Like many area high school sporting events, the spring’s record-setting rainfall also impacted track and field.
Not so much in the cancellations and postponements department like diamond sports or tennis matches; track meets go on with flooded lanes or wet field event pits, but one event most vulnerable to inclement weather is pole vault.
That’s why the first day of the 4A and 3A Greater St. Helens district track and field meet was a welcoming sight for not only pole vaulters, but many who waited all spring for a day like Wednesday to recorded personal-best times and marks amid the sunshine and warm temperatures at McKenzie Stadium.
Thursday’s projected rainy forecast is why meet officials moved all four pole vault competitions to Wednesday; high winds and heavy rains can make for dangerous conditions.
So vaulters like Evergreen’s Alyssa Smith took advantage of the schedule change to compete in nice weather.
Smith, a senior, set two personal-best marks in her specialty. Her 11-feet, 4-inch mark not only clinched her a spot at next week’s bi-district meet as the event runner-up to Kelso’s Tayla Beavers (11-7), it increased her own school record. Her previous PR before Wednesday of 10-9 came at state last year, and now that the weather is warming up, she’s hoping her heights will rise, too.
She estimated between 10 and 15 days of good vaulting weather all season, and ranked Wednesday as a 15 on a scale of 1 through 10.
“This was exactly what I needed,” she said.
The sunshine was exactly what Skyview’s Conner Jensen was hoping for, too, in the 4A boys shot put. The senior, bound for NCAA Div. II Concordia next season, popped a personal-best and new school record throw of 61-5.50 on his second attempt. On his third, he foot-fouled a 63-footer, but that was OK, Jensen said, because he now knows he’s got that distance in him.
“That’s the best series I’ve ever had,” he said. “I’m really happy.”
A plus, too, is he’s now 4A’s top boys shot putter, overtaking South Kitsap Nolan Van Amen, who popped at 60-10.25 last week.
Wednesday featured finals in five field events, and 11 running events, as the top four finishers in Class 3A and the top three in 4A advance to next weekend’s bi-district meets. The meet concludes Thursday starting at noon.
The 1,600 was a race Mountain View’s Sam Johnson used as motivation to qualify for his first bi-district meet. Running in Class 4A last year, he finished fourth in the same race at this same meet — by seven-tenths of a second — and just missed out on competing past districts. Wednesday, he led start to finish running in Class 3A — but getting a big late-race kick from Fort Vancouver’s Andrew Weber and Kelso’s Colten Jorgenson — to clock in first at 4:35.86.
“I wouldn’t have had the time today if I didn’t see them in my shadows,” Johnson said. “Thank goodness for the sun.”
It was the opposite, but the same result for Prairie’s Meri Dunford in the 3A girls 1,600 just minutes later. She was in a two-runner battle all race with Mountain View’s Savanna Craig, a three-time reigning district champion.
The pre-race strategy worked to perfection: she sat on Craig’s tail until the final 300 meters, making her move for a sprinting finish (5:09.95). It’s a 13-second PR for the ninth grader in only her third 1,600 all spring.
As a ninth grader, Dunford admitted she didn’t know what to expect in the adrenaline-packed race.
” I was just trying to do my best,” she said. … I didn’t have anything to lose, so I gave it my all.”
AROUND THE TRACK: Union’s Trevor Bushman and Bryce Tyger now rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the Class 4A boys pole vault after each finishing 1-2 Wednesday. And both hit PRs, too. After Tyger hit a six-inch PR to clear 15-0, Bushman did one better, clearning 15-6. “I’m excited for him,” Bushman said of his teammate. Bushman attempted 15-10, which would have set a school record by one inch. … The pole vault proved to be the longest event of the day. It began with the 4A girls at 11 a.m., and concluded with the 3A boys at 7:50 p.m., almost 30 minutes after the day’s final race on the track, the 4A girls 400. … Prairie’s Valerie Schmidt was a busy athlete Wednesday. She qualified for bi-districts in three events: 100 hurdles (third, 16.71 seconds), pole vault (third, 8-4) and high jump (4-6). … Camas swept the 4A girls 1,600, led by Emma Jenkins (5:10.82). In fact, the Papermakers had the top six times in the event. Same happened with Kelso in the 3A boys javelin. The Hilanders swept all four spots to bi-district, led by Riley Harper (158-3). … Battle Ground’s Curtis Stradley, who owns Washington’s top javelin mark in all classifications and ranks second nationally, threw 193-0 on his final attempt to finish first in the 4A boys. … Union’s Merriweather twins — Dai’lyn and Jai’lyn — won the 4A girls 100 and 400, respectively.
