The third-fastest competitor in the race got some of the loudest cheers of the whole meet.
Stanwood’s Matt Howard crossed the finish line Friday in the 3,200-meter event after two Lake Stevens runners, Kyle VanSanten and Joey Bywater, at the Wesco North Division Boys Track and Field Championships. But Howard was the one who attracted a herd of ecstatic teammates and friends.
Howard is paralyzed from the waist down and competes in a wheelchair. He completed the distance race in 9 minutes, 35.36 seconds, more than a minute faster than his previous personal record.
“Awesome! That was sweet,” shouted Isaac Teichgrab, one of Howard’s teammates who sprinted across the turf in the middle of the track and met Howard at the finish line.
Howard, a junior, was an able-bodied runner until Nov. 27, 2006, when he was hit in the upper back by a falling tree. After recovering from life-threatening injuries but remaining paralyzed, he still yearned to compete, so he tried wheelchair racing.
Now in his second season of it, Howard said he’s having lots of fun. It was especially rewarding to zoom to such a fast time in the 3,200, he said. Howard’s time was less than 15 seconds slower than the one recorded by VanSanten, who won the race.
“I just kept on seeing guys in front and told myself I wanted to catch them,” Howard said. “Usually about the fifth lap (of eight) I start to die but I told myself I had to push through it.”
Stanwood track coach Paul Johnson said Monday, “He was in the zone for sure. It was an exciting moment for everybody.”
This week at the 4A District 1 meet Howard will try to qualify for the state championships. He hopes to advance in three events: the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Howard’s personal-best times of 2:27, 5:01 and 9:35.36 easily put him within range of the wheelchair state-qualifying standards: 6:00, 10:00 and 15:50.
No relief needed
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Mountlake Terrace baseball team’s Class 4A district-title run is it didn’t use a relief pitcher the entire tourney. Starting pitchers Jake Theis (7-1) — who beat Stanwood May 5 and defeated Marysville-Pilchuck Saturday in the championship — and Kyle Barisic (6-0), who pitched nine innings May 6 against Shorewood, combined to throw all 21 innings.
“As long as they can keep doing what they’re doing, we’re going to go far in state, hopefully,” Terrace outfielder Ryan Sells said.
Terrace plays Central Kitsap at 1 p.m. Saturday in a first-round state-tourney game at Everett Memorial Stadium. Also in the 4A baseball tourney Saturday: Snohomish plays Puyallup 10 a.m. at Everett Memorial, and M-P plays Olympia 1 p.m. at Heidelberg Park in Tacoma.
State soccer pairings
Seven local boys soccer teams will play in the 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A state tourneys. Here are tonight’s first-round matchups:
*4A: Shorewood vs. Thomas Jefferson, 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium; Snohomish vs. Bellarmine Prep, 7 p.m. at Mount Tahoma High, Tacoma; Marysville-Pilchuck vs. Puyallup, 7 p.m. at Sparks Stadium, Puyallup.
*3A: Shorecrest vs. Auburn Riverside, 7:30 p.m. at Sunset Chev Stadium, Sumner
*2A: Lakewood vs. Mark Morris, 6 p.m. at Lakewood High; Cedarcrest vs. Centralia, 6 p.m. at Cedarcrest High.
*1A: King’s vs. Forks, 7 p.m. at Woolsey Stadium.
Mike Cane, Herald Writer
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