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Winlock Senior Chance Fisher sent a message with a 5'11" clearance in the high jump on Thursday at Toutle Lake.
With most sports rained out this week, track & field and soccer had the limelight with several promising local athletes beginning their quest for individual greatness.
The Winlock, Toledo and Castle Rock programs had rare meetings as CR joined in a meet that included Winlock at Toutle Lake on Thursday, then Toledo joined Winlock in the Lewis County Invitational on Saturday.
Castle Rock showed some solid sprinting depth as well as some great running in the middle distances. Jake Kimball outdistanced teammate Jesse Althauser in the 800 meters and then Winlock Junior Evan Mitchell slipped by Althauser in the last 80 meters to steal 2nd place.
In the sprints, Zac Akesson placed 2nd in the 100 meters and was a part of the winning 4 X 100 meter relay team for the Rockets which included Drew Broadie, Glenn Cervantes and Brandon Tomlin. Akesson also used his speed to win the long jump with a leap of 19'10". Broadie similarly won the triple jump with the more technical series of hops in a total jump of 37'5".
On the girls’ side, Mikayla Risner, a CR senior made a strong showing behind Adna's defending State Champion sprinter Regyn Gaffney who won both the 100 and 200 meters.
Besides Mitchell in the 800 meters, Chance Fisher supplied the only Cardinal victory in the High Jump with a leap of 5'11". Fisher is one of several District IV favorites in the high jump but has limited practice facilities at his home school.
"I dropped out at 6 foot," said Fisher. "I was very disappointed in myself because I was hoping for 6’4" or 6’5", but it was a good first meet to build on."
Fisher also said that it was nice to jump at a decent high jump pit.
"It was really nice compared to Winlock," he said.
As Fisher was jumping, Winlock's mile relay team of Jonathon Whitney, Randy Pennington, Jared Pohll and Evan Mitchell was surprising everyone with a near wire-to-wire victory and sub four-minute performance. Unfortunately, the anchor runner from Morton/White Pass overtook the Cardinal closer Mitchell to steal the victory but Winlock coaches were pleased. It has been at least a decade since Winlock has had a sub-four minute mile relay team.
Track in Toledo also has seen some stars as well. Distance runner Ashton Fraser has ran some very impressive early season times. At a meet in Ilwaco, Fraser won the mile in 5:15 (slower than his season best of 5:07.96). He also won the high jump with a height of 5'8" and placed second in the 3200 meters. The quicker Daniel Echtle won both sets of hurdles.
"I am so proud of these guys." said Jim Echtle. "They will do whatever I ask of them to earn more points. I am a really competitive guy."
On the girls side, Sally Martin has been showing speed as she has improved her 800 meter time this week with a time of 2:56.12 at Saturdays Lewis County Invitational at Centralia High School. Martin also teamed up with Tori Horner, Courtney Moore and Josie Bowen to win the 4 X 100 meter relay in Ilwaco on Thursday.
Bowen was instrumental in scoring points by winning the shot put with a throw of 28' 8" and the triple jump by leaping 27' 3".
Both Winlock and Toledo will have meets this week with an opportunity for student-athletes to score personal bests in their chosen events.
Toledo Junior Ashton Fraser (#204) ran in a tough crowd of competitors at Saturday's Lewis County Invitational on Saturday at Centralia High School. Fraser has ran some impressive times in the 1600 and 3200 meters this young season.
