SHORELINE — What looked to be a disastrous start for King’s Olivia Thomas in the 2A Northwest District track and field championships eventually turned out to be a testament to her resiliency.
Thomas, who came into the 1,600-meter finals with the top-seeded time, tumbled to the track just seconds into the race May 19 at Woolsey Stadium.
The freshman standout was writhing in pain for several minutes on the track but eventually rose and tried to shake off her injuries for the restart of the race.
But about 25 meters into the restart, Thomas was unable to continue and stopped running.
Thomas thought she was through for the night with what appeared to be an injured ankle and knee. But after being taped up and icing her leg, Thomas lined up for the 800.
“My coaches were really encouraging and they told me to get out there,” Thomas said. “So I got out there and ran it.”
Thomas was aiming for a top- three finish to advance to state, but instead she surprised herself by winning the race with a time of 2 minutes, 22.17 seconds, just ahead of Mount Baker’s Mandi Millman, who clocked in at 2:22.31.
“It really, really hurt,” Thomas said of her leg. “But when you get your adrenaline going, it doesn’t hurt as much.”
King’s coach Daunte Gouge said he encouraged Thomas to give the 800 a try and see how she felt.
“She goes out and runs a smart and tactical race,” Gouge said.
Thomas was feeling good enough later on to run the third leg on King’s 1,600 relay team that finished second overall (4:08.22) behind Mount Baker (4:07.76). Thomas finished with one of her best 400 splits of the season, Gouge said.
Thomas helped lead the King’s girls to the team championship as the Knights (167 points) finished well ahead of Sultan (113), Meridian (76), Lynden Christian (67) and Mount Baker (56).
Junior Kimi Mayhle took first place in the 200 (25.98), second in the 100 (12.82) and helped the Knights capture the 800 relay (1:47.68) along with Jamie Hartman, Natalie Madrazo and Rachel Northey.
“I think overall it went really, really well,” Mayhle said. “My 100 was all right. I had a pretty good start but Chelsey (York) is so fast. She got me at the end. But the 200, that was something I really wanted to run my fastest on. I came out really hard in that one. I made sure to carry out to the finish line … I really wanted that race.”
Mayhle’s time in the 200 was a personal best, which bodes well for this weekend’s Class 2A state championships, Gouge said.
“She’s really starting to peak at the right time,” Gouge said of Mayhle. “She had a great race in the 200. It was fun to see her get out and go.”
Mayhle expects King’s to do well at state.
“We have so much fire on the team now and so many ambitious runners that really want to mature and do well at state,” Mayhle said. “It’s their last year, so a lot of them want to go out with a bang.”
Other King’s winners included senior Sara Mosiman in the high jump (5 feet), senior Natalie Madrazo in the triple jump (34-2) and junior Danielle Clauson in the javelin (123-11).
Gouge was glad to see Clauson come through in her event. Clauson has been struggling somewhat in the event, but her throw in the 120s indicated to Gouge that the King’s junior is back in form.
In the boys meet, King’s had to wait until the pole vault, the final event of the meet, was over before pulling out a narrow win over Meridian. The Knights’ two pole vaulters — senior Joe Tharp and senior Andrew Winch — finished fourth and seventh respectively, to provide the margin of victory.
The Knights finished with 124 points, just ahead of Meridian (121), Lakewood (104), Archbishop Murphy (73) and Blaine (58).
Senior Michael Davis, who will be looking for his third javelin title this weekend, finished first with a throw of 179-01.
The wet conditions weren’t conducive for any of the throwers.
“It was really a rough day for everybody,” Davis said. “It’s wet and it’s kind of slick. There was no wind at all. I think everybody was pretty far from their PRs (personal records).”
Davis nevertheless is excited about state, where he hopes the conditions will be better.
At the Cascade Conference meet, Davis had two throws over 200 feet.
“Today was kind of an off day, but I’ve been doing decent,” Davis said.
King’s only other individual winner was freshman Josh Fuller in the 400 (52.32).
The Class 2A state track and field championships are set for May 25-27 at Woodward Field on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
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