Standout athlete Kyra Gardner closed out the track and field season with four firsts at the District IV Championships at Rainier HS Thursday. Gardner, a junior at Raymond HS, who jumps and runs with the gracefulness of a deer, won the triple jump with a season record effort mark of 35 feet, 3/4 inches, 100-meter high hurdles with a PR time of :16.32; high jump (5 feet, 6 inches) and long jump (15 feet, 11¾ inches). Gardner was the only competitor among the girls and boys to win four events.
"Kyra had a great meet and season as a whole," Raymond HS head Track and Field Coach Mike Tully told the Herald. "She had some good competition in each event, which helped bring out season bests in the hurdles and triple jump. In both the long and triple jump, she got an early lead, then was passed by another competitor and had to pop one late to get the win. She managed her energy level well throughout the day and took care of business."
Gardner, who also excels at basketball and volleyball, won every competition she competed in this season except for one when she placed second in the high jump at the sub-district.
"I was really happy with the way the team worked and competed throughout this shortened season," Tully said. "I could see the progress every week. Our numbers were much less than what we've had in recent years, but we only had one senior, so the kids that competed this year are going to see the benefits next year."
Rainier won the girls' team title and Kalama was the boys' title holder. The Lady Seagulls finished fifth, only two points from fourth place.
Lucas Dahl, a junior at Napavine HS, won three solo events, the 100, 200 and long jump.
Selena Niema, a junior at Rainier HS, also won three individual events, including the 800, 1600 and 3200 meters.
Unfortunately for RHS sophomore Morgan Anderson, he was injured two days before the competition, which hampered his performances.
"Morgan bruised his heel on Tuesday, so he wasn't able to compete as well as he would have liked," Tully said. "If he was healthy, he would have had a good chance to be in the top three in several events. As it turned out, he only placed in the high jump. He only took one jump in the high jump. He waited until the bar got to 5-4 and cleared it on one attempt to take fourth."
Anderson claimed fourth place in the high jump at 5-4. Anderson tied for ninth in the pole vault at 9 feet, and was 11th in the triple jump. He took a DNF in the 110 high hurdles. At the sub-district a week earlier, Anderson won the 110-meter high hurdles and triple jump and placed second in the high jump and pole vault.
No State Meet
With the coronavirus situation ongoing, there never was a plan by the WIAA to conduct a state track and field championship, so no one will ever know how the student-athletes would have fared.
"I don't know what places would have gone to state," Tully said. "I'm guessing the top five or six (would have qualified). State berths are typically done on a two-year allocation cycle, and this would have been the first year of that cycle. The WIAA never released what the allocations would have been, so I can't say for sure.
"I do feel for the kids that would have qualified for state this year," Tully said. "Kyra is a prime example. She won the state high jump title as a freshman and hasn't had a chance to defend her title. Hopefully, she'll get that opportunity next year. Others like Morgan and Jolie (Dunn) would have been able to get their first state experience this year as sophomores, but now they'll have to wait another year."
Dunn, a Raymond HS sophomore, placed fifth in the 100 hurdles with a PR time of :18.49, sixth in the 100 with another PR time of :13.62, seventh in the high jump and took 10th in the long jump.
SBHS Performs Well
South Bend HS Track and Field Co-Head Coach Tom Sanchez was very pleased with the efforts from his young team.
"We are extremely proud of how well our kids performed at the district meet," Sanchez told the Herald. "Our kids really did well this season, especially when you take into account how short and accelerated it was. It might take a while, but hopefully, we can get our numbers back to where they usually are once we get into some normal school and athletics. We were really young and inexperienced this year, so this season has been very valuable for us as we develop and mature for the future.
"We again got personal records and/or season records from a lot of them," Sanchez added. "All of our relays, and especially the boys relays, dramatically bettered their marks. The boys' 4 by 100 finishing fourth is a tremendous accomplishment for them, and they really performed when they had to."
The Indians finished in fourth place in the 1600-meter relay race at :48.36 with runners Ferrill Johnson, Judah Milton, Eddy Rodrigues and Dustin Anderson.
Hannah Jewell, a junior at SBHS, garnered second place in the javelin with a throw of 100 feet, 3 inches. Jewell was only 1 feet, 3½ inches from the first-place effort. Jewell ended up 12th in the discus.
