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4A-3A track: Mountain View’s Kiss jumps to third place at state

By Greg Jayne, Columbian Opinion Page Editor
Published: May 26, 2011, 5:00pm
2 Photos
Michelle Kiss of Mountain View clears 5'2&quot; in the high jump to tie for 3rd place in the girls 3A high jump at the State Track and Field Championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on Thursday May 26, 2011.
Michelle Kiss of Mountain View clears 5'2" in the high jump to tie for 3rd place in the girls 3A high jump at the State Track and Field Championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on Thursday May 26, 2011. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

TACOMA — Battling wind and cold and a touch of rain, Mountain View’s Michelle Kiss didn’t jump her best Thursday.

But she jumped well enough to tie for third in the girls high jump at the Class 3A state track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School. And that was plenty good for her.

“I was really happy to place,” Kiss said, a big smile on her face. “That was my ultimate goal. If I could finish in the top three I’d be happy, and that’s what happened.”

Kiss, a junior, entered the meet with a season-best of 5 feet, 6 inches, and finished with a mark of 5-2 Thursday in difficult jumping conditions.

“That’s Washington,” she said. “You just get used to the Washington weather.”

Olivia Vincent from Holy Names Academy of Seattle won the event at 5-7, while Sasha Weber from Timberline of Lacey cleared 5-6. But Kiss was beaming afterward.

“I am happy,” she said. “I think it’s an accomplishment.”

In other highlights from the Class 3A meet:

• Thomas Cocks of Camas finished fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 13-9. Kelso’s Jonathan Wishard won the event with a height of 14-9.

• Sara Slayton of Camas had a rough trip through the preliminaries of the 100 hurdles, but still managed to advance to today’s final. She qualified eighth in 16.98 seconds.

• The Camas girls recorded the third-best time in qualifying for Saturday’s final in the 1,600 relay.

• Amy-Eloise Neale, a sophomore from Glacier Peak of Snohomish, won the 3,200 meters in 10:12.33, the best time in the nation this year.

4A track and field

Even though the final was two days away, Skyview’s relay team managed to grab plenty of attention Thursday in the qualifying round of the 1,600-meter relay.

“Oh yeah, we’re definitely happy,” senior Kevin Boyd said, after the Storm finished in 3:16.61 at the Class 4A state track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School. “That was awesome.”

Here’s how awesome: Skyview’s time was nearly three seconds better than the No. 2 qualifier, Wenatchee. It also set a school record and left the Storm dreaming of challenging the state-meet record of 3:15.66, set last year by Federal Way.

“We’re looking to go in the 3:14s and get that state record,” Boyd said.

Oliver Tamis ran the opening leg for Skyview, followed by Ellis Henderson, Boyd, and Brad Michael. Afterward, they credited coaches John Skoog and Julian Williams for their success.

“They’ve given us a lot of inspiration all season long,” Boyd said. “They set super high goals for us, and we keep reaching them.”

The next target will come Saturday, in the final event of the 4A meet.

“We’re just going to run even harder,” Boyd said. “We all killed it in practice. This is what we’ve wanted all year.”

In other highlights from the 4A meet:

• Rachel McQuivey unexpectedly added to her workload, running the opening leg on Skyview’s 800-meter relay team and helping the Storm reach Saturday’s final with the third-best time.

“It worked really well,” McQuivey said. “I just tried to give my girls the best start I could. The prelims, that was just getting the jitters out.”

McQuivey set a school record this year in the 200, but didn’t run the event at the district meet. Instead, she is focusing on the hurdles. She advanced to today’s final in the 100 hurdles, and is one of the favorites in the 300 hurdles entering today’s preliminaries.

• Tori Dixson of Battle Ground was seventh in the girls discus with a mark of 120 feet, 3 inches. Alyx Toeaina of Kentwood won the event at 136-3.

• Skyview’s Priscilla Timmons finished ninth in the 3,200 in 11:13.19. Tansey Lystad of Inglemoor won the event in 10:28.92.

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