TACOMA — When it comes to track, Archbishop Murphy’s Sarah Schireman is a little bit like a swiss army knife.
She can do a lot of things very well.
Schireman placed second in the long jump and the 300-meter hurdles on the final day of the 2A, 3A and 4A state track and field championship, bringing her total for the state championship to a mind-boggling three second-place finishes and a state title in the 100 hurdles.
“Unbelievable season, unbelievable season,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Robert Gonzales said, “I’ve been involved in this sport 39 years, and to watch what this kid did is unbelievable.”
Schireman, ranked first in the state in both the 300 hurdles and high jump, jumped 17 feet, 1 inch in the high jump and finished the hurdles in a time of 44.92 seconds.
“I would have liked some more firsts,” Schireman said of her performance, “… but I’m proud.”
While Schireman might have wanted another first-place finish, she can’t even deny that it was quite a performance. Over three days at the state track championships, the Archbishop Murphy senior scored 34 points in four events. That was good enough for Schireman to place fourth in 2A team scoring — all by herself.
On Friday, Schireman took second in the state in the triple jump despite picking up the event about five weeks ago. She also won the 100 hurdles on Friday — despite the fact that Gonzales considered it her weakest event.
“We we’re joking about the fact that we were thinking about not running the 100 hurdles,” Gonzales said Saturday, “… And it’s the one she ends up winning.”
The University of Washington, where Schireman will compete next year, plans to take full advantage of Schireman’s versatility. In fact, the Huskies have plans to expand her track events by training Schireman to compete in the heptathlon. In addition to the long jump and 100 hurdles, Schireman will also compete in the 800, 200, shot put, javelin and high jump.
Saturday in the 300 hurdles, Schireman matched her season-best time of 44.92 but Niina Al-Hassan of Pullman posted an impressive 44.51 to take first. Al-Hassan entered the event with a season-best time of 44.93 according to athletic.net, just .01 of a second behind Schireman.
“I like to run a little slow at the beginning,” said Schireman, “Niina is the exact opposite, she runs fast at the beginning and slows down … Unfortunately she didn’t die out like she usually does.”
Schireman’s total of 34 points easily broke the old Archbishop Murphy record of 22 points set by Nick Snyder.
Class 3A
Everett senior Suzy Olsen, who entered the 1,600 with the top time on athletic.net, finished fifth on Saturday despite shaving more than two seconds off her seed time of 5:17.39. Phoebe Merritt of Mercer Island took first place with a time of 5:08.82. Olsen also placed eighth in the 3,200 on Thursday.
Girls coach Ned Prouse praised Olsen as someone who leads by example and who, as a member of Everett’s state-champion soccer team, helped attract other soccer players to Everett’s program.
Shorecrest scored eighth in team standings thanks in large part to its relay teams. Shorecrest placed second in the 800 relay behind juggernaut Rainier Beach and fourth in the 400 relay.
The second place 400 relay team shaved a quarter second off its best time to finish, but Rainier Beach posted a meet-record 1:39.49.
Brandon Christensen praised the team of Lynleigh Oliver, Nicole Harris (seventh in pole vault), Erin Springer and Alexis Ramos (eighth in 100 meters) for stepping up.
“They did exactly what was needed,” Christensen said. “Erin Springer came through as a senior … It was nothing tricky … we ran our race.”
Class 4A
Arlington’s Stephanie Van Slageren qualified for javelin after placing third at the District 1 meet. She ended up fourth — in the entire state of Washington.
Arlington coach Judd Hunter said the sophomore’s throw of 128-2 was her season best by almost 2 feet. Following right behind Van Slageren in fifth place was Stanwood freshman Kaci Jones, who won the district championship last week.
Jackson’s Alison Ponce also medaled Saturday, by placing seventh in the 1,600.
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