference boys state qualifiers
100—3. Jon Poolman (South Whidbey) 11.24; 400—3. Jon Poolman (South Whidbey) 49.75; 110 hurdles—3. Blair Diamond (Lake) 15.69; 4. Nick van Veen (Ced) 16.22; Long jump—2. Andre Scott (Lake) 20-11.5; 3. Will Hallberg (South Whidbey) 20-11; 200—4. James Guy (AM) 22.61; 800—3. Nick Howe (Lake) 1:59.06; 3,200—3. Taylor Guske (Lake) 9:34.46, 5. Conner Ballew (AM) 9:38.66; 1,600 relay—4. Cedarcrest (Tyler Erickson, Austin Koons, Hernan Farias, Clay Hammontree) 3:28.30; Pole vault—3. Mason Klein (Sultan) 13-6.
Girls team scores—1. Sehome 129, 2. Burlington-Edison 80.5, 3. Blaine 76, 4. Bellingham 63, 5. Squalicum 61, 6. South Whidbey 53, 7. Lynden 47.5, 8. Lakewood 43, 9. Sultan 38, 10. Anacortes 36, 11. Mt. Baker 20, 12. Granite Falls 19, 13. Archbishop Murphy 18, 14. Cedarcrest 13.
Cascade Conference girls state qualifiers
100—4. McKenzie Walker (South Whidbey) 13.25; 100 hurdles—3. Laura Barrow (South Whidbey) 16.20; 4. Chrystle Clark (Lake) 16.31; 300 hurdles—3. Laura Barrow (South Whidbey) 47.96; 800 relay—4. Archbishop Murphy (Christine Towey, Allyson Beck, Tasha Pabisz, Kortney Yant) 1:48.94; Triple jump—3. Cayla Calderwood (South Whidbey) 34-7.75; Javelin—1. Ashton Griffen (Ced) 118-7; 4. Samantha Adams (Lake) 104-2; 800—2. Rici Morrill (Sultan) 2:17.62; 3. Kelsey Anderson (Lake) 2:20.90; 3,200—3. Rhiannon Alexander (GF) 11:27.15; High jump—3. Cayla Calderwood (South Whidbey) 5-0; Shot put—2. Madison Stillwell (Sultan) 32-5.25; 3. Angelina Berger (South Whidbey) 32-3.75.
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