Ridgefield’s Trey Knight, all-region boys track and field athlete of the year, is pictured at The Columbian in Vancouver on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian)
Trey Knight celebrated winning two state titles by finding his inner-child.
To those who know Ridgefield High’s decorated track and field athlete well, a sophomore with a self-described goofy persona, stepping back in time by coloring in a coloring book at the biggest weekend of the season — the state track and field championships — isn’t all that surprising.
Really, it’s not.
“That tells you everything you need to know,” Knight said. “It was actually really fun.”
Knight’s fun-loving spirit led to plenty of fun this spring, from breaking the high school’s longest-standing records set in 1962 by state champion Al Pemberton to setting a sophomore state record in the shot put at districts on his way to winning a pair of state titles in May. His shot put mark of 61 feet, 11 1/2 inches would’ve won a state title in any classification and was the best throw by a 2A state champion since 2007. A day later, he won the discus (176-10).
And for good measure, Knight, The Columbian’s All-Region boys track and field athlete of the year, didn’t stay restricted to throwing events. He showed his pure athleticism — and speed, no less — by running the 100 meters in 11.75 seconds at a double-dual meet and anchoring Ridgefield’s 4×100 relay team that same week back.
He doesn’t know yet if sprinting is a one-and-done deal, but viewed it as a mental break in what otherwise is a year-round sport for the 16-year-old. In February, he won two events at the prestigious New Balance National Indoors in New York and the starting blocks and relay handoffs in April were ways to catch a breather from the throws while having some laughs with friends along the way.
“That helped in a lot of ways,” he said, “having time not to focus (on throwing) and have fun also.”
Knight comes from a long line of family track and field dominance, and knew that same path suited him at an early age. If Knight’s name isn’t familiar — an elite thrower whose surpassed class and age-group records nationally held by future Olympians — a family history lesson may help. His mother, Heather (Gambill) Knight won shot put and discus state titles at Battle Ground in the mid-1990s. She and her sister, Johanna, Trey’s aunt, all by themselves led the school to a second-place state trophy in 1994. Cousin Jon, now coaching at Prairie, won three titles before graduating from Prairie in 2011.
“Some people have family restaurants,” Knight said, “ours is family track.”
The common denominator is John Gambill, Knight’s grandfather, who has coached them all.
And Trey Knight is the last of the bunch in the start of a memorable high school career.
“I like hanging out with my grandpa. That was a big reason (for starting track and field). Go hang out with grandpa, go throw some stuff and have fun.”
And some fun that also included a coloring book.
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