Shorecrest girls finish eighth at state
By David Pan
Enterprise sports editor
Four school records fell as Shorecrest wrapped up a memorable season at the Class 3A state track and field championships.
The highlight of the meet was Emily Corona’s first-place finish in the high jump, but there were plenty of other solid performances for the Scots girls team, who won the league and district championship en route to an eighth place finish at state.
The sophomore standout came into the meet seeded No. 1 and proceeded to win the state championship, setting a school record with a jump of 5 feet, 7 inches.
“She’s such a gamer, a competitor,” said Shorecrest coach Brandon Christensen. “The poise is always there whether it’s a first jump at 4-10 or her first jump at 5-7. She always acts the same. She’s a very focused individual. She goes about her business. She showed a lot of poise, but it’s standard with her. She’s had it since she was a freshman. She brings it every single time.”
Corona’s strategy for winning state was straightforward: Jump higher than she ever had before, and hope it would be enough.
She did. It was.
“It’s crazy,” Corona said of winning state and breaking Shorecrest’s school record of 5-6.5 all in one jump. “I never would have thought. I’m seriously shaking right now.”
Here’s what makes it all the more impressive: Corona didn’t get off crutches until two days ago.
The Shorecrest sophomore stepped on a nail over the weekend, resulting in an unforeseen trip to the hospital for a tetanus shot and pair of crutches, which she used until Tuesday.
“She looked smooth and focused today,” said Shorecrest track coach Brandon Christensen, adding Corona made jumping “look easy.”
In the process, Corona, who also qualified for state last year in the long jump and high jump, bested Lakeside senior Emi Lawson (eighth place), someone whom Corona said she idolized when she was in seventh grade.
She also might have started a new rivalry with Timberline freshman Sasha Weber. Weber, who placed second, entered the state meet as the only 3A state competitor to clear 5-7 this year, according to Athletic.net.
But with a state championship on the line between the two underclassmen, Weber couldn’t replicate her earlier height, and Corona cleared it for the first time ever.
“Oh yeah,” Corona said, when asked if she expected to see Weber again next year. “And the year after that and the year after that.”
Shorecrest’s 400 and 800 relay teams also set school records, as did Joe McConaughy in the boys 800.
“We must be doing something right,” Christensen said.
The girls 800 relay team of Lynleigh Oliver, Nicole Harris, Erin Springer and Alexis Ramos took second in 1:44.03 behind Rainier Beach, while the 400 relay squad of Marisa Brown, Oliver, Harris and Ramos placed fourth in 49.39 and just missed out on third by 1/100 of a second. That relay ran 49.08 in prelims.
Harris earned a seventh place medal in the pole vault and Ramos finished eighth in the 100. Elisa Ahern was 12th in the 100 hurdles and 14th in the triple jump. India Matheson took 11th in the discus.
“We had three girl freshmen. That’s as many as we’ve taken since I’ve been around,” Christensen said. “That experience bodes well for next year.”
Caroline Towles finished eighth in the javelin and Springer was 11th in the long jump. The 1,600 relay team did not advance to the finals.
McConaughy broke the school record in the 800 (1:56.56) but did not advance to the finals. He also set a personal record in the 1,600, where he finished ninth.
The best performance on the boys team was Jordan Brown, who leapt to a fifth-place finish in the long jump. David Cannon placed 10th in the shot put.
3A meet
Caroline Towles played baseball her freshman year at Shorecrest — on the boys team.
“She’s got an arm,” said Shorecrest throws coach Mark Haner.
Towles, a senior, used that arm to place eighth at the 3A girls javelin with a throw of 116-11, despite just picking up the sport a few months ago.
“I’m pretty happy with that,” said Towles, a first-time track competitor who has also played varsity fastpitch, basketball and soccer and who will play for the University of Idaho’s soccer team as a goalkeeper. “They asked me to try javelin halfway through the season.”
Towles, who also ran the opening leg of Shorecrest’s state-qualifying 1,600 relay team, broke Shorecrest’s record for javelin in her very first meet this year.
She didn’t replicate her personal record of 127-2 at state, but did enough to place and more than enough to impress Haner, in his ninth year coaching at Shorecrest.
“This year I didn’t think we’d have anyone place,” Haner said. “We’re pretty lucky to have an athlete like that stumble into our sport. It makes us look good as coaches.”
In the 4A meet, Shorewood’s Erin Johnson took sixth in the girls 800. Chip Jackson was 12th in the boys 3,200. Blaine Weber ran in the 100 and 200 but did not advance to the finals. Will Benson finished 16th in the javelin.
Alex Bosworth of The Herald in Everett contributed to this story.
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