BREMERTON — The Sequim boys and Port Angeles girls won the West Central District III 2A track and field championship, with the Roughriders roaring back Saturday from a third-place hole thanks to a spectacular performance by distance runner Lauren Larson.
After Friday’s events, the Sequim boys were leading the WCD III well on their way to a district championship. The Port Angeles girls, however, were in third place with 37 points to North Kitsap’s 49.
However, at the end of the day Saturday, the Roughriders had won the girls’ championship with 102 points to North Kitsap’s 85. The Sequim boys finished with 104 points, easily beating second-place Steilacoom’s 65.
The Sequim girls finished 10th at district with 34 points, while the Port Angeles boys finished 13th with 17 points.
Larson blew the field away in the distance events. She set personal records in the 800, the 1,600 and the 3,200, winning all three races. Her 800-meter time of 2:16.22, is the No. 1 girls’ 2A time in the entire state, her 1,600 time of 5:06.87 is the third-fastest time in the state at the 2A level and her 3,200 time of 11:12.52 is the fifth-fastest time in the state.
After all that running Friday and Saturday, Larson even ran in the 12K Rhody Run on Sunday, finishing first in her age group and fifth among the women. She ran 17,600 competitive meters in three days.
“Last week at the [Olympic 2A] League Championship meet, I didn’t think … Larson could do any better,” said her coach Rodger Johnson. “This week, she did it again, winning each event and shaving even more time off her personal best.”
“It’s not just the fact that Lauren loves to run all year long and works hard at practice, she does all the small things right as well, hydrating, stretching, cool-down runs after tough races. The body-maintenance work to keep herself in peak performance and avoid injuries,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait to see what she does next week at state.”
The Riders’ Millie Long came in first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.41 seconds, which is the No. 1 girls’ time in the state. Long also finished second in the long jump with a personal record 17 feet, 2¼ inches and third in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.24 and will go to state in both events.
Sequim’s Murray Bingham had a meet just as spectacular as Larson’s. Bingham won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.13, a personal record, and he won the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:25.78.
Bingham’s 800 time at district is No. 1 in the entire state. His best 1,600-meter time from earlier this season, slightly better than what he ran at district, is the second-fastest in the state.
Bingham also contributed to the Sequim 4×400 relay team winning district. The Wolves’ team of Alec Shingleton, Bingham, Darren Salazar and Logan Laxson finished first with a time of 3:25.14, the third-fastest 4×400 time in the state.
Sequim’s Fischer Jensen won the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 40.28 seconds. That is a top 7 time statewide.
Also winning an event Saturday was Sequim’s Abby Schroeder, who finished first in the high jump with a height of 5-0.
Other winners from Friday’s events include:
Boys
100-meter run — Salazar, Sequim, 10.82 (Fourth in the state)
Javelin — Riley Cowan, Sequim, 172-11.
Long Jump — Liam Clark, Port Angeles, 21-1¼.
Girls
Pole Vault — Elizabeth Sweet, Sequim, 10-0.
The top six finishers at district qualify for the 2A state track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School beginning Thursday, which means a large contingent of both Port Angeles and Sequim (more than two dozen) athletes will be competing at state, with the Sequim boys and Port Angeles girls in position to do serious damage in the team points at the state meet.
Qualifying for state are:
Boys
200 Meters — Salazar, Sequim, second, 22.54 (-.0.8).
110-Meter Hurdles — Riley Martin, Sequim, second, 14.99; Jensen, Sequim, fifth, 15.97.
4×100 Relay — Sequim (Laxson, Salazar, Jarret Allen, Keeshawn Whitney), 44.92.
High Jump — Clark, PA, fourth, 5-10.
Pole Vault — Liam Byrne, Sequim, second, 13-0.
Triple Jump — Clark, PA, fourth, 41-6.
Girls
200 Meters — Riley Pyeatt, Sequim, fifth, 26.34 (1.7).
400 Meters — Pyeatt, Sequim, second, 59.12; Kennedy Bruch, PA, sixth, 1:02.16.
3,200 Meters — Kynzie DeLeon, PA, third, 11:46.88.
4×400 Relay — Port Angeles (DeLeon, Long, Bruch, Mckenzie Musalek), fifth, 4:09.60.
Shot Put — Myra Walker, PA, fourth, 33-10.
Javelin — Camille Stensgard, PA, third, 113-2.
High Jump — Delaney Wenzl, PA, fifth, 4-10; Eve Burke, PA, sixth, 4-8.
Pole Vault — Musalek, PA, second, 9-6.
Port Townsend, Chimacum results at 1A district
BREMERTON — Port Townsend and Chimacum will send a total of 12 athletes to the state 1A track and field meet in Cheney next weekend.
The Redhawks had three winners at the WCD III 1A meet this past weekend, while Chimacum had one. It is very difficult for athletes at the WCD III 1A meet to qualify for state as only the top two finishers are taken out of this small district.
Port Townsend’s Dylan Tracer had a great weekend, winning two events and qualifying for state in three. Tracer won the 100-meter hurdles (16.78 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (42.01 seconds). He finished second in the discus (118-2), qualifying for state.
The Redhawks’ Nathan Cantrell won the district 3,200 with a time of 10:01.99. He also qualified for state in the 1,600 by finishing second with a time of 4:33.44.
Chimacum’s Bjorn Danaan-Devas won the javelin with a distance of 136-6. Port Townsend’s Tusker Behrenfeld, just a freshman, qualified for state with a second-place javelin throw of 136-3.
Eileen Leoso of Port Townsend won the javelin with a distance of 109-3. Her Redhawks teammate Jazzy Apker-Montoya finished second with a distance of 99-3 and also qualified for state.
Other Port Townsend and Chimacum girls qualifying for state include:
100-meter hurdles — Elizabeth Shifflett, Chimacum, second, 16.96.
Long Jump — Jada Trafton, Chimacum, second, 16-4¾.
4×200 Relay — Port Townsend (Callay Boire-Shedd, Aurin Asbell, Anika Avelino, Sierra Ruegg), second, 1:54.07.
