SHORELINE — It may take awhile before Robb Waldburger’s coaches and teammates regain his trust.
Then again, it was their trickery that helped the King’s junior etch his name in the record books at last weekend’s 18th annual King’s Invitational.
Waldburger sprung from the mat as the wobbly crossbar above him finally came to rest, thinking he had just vaulted a new career best of 12 feet, 6 inches.
Unbeknownst to him, the bar was actually set at 12-9 — an inch higher than the previous meet record set six years ago and nine inches higher than Waldburger’s best mark coming into the meet.
“They tricked me and put it at 12-9,” Waldburger said. “I thought it was 12-6.”
“I didn’t want him to freak out thinking about the meet record,” King’s coach Daunte Gouge said.
When the fiendish plot was uncovered, Waldburger understood why he was left in the dark.
“I have a hard time keeping everything in my head cool,” he said.
It must run in the family. His older brother has encountered the same problem.
“The way Robb and I both compete, we both get psyched out sometimes,” said Charlie Waldburger, who swept the long and triple jumps at the 26-team track and field meet April 26 at Woolsey Stadium.
Paced by 35 points from the Waldburgers, the Knights coasted to a second straight boys team championship. The King’s girls were equally dominant, claiming their eighth invite title in nine years.
Exceeding 21 feet for the first time, Charlie Waldburger captured the long jump with a mark of 21-2. His winning leap of 43-10 1/2 in the triple jump topped his personal best by more than two feet.
“I noticed last week looking at film I wasn’t using my arms at all,” he said. “So I put the arms in there, got a little tail wind … and just took off.”
Waldburger’s final attempt in the triple jump came moments before his brother’s record-setting vault. Between events, the brothers often compare notes.
“I tell him some stuff about pole vaulting, what I see,” Charlie said. “He tells me what he sees in my triple jumping. We break down film together. It helps to have a friend and a brother like that.”
After being scratched from the 1,600-meter run due to a false start, senior Brandon Thompson scorched the field in the 3,200. His time of 9:51.41 was 13 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
Thompson’s disqualification in the 1,600 caught him by surprise.
“I was shocked,” he said. “I remember walking back (to the starting line) thinking, ‘Man. Who false starts the mile?’”
It was just the second time Thompson has run the two-mile this season due to bursitis in both heels.
“I’m still fighting through that,” he said. “It’s getting better. We’re slowly getting rid of it.”
Brent Woodham won the freshman/sophomore 1,600, Steven Miller took fifth in both the mile and two-mile and David Howell was fourth in the 800.
The King’s 400 and 1,600 relay teams both took second in season best times.
Daniel Stueckle finished second to Robb Waldburger in the pole vault and Pete Wilson tied for fourth in the high jump.
In the throws, Calvin Fugii placed second in the shot put, fifth in the javelin and sixth in the discus. Michael Davis took third in the javelin.
King’s compiled 126.5 points to pull away from reigning state champion Tacoma Baptist (86) and Chinook League rivals Bellevue Christian (57.5), Cascade Christian (49.5) and Life Christian (49).
Rachel Strand’s victories in the 800 and 1,600 highlighted another convincing performance by the King’s girls.
Strand stayed close to Seattle Christian’s Allison Ritchie for most of the 1,600, then made her move at the start of the final lap.
“She jumped out (at the start) and I figured, ‘Stay with her,’” Strand said. “That’s pretty much what pulled me along.”
Strand’s winning time of 5:20.23 was 12 seconds better than her seed time.
“That was my goal for the whole season, not for a month to go,” she said.
In the 800, Strand again lagged behind the leader until the final 100 meters.
“She kept speeding up on the backstretch, so in my head I was like, ‘Stay with her, stay with her. You’re going to lose her,’” Strand said.
King’s other standout was freshman Sara Mosiman, who won the high jump by four inches by clearing 5 feet and placed third in the long jump and javelin.
Chira Louie won the long jump with a mark of 16-3 and Breyanne Nordtvedt took second in both hurdles races and the triple jump.
Alex Keeney finished third in the triple jump, Chloe Kieling took third in the 100 hurdles and Tiffany Dillow was fourth in the pole vault.
Caitlyn Faidley and Heidi Peterson finished second and third in the freshman/sophomore 1,600 and Heidi Kieling placed fifth in the 3,200.
The Knights came in second in the 1,600 relay and third in the 800 relay.
With 144 points, King’s beat out Class B powerhouses Mount Vernon Christian (107) and Riverside Christian (106) for the team title.
It was the fourth time in the history of the all-Christian invitational that the same school swept both titles. King’s accomplished the feat in 1995 and 1996.
Mount Vernon Christian’s Jamie Orange took the 100, 200 and set a meet record time of 57.37 seconds in the 400 to earn the meet’s Most Outstanding Female award.
Tacoma Baptist’s Josh Bousman won both sprints and received the meet’s Outstanding Male Athlete trophy.
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