The Jackson boys and girls track teams took their best shot but came up just short in the Everett City Championships.
Everett pulled out the victory, defeating the Wolfpack 243-233, with Cascade third with 159 points in the battle to determine the top team in the Everett School District.
For the first time the boys and girls scores were combined to determine the winner. There were two races determined by less than a 1/10 of a second and a few events in which the difference was just inches.
“Two or three switches … and all of a sudden it’s a tied meet or we’re up by a couple of points,” said Jackson boys coach Eric Hruschka. “It was a great team battle. It was fun to have the kids working together for that last week before the conference championships.”
The standout of the meet for Jackson was Chanel Sam, who won the long jump (16 feet, 10 3/4 inches), the 100 (13.67 seconds) and the 200 (27.93). Sam had a rough start to the season as she was hampered by an injured knee from basketball.
But physical therapy has helped alleviate the problem and Sam feels all right.
“I’m getting back to where I need to be,” she said. “I’m in better shape now.”
Friday’s meet was a good way to get ready for this week’s Western Conference South Division championships, Sam added.
“She’s an amazing track athlete,” Jackson girls coach Steve Till said.
Alison Ponce, the defending league champion in the 3,200, and Emilie Fruland both set a school record in the 1,600, with Ponce finishing ahead of her teammate with a time of 5:11.56. Ponce, who dropped about seven seconds from her personal best, was surprised by how fast she ran.
When she heard the time of 3:57 yelled out in the third lap, Ponce said to herself, “Whoa. I am really booking her. I did not realize I was going that fast. It was kind of cool. I was excited. It made me want to go even faster.”
The old record had stood for about a decade.
“It’s incredible to have two girls break it on the same night,” Hruschka added.
Fruland also won the 800 (2:24.04). Kristi Kingma captured the triple jump (32 1/4) and Alyssa Pratt took first in the pole vault (9-0). Jackson also finished first in the 400 relay (53.46).
The Jackson boys scored most of their points in the distance races. In his first race since coming back from a muscle pull, Mitchell Briggs captured the 3,200 with a solid time of 9:48.00.
“He’s healthy and he comes out and runs his season’s best and probably about the third or fourth best time in his life,” Hruschka said. “He probably couldn’t have come back any better. That was kind of a dream way to come back at the end of the season.”
Ben Lance won the 1,600 (4:27.00) and Derek Woolsey took first the 800 (2:01.70). Garett Ochs captured the pole vault (14-0).
“We ended up sweeping all the distance races, which was great,” Hruschka said.
Heading into the league meet, Jackson had qualified nine individuals in the 3,200. There are only 24 entries from the South Division.
“There’s no other event that is dominated as much by any other school,” Hruschka said. “There are no seniors in the nine. We have just a great group of young kids that are obviously excelling and having a great year.”
The Jackson girls finished second at last year’s Western Conference South Division championships after finishing third the year before.
This could be the year when the Timberwolves win their first girls title, Till said. The boys won titles in 2001 and 2003.
“We’re in the right position from our PRs this season,” Till said. “We’re hoping to not come up short like we did last year. … Several things need to go our way and we’ve got some athletes nursing injuries.”
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