"Hannah Jewell has raised her best mark around 25 feet over the course of the season in the javelin," Sanchez said. "She is still learning, as this is her first year in the event. She has a lot of potential."
Robby Stigall placed seventh in the discus and also made the finals in the javelin, but did not place," Sanchez noted. "Ferrill Johnson made the finals in the long jump and triple jump, but did not place. Very good performances for freshmen."
Stigall placed seventh in the discus with a PR throw of 116 feet. Johnson was ninth in the triple jump and long jump.
Also for South Bend and Raymond:
South Bend HS junior Dayna Estle finished in seventh place in the shot put.
The Lady Indians ended up in eighth place in the 400-meter relay race with runners Aoki Phimmasone, Rylee Miskell, Hannah Jewell and Elli Capps.
The Indians finished eighth in the 1600-meter relay with Rodrigues, Anderson, Gio Sanchez and Steven Kirpes.
The Lady Indians were also eighth in the 800-meter relay with runners Phimmasone, Brittney Yi, Ashlyn Black and Miskell.
Milton, a sophomore, finished ninth in the javelin and Stigall took 10th.
Raymond HS junior Alexis Hillock was 10th in the 3200 meters and ended up 11th in the 1600.
In the discus, Raymond sophomore Kole Karlsvik was 11th with a PR of 101-1 and teammate Austin Snodgrass, a frosh, was 12th.
Capps, a sophomore, finished in 11th place in the javelin.
Raymond soph Neal Hickman ended up 12th in the pole vault at 7 feet, which was a PR.
Rodrigues, a senior, ended up 12th.in the long jump.
The 18 girls' winners were: 100 meters: Melanie Martinez, Kalama; 200: Martinez; 400: Erika Glenn, Ilwaco; 800: Selena Niema, Rainier; 1600: Niema; 3200: Niema; 100 High Hurdles: Kyra Gardner, RHS; 300 Low Hurdles: Faith Wellander, Adna; 4 by 100 Relay: Kalama; 4 by 200: Kalama; 4 by 400: Adna; Shot Put: Kamryn Watkins, Wahkiakum; Discus: Isabella Holmes, Rainier; Javelin: Kaeley Schultz, Rainier; High Jump: Gardner; Pole Vault: Alia Garner, Rainier; Long Jump: Gardner; Triple Jump: Gardner.
The 17 winners in the boys' competitions included: 100 meters: Lucas Dahl, Napavine; 200: Dahl; 400: Matthew Idso, Ocosta; 800: Addison Smee, Kalama; 1600: Nicholas Marty, Toledo; 3200: Marty; 110 High Hurdles: Willis Ames, Adna; 300 Intermediate Hurdles: Ames; 4 by 100 relay: Kalama; 4 by 400 relay: Adna; Shot Put: Jeremiah Nubbe, Rainier; Discus: Nubbe; Javelin: Nathan Anderson, Kalama; High Jump: William Idso, Ocosta; Pole Vault: Ryan Doidge, Rainier; Long Jump: Dahl; Triple Jump: Thomas Ronne, Rainier.
There were no medals awarded. Team championships trophies were given to the Rainier girls and the Kalama boys. The team scoring for the top eight places is done on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring basis. A total of 19 teams competed. Below are the team standings.
Girls' Team Standings: 1. Rainier (102), 2. Kalama (91½), 3. Ilwaco (83), 4. Stevenson (51), 5. Raymond (49), 6. Wahkiakum (45), 7. Ocosta (44), 8. Adna (43), 9. North Beach (35), 10. Morton White Pass (26), 11. Toutle Lake (25), 12. Forks (23), 13. Northwest Christian (22), 14. Napavine 921), 15. Toledo (14), 16. South Bend (12), 17. Onalaska (5½), 18. Chief Leschi (5), 19. Winlock (4).
Boys' Team Standings: 1. Kalama (86), 2. Ocosta (82), 3. Adna (79), 4. Rainier (74), 5. Toledo (62), 6. Forks (41), 7. Onalaska (37), 8. Napavine (34), 9. North Beach (32), 10. Stevenson (31), 11. Morton White Pass (23), 12. Northwest Chriastian (23), 13. Chief Leschi (18), 14. (tie) Ilwaco (11), 14. (tie) Wahkiakum (11), 16. South Bend (8), 17. Raymond (5), 18. Toutle Lake (4), 19. Winlock (2).
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