CHENEY — Seren Dances won three state championships and came in second in a fourth event in a spectacular weekend at the State 1A Track and Field Championships at Eastern Washington University.
Dances won state titles in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, and the long jump. He came in second in the triple jump.
Port Townsend got a placings in the 4×100 relay, but thanks mostly to Dances, the Redhawk boys came in third as a team at the State 1A meet with 41 team points — 38 of those points were generated by Dances. King’s won the team award with 67 points, while Deer Park had 50 points.
Port Townsend coach Ian Fraser said that Dances did “pretty well” at the state 1A meet in 2016, picking up a second-place as part of the Redhawks’ 4×100 relay team and placing in the long jump and 100-meter run. But he wasn’t satisfied. Dances had already determined that he could do better.
On the drive back from Eastern Washington, Fraser said Dances was already talking about his desire to win state titles in 2017.
Fraser suggested Dances try the hurdles. He had done it in eighth grade, but not since. Incredibly, having not done this event in four year, Dances led the 1A level in hurdles times almost all season.
“We had a back up plan,” Fraser said.
Dances said he had been thinking about winning state titles for a year.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.
Dances said it might sound a bit ridiculous that he isn’t more blown away by his accomplishments, but basically he simply did “what I set out to do.”
Dances gave a lot of credit to Fraser, who worked with him during the winter to work out and build up his core for the hurdles.
Hurdles are a high-risk event, where one slight miscalculation results in disaster for a competitor. For instance, last year, Port Townsend’s Aubry Botkin, one of the top girls’ 1A hurdlers in the state, caught a hurdle at state and crashed. Fraser was happy for Botkin that this year, she had a great meet, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles.
“She got a bit of redemption,” he said.
Dances said he might have been nervous thinking about catching a hurdle on the drive to a meet, but that once the race started and he had cleared a hurdle or two, any doubts were gone. He said he took to heart the words of sprinter Usain Bolt, who said, “at this point you’ve done everything you can to prepare.”
Dances has a partial scholarship to Western Washington University, where he plans to compete in indoor and outdoor track in long jump, high hurdles, the decathlon and heptathlon.
Other competitors
Competing in the state 2A meet at Mount Tahoma High School, Port Angeles’ Gracie Long set two 33-year-old school records and placed in two events. Long finished seventh in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:08.58, which broke the Port Angeles school record set by Heather Lucas in 1984 (5:09.8). She later placed fifth in the 3,200 with a time of 11:20.04, breaking Robin Mather’s Record set in 1984.
Long also came in 12th in the high jump.
Dances won his three events with relative ease. He took the 110 hurdles in 15.42 seconds, .33 seconds ahead of second place. He won the 300 hurdles in 39.30, .74 seconds ahead of second. And he won the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 9 inches, 6 3/4 inches beyond the second-place jump. Dances’ leap was also nearly a full foot better than the winning jump at the 1A meet last year.
Wyatt McNeese of Crescent had a great 1B meet, also held at Eastern Washington. He came in second in the shot put with a put of 43-0 1/2, then came in fourth in the discus with a throw of 121-7.
Clallam Bay had three girls’ relay teams that finished in the top six — the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400. Atokena Abe of Clallam Bay placed in a total of four relay and individual events. The Clallam Bay girls as a team finished ninth among 1B schools.
Other area athletes who placed in the top eight were:
• Jennica Maines of Clallam Bay finished third in the girls’ high jump at the 1B meet with a leap of 5 feet, 0 inches.
• Ashara Dodson, Crescent, third in the girls’ discus with a throw of 103-10.
• Cameron Buzzell, Neah Bay, finished fourth in the 400-meter run with a time of 52.90, sixth in the 100-meter dash at the 1B meet with a time of 11.97 and seventh in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.89.
• The Clallam Bay 4×200 girls’ relay team of Atokena Abe, Hannah Olson, Kendra Anderson and Miriam Wonderly finished fifth with a time of 1:56.97.
• The Clallam Bay 4×400 relay team of Olson, Molly McCoy, Anderson and Miriam Wonderly finished fifth with a time of 4:38.20.
• The Clallam Bay 4×100 relay team of Abe, Maines, McCoy and Wonderly finished sixth with a time of 54.42.
• Abe, Clallam Bay, fifth in the girls’ triple jump with an effort of 32-7 3/4 and sixth in the girls shot put at the 1B meet with a put of 33-4 1/4.
• Chris Sevilla, Chimacum, sixth in the boys javelin at the 1A meet with a throw of 166-3.
• The Neah Bay boys 4×100 relay team (Anthony Bitegeko, Logan Halttunen, Chris Tageant and Buzzell) finished sixth with a time of 46.68.
• The Port Townsend boys 4×100 relay team (Kyle Blankenship, Gerry Coker, Berkley Hill and Erik Pokorny), sixth, 44.44.
• Hannah Olson, Clallam Bay, seventh in the long jump at the state 1B meet with a leap of 15-1.
• Grace Baillargeon, Crescent, seventh in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:02.33.
