The hardware came fast and furious for North Olympic Peninsula track and field athletes at this weekend’s state meets.
Four athletes won individual titles, while the Crescent boys finished second as a team in the Class 1B meet and the Sequim girls fourth in the 2A meet event.
Sequim’s Anna LaBeaume defended her 2A title in the shot put Friday, while Crescent’s Denis Claes and Kylie Mitts each took home first-place medals at the 1B meet.
The Logger boys trophy-winning performance was its first since they won the B state title back in 1997, while the Sequim girls’ fourth-place trophy was its first in school history.
“We’re doing pretty dang good over here,” Sequim coach Brad Moore said after his team’s 2A meet at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
“The girls performed.”
None more so than LaBeaume, who lapped the 2A field, including the favorite Shreese Gotel of Steilacoom, for the second straight year in the shot put.
She already had the title all but clinched after throwing a 41 feet, 7 inches, on her first attempt, a mark no other athlete was able to eclipse.
With the pressure no longer on her, she did herself one better on her last throw with a mark of 43-10 ½. It topped her best throw of the year by 2 feet, 9 inches.
“It was perfect,” LaBeaume told the Kitsap Sun after winning. “It was my last year and I’m so excited that it came together.”
“I’m like shaking. I don’t know what to do with myself. I want to eat. That’s what I want to do.”
LaBeaume was Sequim’s second 2A title winner at the state meet after teammate Allison Cutting winning the 3,200 meter run on Thursday.
Samantha Whiteside added a third-place finish in the pole vault on Saturday, tying her school record of 11-0. Cutting earned another medal with a third-place showing in the 1,600 the same day.
That along with two other placing marks by Audrey Lichten (800) and Whiteside (100) lifted Sequim to 35 points, tying it with Pullman for fourth place.
“It was a great performance by them,” Moore said. “Ally ran strong, Anna performed fantastic in the shot pot, Samantha had her best day of the season, and the same thing with Audrey.
“We were hoping for one of the relays to make the finals, but I’m not complaining.”
Crescent coach Darrell Yount couldn’t have had too many problems with his boys either.
The Loggers had seven different top-four marks at the 1B meet at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
They were, of course, led by Claes, who came out of nowhere to win the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.97 seconds.
“He completely dominated his race,” Yount said. “He won by an easy five meters. He had time to pump his fist a little bit as he crossed the finish line.”
Among the other top-tree finishers for Crescent, Dylan Christie was second in the 400 (52.15) and third in the long jump (39-5 æ), Josh Anderson was second in the javelin (166-6) and the 4-by-400 relay team was third (3:43.81).
Crescent’s boys finished second to Mount Rainier Lutheran, which tallied 92 points
“The individual titles are really hard to come by,” Yount said. “There’s so many great athletes from so many different teams that really you’re just hoping for top three or top four performances when you’re chasing a team title.
“We were really chasing the team title for a while, and then it was just too much veteran depth from Mount Rainier Lutheran.”
Mitts showed her veteran savvy in the 1B girls javelin, popping off three throws in the 130-foot range to win the title.
Her best throw, 132-11, topped the next-best challenger by more than 12 feet. Having come into the meet as the state’s 1B leader in the event, it was really no surprise that she came away with the victory.
“Kylie just dominated the javelin all season long,” said Yount of Mitts, who was also third in the shot (30-5 ¼).
“For her it more just putting the final stamp on it.”
Other Highlights
• Port Angeles’ 11 athletes all fared well at the 3A meet at Mount Tahoma.
Ceci Stevenson’s second place showing in the high jump Thursday was the Roughrider girls lone placement at the meet.
Nathan Hofer’s six-place high jump mark (6-3) was the boys’ lone top eight finish.
“To send 11 to state was an honor,” Port Angeles coach Dwayne Johnson said. “These student athletes represented their family and school with great honor.
These seniors have stepped up and excelled at this level of competition and will be missed.”
• Port Townsend’s Bereket Piatt took second in the boys 3,200 (9:52.03) to lead the Redskins at the 1A meet in Cheney.
Habtamu Rubio had fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the boys 3,200 and 1,600, respectively.
• Chimacum’s Derek Toepper finish off a breakout season with a third-place showing in the boys triple jump (42-10 æ) at the 1A meet.
He was also fourth in the long jump (21-5 æ).
• Titus Pascua (long jump) and Rebecca Thompson each had fourth-place marks to lead Neah Bay at the 1B meet.
• Roman Hurst was fifth in the boys triple jump to lead Forks at the 1A meet.