PASCO – The winds of constant change Saturday at Star Track XXII managed to keep a pair of Inglemoor athletes from posting their best marks.
Nothing, it seemed, however, could stop Nate Rolfe and Victor Cheng from leading Inglemoor to the Class 4A state title. The Vikings compiled 55 points, 14 more than runnerup Mead.
Rolfe and his fellow shot putters prefer a steady wind coming at them. Sprinters like Cheng crave a gust in the back.
With a steady wind blowing north through Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco, Rolfe unleashed the discus for what he said was one of his “best throws ever.” When it landed 190 feet, 2 inches away from where it started, Rolfe came just 7 inches short of the Class 4A record set by Hazen’s Pat Fieder in 1988.
“You want (the wind) coming down the right sector or just a little bit further over,” said Rolfe, who won the shot put on Friday. “It’ll just lift the discus. This was perfectly bad.”
Despite the imperfect storm, Rolfe – whose career-best is 206-2 – won the event by nearly 34 feet. The all-time best mark in Washington state is 207-2. Everett’s Jake Stevens (164-1) finished fourth and was just over 2 feet away from finishing second. Kamiak’s Chase Mancuso (158-6) placed sixth.
Cheng washed away some of the disappointment he felt from failing to qualify for the 200 by winning the Class 4A 100 title.
Running into the wind, Cheng clocked an even 11 seconds. Fellow Kingco 4A speedster Terry Johnson of Bothell finished second in 11.13. Johnson later anchored Bothell’s 400-meter relay team to victory.
“I took out some of my anger in the (100),” said Cheng, who finished third in the Sea-King 4A 200 final to miss out on a state berth.
Stevens, a senior, battled through groin and quadriceps muscles injuries to secure three medals at Star Track. The quarterback of the Everett football team placed fourth in both the shot put and the discus and was eighth in the javelin. He compiled 11 of Everett’s 27 points to lead the Seagulls to a sixth-place finish – tops among local boys or girls teams.
Stevens, who had hoped to place in the top three in all three, was still relatively happy to accomplish the rare feat of winning three medals in the throws.
“I just didn’t have that good of a weekend,” Stevens said. “But, I gave it my best.”
Jackson’s Jeff Helmer, the only sophomore in the 1,600, added a second fifth-place medal to the one he won in Friday’s 3,200. Helmer – one of just two sophomores in the 3,200 – was seventh heading into the final lap of the 1,600 but passed two runners to clock a time of 4:18.89.
Marysville-Pilchuck’s Dan Costello passed two runners in the last 50 meters of the 200 to finish sixth.
Meadowdale’s Kevin Myhre finished seventh in the Class 3A 300 hurdles final. Shorewood’s Kevin Klein placed seventh in the 800.
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