• Miriam Wonderly, Clallam Bay, seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.81.
• Neil Peppard, Crescent, eighth in the discus at the 1B meet with a throw of 114-1.
• Cole Baysinger, Forks, eighth in the discus at the 1A meet with a throw of 137-8.
State 2A Track and Field Results
Final Sequim and Port Angeles Results
Mount Tahoma High School, Tacoma
Boys
1,600 Meters — Murray Bingham, Sequim, 11th, 4:35.56.
Javelin — Riley Cowan, Sequim, 11th, 160-5.
Girls
1,600 Meters — Gracie Long, PA, seventh, 5:08.58.
3,200 Meters — Long, PA, fifth, 11:20.04; Lael Butler, PA, 17th, 13:35.51.
Shot Put — Devin Edwards, PA, 15th, 31-1 1/2.
Discus — Clarisse Finman, Sequim, 11th, 98-7.
High Jump — Long, PA, 12th, 4-10.
State 1A Track and Field Meet
Eastern Washington University, Cheney
Thursday, Friday, Early Saturday Final Results
Boys
110-meter hurdles — Seren Dances, PT, first, 15.42.
300-meter hurdles — Dances, PT, first, 39.30.
Long Jump — Dances, PT, first, 22-9.
Triple Jump — Dances, PT, second, 44-9 3/4.
3,200 Meters — Nathan Cantrell, PT, 12th, 10:25.58.
Javelin — Chris Sevilla, Chimacum, sixth, 166-3.
Discus — Cole Baysinger, Forks, eighth, 137-8.
Shot Put — Baysinger, Forks, 17th, 42-11.
4×100 Relay — Port Townsend (Kyle Blankenship, Gerry Coker, Berkley Hill and Erik Pokorny), sixth, 44.44.
Girls
100-meter hurdles — Aubry Botkin, PT, second, 15.38
1,600 Meters — Marissa Bailey, Forks, 16th, 5:39.24.
High Jump — Sira Wines, PT, 16th, 4-6.
Long Jump — Jada Trafton, Chimacum, 14th, 15-6.
Triple Jump — Botkin, PT, 11th, 33-5 3/4.
Javelin — Wines, PT, 17th, 74-8.
State 1B Track and Field Meet
Eastern Washington University, Cheney
Thursday, Friday, Early Saturday Final Results
Boys
100-Meter Run — Cameron Buzzell, NB, sixth, 11.97.
200-Meter Run — Buzzell, NB, seventh, 23.89.
400-Meter Run — Buzzell, NB, fourth, 52.90.
Javelin — Ryan McCoy, CB, 13th, 131-11; Neil Peppard, Crescent, 14th, 129-5.
Discus — Wyatt McNeese, Crescent, fourth, 121-7; Neil Peppard, Crescent, eighth, 114-1.
Shot put — McNeese, Crescent, second, 43-0 1/2.
Triple Jump — Anthony Bitegeko, Neah Bay, 15th, 37-5 1/4.
4×100 Relay — Neah Bay (Bietegeko, Logan Haltunnen, Chris Tageant, Buzzell), sixth, 46.68.
High Jump — McCoy, CB, ninth, 5-8; Bitegeko, NB, 12th, 5-6.
Girls
Shot put — Atokena Abe, CB, sixth, 33-4 1/4.
Discus — Ashara Dodson, Crescent, third, 103-10; Kayla Winck, NB, ninth, 92-1; McKensie Brannan, Crescent, 11th, 85-10.
High jump — Jennica Maines, CB, third, 5-0; Molly McCoy, CB, 11th, 4-6.
200 Meters — Miriam Wonderly, CB, seventh, 27.81.
400 Meters — Grace Baillargeon, Crescent, seventh, 1:02.33.
1,600 Meters — Sidney Smith, CB, 15th, 6:58.12.
4×100 Relay — Clallam Bay (Abe, McCoy, Wonderly, Maines), sixth, 54.42.
4×200 Relay — Clallam Bay (Abe, Hannah Olson, Kendra Anderson, Wonderly), fifth, 1:56.97.
4×400 Relay — Clallam BAy (Olson, McCoy, Anderson, Wonderly), fifth, 4:38.20.
3,200 Meters — Iesha Johnson, NB, ninth, 14:35.55; Kaylin Signor, CB, 12th, 14:44.59; Miranda Tyree, CB, 14th, 15:19.94.
Javelin — Brannan, Crescent, 12th, 92-6; Dodson, Crescent, 15th, 80-3; Kaitlynn Tyree, CB, 16th, 73-11.
Triple Jump — Abe, CB, fifth, 32-7 3/4; Dodson, Crescent, 14th, 29-0 1/4; Amanda Gagnon, NB, 15th, 28-11 1/2.
Casey Bruner/for Peninsula Daily News Ryan McCoy of Clallam Bay came in ninth in the high jump at the state 1B Track and Field Championships in Cheney this weekend.
Casey Bruner/for Peninsula Daily News Kayla Winck of Neah Bay came in ninth in the girls’ discus at the state 1B Track and Field Championships in Cheney.
