TACOMA — Kathran Dean was better Friday than she had ever been before. A lot better.
So when Dean finished third in the girls long jump at the Class 3A state meet, she had no complaints.
“All I could really do is PR (personal record) and see where that would take me,” the Mountain View senior said after leaping 18 feet, 7 inches.
Dean came into the meet with a personal best of 18-2. So when she jumped 18-7 on her fourth attempt, after narrowly getting into the final, she surpassed her expectations.
She followed that with leaps of 18-1 and 18-5, putting together an impressive series, but not quite catching the winning mark of 19-1/2 posted by Alanna Coker from Juanita of Kirkland.
Savanna Joyce of Camas entered the 16-person field as the No. 16 seed but advanced to the finals. She finished eighth with a mark of 16-9 3/4.
Coming into the meet as the No. 1 seed based on marks from qualifying meets, Dean posted a safe jump on her first attempt just to get a mark on the board. The strategy paid off when she fouled on her next two attempts but qualified for the final three rounds in seventh place.
That’s when she hit her stride.
“Everyone was so stressing over there,” she said of the intensity of the competition. “There was a lot of pacing, a lot of people giving off that vibe.
“I think it helped some of us. A lot of us PR’d.”
In other Clark County highlights:
• Scott Feather of Camas finished fifth in the boys discus, after entering the meet seeded 14th among the 16 competitors. Feather recorded a mark of 152-4. Cody Quinton from Hanford won at 160-2.
“As far as athletics go, in football we finished third in state and now this,” Feather said. “I’m really happy to compete and keep representing the Camas area; it has given so much to me.”
• Jesse Zalk of Prairie finished sixth in the boys long jump with a mark of 20-101/4, and Ryker Gilbert of Mountain View was seventh at 20-10.
• Marcus Gaylor of Columbia River qualified eighth for the final of the boys 100 meters. The Chieftains’ 400 relay team advanced to the final as the No. 4 qualifier.
• Amber Corbett of Camas finished fifth in the girls discus. She threw 128-7.
• Emily Morgan of Columbia River advanced to the final of the girls 100 as the No. 6 seed.
