SNOHOMISH — Led by super freshman Taylor Roe, who had victories in the 800 and 3,200 meters two days after winning the 1,600, the Lake Stevens girls track and field team won its first Wesco 4A title in 10 years on Friday night, finishing with 199.5 points for a convincing margin over runner-up Kamiak with 167.2.
On a beautiful evening at Snohomish High School, Roe had winning times of 2:12.25 in the 800 and 11:06.95 in the 3,200, and was not seriously challenged in either race.
“Obviously Taylor Roe is an absolute phenom,” said Lake Stevens coach Jeff Page. “I’ve coached a long time and I’ve never seen anybody as talented as she is. So I’ve got to talk about her, but this was also a total team effort.”
The Vikings, he pointed out, finished with eight individual and relay champions, and had top-eight placers in all 18 events. “We scored lots of points in lots and lots of places,” Page said. “We competed really, really well. … We had so many great performances tonight that I’m starting to think we have some state placers that I didn’t think we had.”
In the boys meet, Jackson avenged last year’s two-point team loss to Lake Stevens by a comfortable margin, totaling 171 points to the Vikings’ 142. It gave the Timberwolves their eighth Wesco championship in the last nine seasons.
When the final team scores were announced, the Jackson boys erupted in jubilation. “To get (the team title) back was a big deal to these kids,” acknowledged T-wolves coach Eric Hruschka.
Going into the meet, he added, “we knew we had a chance. But we also knew that Lake Stevens was really good and that if we didn’t bring our best (Wednesday and Friday) there was no chance.” As it turned out, “we had so many kids that had lifetime bests today, and that’s what it takes to win a championship,” he said.
The Jackson-Lake Stevens rivalry is traditionally a good one, Hruschka said, and this year “both teams had two really solid days.” But on the final day, and with the Vikings mounting a significant challenge, “we didn’t flinch when last year we did,” he said. “I just thought our guys had an amazing two-day meet.”
In addition to Roe, there were plenty of other top individual performances. Snohomish’s Madelyn Prigmore had a busy night, winning the girls 100 (12.5), 200 (25.92) and 400 (59.11), and she was never really pushed. The first two times were both personal bests for Prigmore, a junior who went to state a year ago in the 200, 800 relay and 1,600 relay. She reached the finals only in the 1,600 relay.
At next week’s district meet Prigmore will try to qualify for state in all three sprint events. “I have very high goals for myself,” she said. “(Last year) it was my goal to go there and I accomplished that goal, and now it’s my goal to go there and place.”
Prigmore had a best time of around 56 seconds in the 400 a year ago, and Snohomish sprint coach Kim Krause thinks a competitive field at next week’s district meet could help her run a similar time. “It’ll be exciting at districts to get her in the mix with (the other top runners) and see what she can do. … I think she has great potential,” Krause said.
In the girls 300 intermediate hurdles, Jackson’s Michal Jones built a big lead over the first 250 yards and needed every bit of it as she stumbled and fell on the next-to-last hurdle. Jones sprawled on the track, but was able to scramble to her feet and hurry on to win by about a half-second in 47.42. She also easily won the 100 hurdles in 15.09.
In the boys 800, Noah Wallace led a 1-2-3 finish for Lake Stevens, crossing in 1:54.26, followed by teammates Riley-Patrick O’Toole in 1:56.80 and Trevor Allen in 1:57.58.
Jackson’s Matthew Watkins broke away late in the boys 3,200 and finished with almost a full straightaway margin over teammate and runner-up Anthony Garcia. Watkins, who also won the 1,600 on Wednesday, crossed in 9:32.97 with Garcia following in 9:42.98.
The boys 1,600 relay was a terrific finale, with Taylor Barnes of Kamiak and Wallace of Lake Stevens running shoulder to shoulder for most of the final lap. Barnes had just enough left in the final few yards to pull away, giving the Knights a winning time of 3:26.81.
At Veterans Memorial Stadium
Boys
Team scores—Jackson 171, Lake Stevens 142, Kamiak 114, Mount Vernon 54, Snohomish 51.5, Monroe 50.5, Mariner 41, Cascade 36.
110 hurdles—Dylan Roy (J) 14.63; 100—Cole Ellis (MV) 11.07; 400 relay—Lake Stevens (Brandon Otis, Amado Attipoe, Jhaneil Reyes, Matthew Zehrung) 43.08; 400—Daniel Arias (J) 50.02; 300 hurdles—Silas Vega-Harris (J) 38.98; 800—Noah Wallace (LS) 1:54.26; 200—Ellis (MV) 22.42; 3,200—Matthew Watkins (J) 9:32.97; 1,600 relay—Kamiak (Nick Harrison, Patrick Olson, Gavin Patrick, Taylor Barnes) 3:26.81; Triple jump—Anthony Hutchinson (LS) 44-1.75; Discus—Corbin Schueller (LS) 144-8; Javelin—Kristopher Bonn (MV) 160-5.
Girls
Team scores—Lake Stevens 119.5, Kamiak 167.2, Snohomish 94.9, Jackson 72, Mariner 69.2, Monroe 41.2, Cascade 36, Mount Vernon 28.
100 hurdles—Michal Jones (J) 15.09; 100—Madelyn Prigmore (S) 12.50; 400 relay—Lake Stevens (Kristina Belarde, Kailyn Schueller, Adama Sanoh, Yasmine Boyland) 49.91; 400—Prigmore (S) 59.11; 300 hurdles—Jones (J) 47.22; 800—Taylor Roe (LS) 2:12.25; 200—Prigmore (S) 25.92; 3,200—Roe (LS) 11:06.95; 1,600 relay—Kamiak (Caroline Ferguson, Alicia Anderson, Tracey Hatch, Katherine Slack) 4:07.86; High jump—Elizabeth Thayer (K) 5-2; Pole vault—Kendra Otto Von Askervold (LS) 10-3; Triple jump—Skylar Benson (S) 35-11; Shot put—Hannah Aaenson (LS) 38-4.25.
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