King’s boys repeat as track champs

Fuller wins 100, 200 and 400, as Knights win third straight title

By David Pan

Enterprise sports editor

The King’s boys track team came into last weekend’s Class 1A state track and field championships with high expectations.

Led by senior standout Josh Fuller, the Knights lived up to those expectations by winning their third straight title May 30 at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

King’s scored 92 points to finish well ahead of Cashmere (66) and Charles Wright (65).

“We thought that if we could go and perform at a high level we could get it for a third straight time,” King’s coach Daunte Gouge said.

Of course, it helps to have an athlete such as Fuller, who won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races, as well as helping the 1,600 relay team to a third place finish.

Fuller finished the 100 in 11.28 seconds, the 200 in 22.32 and the 400 in 49.19.

“It was a great feeling,” Fuller said of helping the Knights win another state championship. “Everyone performed how we needed them to in order to win a state title again.”

The finals on Saturday were run into a little bit of a headwind so the times didn’t necessarily reflect how well the races went for the Yale-bound Fuller.

“I nailed every single part of my race,” Fuller said of the 100. “I felt like I ran a great race.”

The 200 and 400 races also pretty much went as well.

“It was a great weekend,” Fuller said.

Fuller is the type of athlete coaches wish they had on their teams, Gouge said. “He goes out and works hard. It’s a huge loss to our track program.”

Fuller appreciated his time with the Knights.

“We have a great coaching staff. We had great people,” he said. “I’ve really been blessed to be here.”

Fuller wasn’t the only King’s athletes to place in multiple events. Curtis Clauson shook off the disappointment of not advancing to the finals of the triple by winning the javelin (187 feet, 7 inches) and the 300 hurdles (39.14) and taking second in the 110 hurdles (15.49). The latter is a personal record and his time in the 300 hurdles tied a school record.

Clauson was sitting in second place in the javelin when he unleashed his best throw of the meet to pull out the victory. The throw is the second best in school history.

“He was really excited,” Gouge said. “He likes to perform on the big stage. He’s a competitor.”

Other placers included Brandon Dean (third in 300 hurdles), Kyle Talbot (third in high jump), Raymond Zhang (sixth in 110 hurdles), Billy Martin (fifth in discus, eighth in javelin) and Jean Blatchford (sixth in pole vault). King’s 400 relay team was fourth.

“It was a pretty good meet across the board,” Gouge said.

In the girls meet, senior Olivia Thomas closed out her high school career with a pair of second place finishes in the 800 and 1,600 and first-place finish in the 1,600 relay along with teammates Caitlin Fransen, Stephanie Rice and Karlie Storkson.

“Olivia really had some really tough competition this year,” Gouge said. “She ran an amazing 400 leg after the day she had competing. Being able to PR her split in the 4 by 4 relay to bring us back for the win was more impressive than the other two races she had.”

The Knights finished fourth overall in the team competition. Point scorers included Stephanie Rice (fifth in the 800), Adele Eslinger (fifth in 3,200), Morgan Hamm (eighth in 3,200) and the 800 relay team (fifth).

Both Thomas and Fuller leave significant leadership voids for King’s.

“Olivia and Josh are two tough people to lose both in athletic ability and even more so in their leadership,” Gouge said. “They’re both just great team leaders and teammates for those kids.”