Clark County clubs claimed 15 gold medals during the Pacific Northwest Association Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships, held on Saturday and Sunday at Chief Sealth High School in Seattle.
The Evergreen Storm Track Club earned 13 victories, and the Flanagan Clan Girls Track Club of Woodland had two champions.
The meet, the first step toward qualifying for the Junior Olympics nationals, is the state-level championship event for western Washington. Athletes who placed among the top eight in an event can compete in the regional-level championships, to be held July 7-10 at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane.
The Vancouver-based Evergreen Storm was especially strong in throwing events in the Pacific Northwest Association championships, picking up eight throwing gold medals.
Jon Lawson led the way with victories in three throwing events. Competing with boys ages 17-18, Lawson won the discus with a mark of 182 feet, 4 inches. Lawson won the hammer throw with a mark of 197-4. He won the shot put at 54-4.
Joining Lawson as discus champions were Guadalupe Mendoza among girls 15 and 16 with a mark of 112-6, and Ryker Gilbert among boys 15 and 16 with a mark of 109-2.
Three Storm athletes won javelin titles. Sam Keller followed his runner-up finish on Thursday at the USATF Junior Nationals in Eugene, Ore., with a winning throw of 198-2 in Seattle. Ethan Tonder won the boys 13-14 javelin (130-3). Jenna Jones won the girls 17-18 javelin (114-3).
Two days after racing against college runners in the 1,500 at the USATF Junior Nationals in Eugene, Alexis Fuller of the Evergreen Storm won the 3,000 meters for girls ages 13-14 at the Pacific Northwest Association championships with a time of 10 minutes, 47.59 seconds. Fuller also teamed with Cassie McKinney, Ashley Sundin, Alexa Jones to win the 4×800 relay for girls 13-14 (10:23).
Ahmon Afenegus won a pair of races for boys 13-14. He finished the 1,500 in 4:48.61, and the 3,000 in 10:08.86. Kaitlyn McKinney won the 1,500 for girls 17-18 in 5:12.70.
The Flanagan Clan champions in Seattle were Shelby Vermuelen in the discus for ages 13-14 (78-8), and Ellie Walker in the 80 hurdles for ages 11-12 (14.13 seconds).
Results for all place-winners for the Flanagan Clan and for the Evergreen Storm Track Club at the meet in Seattle are listed in the Community Scoreboard.
