SHORELINE
For the second straight year and second time in school history, the Shorecrest girls track and field team captured the 3A District 1 title.
Thanks to depth and a slew of personal records, the Scots scored 149.5 points to outdistance second-place Arlington, which scored 114, May 16 at Shoreline Stadium.
The biggest personal record went to freshman Emily Corona in the high jump. Corona came in with a seed mark of 4 feet, 11 inches and obliterated that, clearing 5-4 to take first.
Corona also qualified in the long jump on May 14, with a second-place leap of 15-9.
The top two finishers in each event qualified for the state 3A meet in Pasco May 23-24.
“I wanted to make a splash this year but I didn’t know it was going to be that big,” Corona said.
Shorecrest coach Brandon Christensen attributed Corona’s improvement to fresh legs.
The same could be said for the rest of the Scots.
“Everyone’s hitting big marks when they need to hit ‘em,” Christensen said.
All three Shorecrest relays qualified to help clinch the title for the girls.
The 1,600 relay of Ashley Desharnais, Rachel Schrote, Danielle Oliver and Erin Springer won with a time of 4 minutes, 11.14 seconds.
The 800 relay of Marisa Brown, Nicole Wanamaker, Corona and Alexis Ramos finished second behind Ferndale in 1:48.64.
The 400 relay of Brown, Desharnais, Nicole Wanamaker and Ramos placed second behind Ferndale in 51.32.
Junior Erin Springer qualified for state in the 400 for the second straight year finishing second in 1:00.76. Springer was third most of the race but turned on the speed the last 100 meters.
“I start slow usually, not on purpose,” said Springer, who set a personal record. “I usually have to turn it on a the end.”
Shorecrest won only two events, the 1,600 relay and high jump, but had seven third-place finishes. Ferndale’s Haley Locker and Chantel Green took the state berths in the 100 and 200, and the Eagles won the 400 and 800 relays, while Arlington’s Kjirsten Jensen and Everett’s Kirsten Smith won state berths in the shot put and discus. But in the end Shorecrest’s depth proved to be the difference.
“That’s a credit to my kids, coming out and battling,” Christensen said.
Sophomore Alexis Ramos placed third in the 100 with a personal record of 12.70 and finished third in the 200 with a 26.53 but Ferndale’s Haley Locker and Chantel Green took the state slots.
Danielle Oliver was the only senior to qualify for state in the 1,600 relay, but Christensen credited his seniors for providing leadership and showing the way for the underclassmen.
Senior Kelsey Paden finished third in the discus on May 14, with a throw of 115-5.
Senior Jocelyn Riordan came in third in the javelin with a heave of 116-3 and set a personal record in the shot put of 33-7.75 to finish fourth.
Freshman Elisa Ahern, the Wesco South champion in the 100 hurdles, finished third with a time of 16.67.
The Shorecrest boys finished fourth as team with 76 points behind champion Everett, which won with 174.6 points.
The Scots sent three athletes to state, senior discus-thrower Marek Domanski, senior pole vaulter Roy McElmurry and sophomore distance runner Joe McConnaughy.
Domanski won the discus with a personal best throw of 165-4, which broke his own school record.
Domanski’s best throw came on his next to last attempt, which put him in first place. Up until that point, his best throw was 149 feet.
“If I relax and don’t think about it, good things happen,” he said.
Domanksi, who is ranked second in Class 3A, placed seventh at state last year. He believes he can take the title.
“I feel confident,” he said. “I’ve (set a personal record) every week. I feel I can do better. I expect I’m going to (set a personal record) again. I don’t think winning the state title is that far out of reach.”
McElmurry, who missed state last year because of a knee injury, won the pole vault by clearing 13-6 on his first attempt. He’ll be going to state for the first time in any sport.
“All I really wanted to do was to go to state,” said McElmurry, who has a personal record of 14-6.
McElmurry is using a 15-foot pole, which he’s becoming more comfortable with.
McConnaughy earned his first state berths in track by finishing second in the 1,600 in 4:31.38 on May 14 and second in the 3,200 in the 3,200 in 9:52.93 on May 16.
McConnaughy was third in the 3,200 until the midway point when he made a move and pulled into second.
It could be a tough double in Pasco, since the 3,200 is Friday night and the 1,600 is Saturday morning.
Still, McConnaughy said he doesn’t plan to hold back.
“I’m going to do both as hard as I can,” he said.
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