SHORELINE — Spencer McKinnon was determined to make amends.
The Everett High School junior was nipped at the tape in the 100 meters at the Class 3A District 1 boys track and field meet Friday at Shoreline Stadium. However, he took out his frustration on the rest of the field in his other two events, leading the Seagulls to the team championship.
McKinnon responded to his 100 disappointment with an impressive victory in the 200 and a determined anchor leg in the 400 relay, helping the Seagulls repeat as district champs.
“It’s great to be district champions again,” McKinnon said. “I think we did pretty good. The first day we were down a lot, but we came out the second day and scored a lot of points.”
Everett, thanks in large part to its sprint depth — the Seagulls had three of the top six finishers in both the 100 and 200 — took home the team title with 150.5 points. Everett surged ahead of second-place Shorecrest, which finished with 128.
And McKinnon was the leader of that sprint pack. The day didn’t start ideally for McKinnon. He was the top seed in the 100 final, but Lynnwood junior Coleman Bryant got off to a great start, and although McKinnon was gaining at the end, Bryant held on to win in 11.10 seconds, edging McKinnon by a mere two one-hundredths of a second.
But McKinnon left little to chance in his other two events. In the 400 relay he was given the baton with the lead and he turned the race into a rout as the Seagulls won in 43.97. Then in the 200 he came off the turn leading and powered further away down the stretch, winning in 22.63.
“After the 100, I was pretty mad,” McKinnon said. “Right after I wasn’t sure (who won), but then I saw it was 0.02 and that ticked me off because I wanted to win. I wanted to come back and win both my other races, so that was nice.”
Everett also made hay in the field events, particularly the throws.
Seniors Malaki Seanoa and Bobby Rodgers each turned in comfortable victories in their throwing events. Seanoa blew the field away in the javelin, his throw of 195 feet, 4 inches winning by more than 30 feet — though it fell 2 feet short of the meet record he set last year. Rodgers wasn’t quite as dominant, but he still cruised to victory in the discus, his distance of 167-10 beating the field by more than 10 feet.
“I’d go throw and go check out (Rodgers), and he’d throw and check out me,” said Seanoa, whose javelin competition took place just steps away from the discus. “It’s that thrower connection.”
Seanoa, who came into the week ranked first in the state among 3A athletes in the javelin, now has his sights set on a state title.
“I felt pretty good,” Seanoa said. “I’ve been in a slump for a while, so to go out there and throw like I did at the beginning of the season was a good feeling, especially going into state.”
The Seagulls also took full points from the pole vault, thanks to junior Adam Whitley. Whitley won the competition, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday but postponed to Friday because of inclement weather, in a jump off against Glacier Peak’s Ryan Weed. Both Whitley and Weed cleared 12-0, and both earned berths to state.
Glacier Peak’s Devon Kiser won his second event of the meet. The senior, who won the high jump during Wednesday opening day, added the triple jump title to his collection, winning with a leap of 43-4.75. Kiser also anchored the Grizzlies’ winning 1,600 relay team, which prevailed in 3:29.33.
The Grizzlies also got a win out of junior Jeff Bastian, who won the 800 in 1:57.79. That means Bastian is headed to state in two events, having finished second in the 1,600 Wednesday.
At Shoreline Stadium
Team scores—Everett 150.5,Shorecrest 128, Mount Vernon 115.5, Glacier Peak 112, Ferndale 89, Meadowdale 34, Lynnwood 30, Sedro-Wooley 3
Wesco state meet qualifiers
110 hurdles—2. Mike Daily (E) 15.35; 100—1. Coleman Bryant (L) 11.59; 2. Spencer McKinnon (E) 11.12; 1,600—2. Jeff Bastian (GP) 4:21.11; 400 relay—1. Everett (Qui Nguyen, Blake Williams, Garrick Koehler, Spencer McKinnon) 43.97; 2. Shorecrest (Keegan Locker, Chris Uchytil, Sean Dever, Adrian Monroe) 44.65; 400—2. Keegan Lockler (S) 52.31; 300 hurdles—2. Ty Sissel (E) 40.46; 800—1. Jeff Bastian (GP) 1:57.79; 2. Joseph McConaughy (S) 1:58.42; 200—1. Spencer McKinnon (E) 22.63; 3,200—Matt Crichlow (M) 9:29.90; 1,600 relay—1. Glacier Peak (Andrew Prentice, Austin Tarvin, Ryan Hofmann, Devon Kiser) 3:29.33; High jump—1. Devon Kiser (GP) 6-0; Long jump—1. Jordan Brown (S) 21-0.5; 2. Sean Dever (S) 20-10.5; Triple jump—1. Devon Kiser (GP) 43-4.75; Shot put—1. David Cannon (S) 51-0; Discus—1. Bobby Rogers (E) 167-10; Javelin—1. Malaki Seanoa (E) 195-4; Pole vault—1. Adam Whitley (E) 12-0; 2. Ryan Weed (GP) 12-0.
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