TACOMA — Hudson’s Bay freshman Danae Lee got a bouquet of flowers from her mom after finishing fifth in the high jump at the state track and field meet.
She likely got something better from her dad.
“My dad made a deal with me,” Lee said after placing in the Class 3A meet at Mount Tahoma High School. “He said if I jump well today, I’d be ungrounded.”
Why was she grounded?
“I don’t know, attitude,” she said.
Lee’s attitude likely improved after she cleared 5-foot-2, one inch shy of her personal record.
Molly Grager from Juanita of Kirkland won the title with a jump of 5-4; Lauren Neff of Camas ended up on the podium with a jump of 5 feet and an eighth-place finish.
Lee said: “I haven’t jumped 5-2 in a while. I usually jump 5, 5-1.
“I had my family and my coaches here. My coaches were saying, ‘You can do this,’ cheering me on. It helped a lot.”
Other Clark County highlights from the first of three days at the Class 4A, 3A, and 2A state meets:
• Kevin Sandison of Columbia River finished fourth in the 3A boys pole vault with a mark of 14 feet. Berlie Walker from Eastmont of Wenatchee won at 14-3.
Blane Behrent of Camas finished seventh at 13 feet.
• Greater St. Helens League runners finished 5-6-7 in the Class 3A girls 3,200 meters. Ana Delgadillo of Columbia River led the Clark County pack, followed by Alissa Pudlitzke of Camas and Erin Russell of Prairie.
Katie Knight from North Central of Spokane won the event in 10:27.49, more than 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Katie Bianchini from Glacier Peak of Snohomish.
• Stephanie Simon of Evergreen finished seventh in the 4A girls discus with a mark of 120-4.
“I was throwing 105 a couple weeks ago,” said Simon, who has been appointed to the Naval Academy. “I PR’d, so it was great. I wanted to be on the podium; that’s what matters.”
• Mark Tedder of Battle Ground finished sixth in the 4A boys 3,200 in 9:17.08. Andrew Gardner from Mead of Spokane won in 8:59.83.
• Chantelle Blundell of Hockinson landed on the podium by finishing eighth in the 2A girls 3,200 with a time of 11:27.00 — about five seconds better than her previous best.
Sanne Holland of Cheney won in 10:48.40, breaking the meet record set in 2007 by Shannon Porter of Hockinson.
• Peter Zalk of Prairie advanced to the finals in the 3A boys 110 hurdles, qualifying fifth in 15.22 seconds.
He entered the meet seeded 10th based on the bi-district results, but has the third-best time in Class 3A this year according to athletic.net.
“I didn’t expect anything,” Zalk said. “I’m just coming out here to glorify God; that’s why I run.
“My brother is here, also. We’re both district champions, but nobody’s going to remember that. They’re just going to remember our character and what we stand for.”
• The Camas girls won their heat in the 1,600 relay, advancing to the final with a time of 4:01.84, the second-best qualifying time overall. Prairie advanced as the No. 6 seed.
• Skyview reached the final of the 4A girls 800 relay as the No. 8 qualifier, after entering the meet as the No. 11 seed.
• Yen Hoang of Evergreen won the 3,200 race in the wheelchair division with a time of 12:53.35.
• Kelly Nigro of Woodland advanced to the finals of the 2A girls 100 hurdles as the No. 8 seed with a time of 15.84.
• Union advanced as the No. 3 seed in the 4A boys 1,600 relay with a time of 3:22.81. Federal Way was the top seed in 3:19.75.
• The Union girls won their heat in the 1,600 relay, advancing to the final.
