Edmonds-Woodway runs by district rivals

Published 3:30 pm Thursday, May 8, 2008

EDMONDS

Edmonds-Woodway ran by their district rivals at the annual Edmonds District track and field championships.

The Warriors swept both the boys and girls team titles May 2 at the Edmonds Stadium. The Warriors edged Mountlake Terrace 182-160 in the girls competition. Lynnwood was third with 109 and Meadowdale was fourth with 81. Edmonds-Woodway breezed past Mountlake Terrace 207.5-119 on the boys’ side. Lynnwood placed third with 115.5 and Meadowdale was fourth with 52.

Sophomore Katie Tougas won the 100-meter dash in 13.14 seconds and then captured the 200 in 26.74. She also ran on the winning 400 (50.92) and 800 relay teams (1:49.63).

“The starts finally came together,” Tougas said of her two sprints. “I feel I’ve been getting out faster. It’s been really important to get the starts together. That’s the key part of my race. I’ve been working hard on that.”

Tougas set a new personal and school record a week earlier at the Lake Washington Invitational, so she came into Friday’s meet with a lot of confidence.

“I’m so excited,” Tougas said of this week’s Western Conference South Division championships. “Chances for state look so good this year. We’re really excited both to take a ton of individual athletes and we’re hoping to take some relays too.”

Also scoring first place finishes for the Warriors were junior Elizabeth Melnikas in the pole vault (9 feet, 6 inches), freshman Amia Nash in the 400 (1:01.31) and the 1,600 relay team (4:28.73). Nash has not lost a league race this season.

Mountlake Terrace’s Cari Smith won the 1,600 and 3,200 and ran under 12 minutes in the latter event for the first time. Smith finished the 3,200 in 11:59.58 and clocked in with a 5:41.38 in the 1,600.

“My goal was just to get first … I’m saving up for Wesco,” Smith said. “That’s when I’ll be racing hard.”

Smith was injured early on and eased into the regular season.

“I’m feeling a lot better and I’m running a lot better,” she said. “We’re just chopping time each time. I usually drop 10, 15 seconds each time I race so far. So I’m pretty happy.”

Mountlake Terrace coach Russ Vincent was pleased by his team’s performance.

“We had a great day,” he said.

Sophomore Jenna Donahue walked away with three first place finishes in the high jump (4-11), long jump (17-1) and triple jump (34-2). It was Donohue’s fourth time competing in the triple jump.

“That’s exciting for her,” Vincent said. “We’re going to see better things from her.”

Other first-place Hawk finishers included junior Titi Chikoore in the 100 hurdles (17.51), senior Caitlin Hovick in the discus (107-11) and javelin (125-10) and freshman Anna Walters in the 800 (2:33.14). Hovick also finished third in the 300 hurdles in his first race in the event in two years.

Meadowdale’s Julia Fjortoft won the 300 hurdles (49.77) and Lynnwood’s Alanna Eddy finished first in the shot put (32-0).

Both veterans and newcomers helped the Edmonds-Woodway boys to its first place finish.

Senior Yon Yilma rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Shoreline Invitational to win the 1,600 (4:27.62) and the 3,200 (10:08.67). A hamstring cramp forced Yilma to drop out at Shoreline.

“That’s the first time it’s ever happened to me,” he said. “That was something new.”

Yilma’s senior track season has started out slowly as he was recovering from a leg injury suffered in a non-track related incident. But heading into this week’s league meet, Yilma is feeling better.

“The most important (races) are coming up,” Yilma said.

Yilma is headed to Arizona State in the fall where he has accepted a full-ride scholarship. He will be joining longtime friend and training partner Jeff Helmer.

“He’s such a tough competitor,” Fillman said. “I expect Yon to do extremely well next week and the week after that.”

Another double winner was senior Antoinne Wafer in the 400 (50.84) and the 100 (11.62) and freshman Alec Fellows in the triple jump (42-10 1/4) and high jump (5-10).

“I did what I wanted to do in the triple jump and high jump,” Fellows said. “In the hurdles, I had an OK race.”

Looking ahead, the road to state is going to be a tough one for the freshman, who noted he currently seeded around fourth in most of his events.

“It’s going to be hard to make it to state,” Fellows said. “I’m going to have to good day.”

Other Edmonds-Woodway winners included junior Joey Hunter in the shot put (46-4), senior Jacob Burrey in the 300 hurdles (42.36), senior Calvin Grover in the 800 (2:03.65), junior Noah Martin in the 200 (23.68), junior William Broadlick in the discus (132-4), senior Sean Laue in the long jump (18-7 1/4) and the 1,600 relay (3:35.09).

Lynnwood’s Dylan Burnett-Lewis won the javelin with a throw of 181-1. Teammates Alec Williams captured the 110 hurdles (15.78) and Ali Ragih finished first in the pole vault (11-6). The Royals 400 relay team also took first (45.44).

Up next are this week’s Western Conference South Division championships. Finals are scheduled to start at 5 p.m., Friday, May 9 at Edmonds Stadium.