Columbia River girls place first, Prairie boys second at bi-district track

SUMNER – Columbia River sprinter Emily Morgan needed a pick-me-up, both literally and mentally.

Two days earlier at the Class 3A bi-district meet, Morgan had a rough handoff in the preliminaries of the 800 meter relay. It left her sprawled on the track and her team barely able to qualify for Saturday’s finals.

“I was pretty shaken up,” Morgan said. “My coach told me ‘you’ve gotta stay mentally tough.’ If I wouldn’t have had that mistake on Thursday, I wouldn’t have been able to mentally prepare myself for today.”

Morgan shook off that stumble and Columbia River shook up the team competition Saturday at Sunset Chev Stadium. She and teammate Ellie Walker each won two events, the 800 relay team took first, and the Chieftains won the team title by 29 points over Enumclaw.

The Prairie boys took second place, 15 points behind Lincoln of Tacoma. Peter Zalk won the 110 hurdles and pole vault, while Jason Bracken added a discus title to the high jump title he won Thursday.

Saturday was the final step in the track season before the state meet next Thursday through Saturday in Tacoma. The top five in each event Saturday qualified.

Morgan will be among the favorites in the 100 and 200 meters. She won the 100 in 12.31 seconds and the 200 in 25.60.

Even after accepting her first-place ribbon, Morgan had rival Danica Person in her thoughts. The Mountain View sprinter, who is also among the state leaders, suffered a foot injury last week at districts. She placed eighth in the 100, but qualified in the 200 by finishing fifth.

“I’m tearing up,” Morgan said. “Just the fact that she placed at bi-districts is phenomenal.”

Walker won the high jump by clearing 5 feet, 5 inches. It was a personal best by an inch and one inch shy of the best mark statewide in 3A this year.

It was a satisfying rebound for Walker, who finished third at last week’s district meet with a mark of 5 feet.

“It’s been a lot of work this week, especially getting that quick pop off the ground,” Walker said.

Two days after winning the 1,600, Prairie’s Michaela Bruns won the 3,200. She beat Peninsula’s Sarah Manning by two feet after the two were neck-and-neck down over the final 100 meters.

“With probably about 50 meters to go, I knew I had her,” Bruns said.

Bruns started conservatively near the back of the pack. That left her enough strength for final kick and a season-best time of 11:24.

Zalk, Bracken and James Phillips helped the Prairie boys to a strong team finish. Zalk, the defending state champion in the 110 hurdles, looks forward to defending his title next week.

His biggest rival might be Phillips, who owns the state’s fastest times in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

“It’s definitely put a target on my back,” Zalk said, before adding a dig at his teammate and close friend. “But I’m racing with the second best kid in the state and he’s on my own team. You can’t ask for any better competition.”

River sprinter Marcus Gaylor will also be hunting for state titles in the 100 and 200.

Saturday, he was edged by one-hundredth of a second in the 100 by Lincoln’s Rayshaun Miller. Gaylor rebounded in the 200, beating Miller by one-half a second to easily win that event in 21.86 seconds.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

3A BI-DISTRICT MEET

At Sunset Chev Stadium, Sumner

Saturday’s finals

Team scores (top 10) – LINCOLN 107, PRAIRIE 92, LAKES 73, COLUMBIA RIVER 59.5, KELSO 54, TIMBERLINE 47, MOUNTAIN VIEW 34, NORTH THURSTON 29, BONNEY LAKE 27, PENINSULA 26.

(Winner and local qualifiers to state)

100 meters — 1, Rayshaun Miller (Lincoln) 10.86; 2, Marcus Gaylor (Columbia River) 10.87.

200 — 1, Marcus Gaylor (Columbia River) 21.86.

400 — 1, James Cowan (Kennedy Catholic) 49.79.

800 — 1, James Jasperson (North Thurston) 1:56.38; 5, Sam Garvin (Mountain View) 1:59.16.

3,200 — 1, Nick Mounier (Kelso) 9:34.15; 5, Austin Blankenship (Columbia River) 9:39.67.

110 hurdles — 1, Peter Zalk (Prairie) 14.71; 4, James Phillips (Prairie) 15.01.

300 hurdles — 1, Therron Randle (Lincoln) 38.71; 2, James Phillips (Prairie) 39.84.

400 relay — 1, Lincoln 42.89; 2, Columbia River 42.97; 4, Prairie 43.88.

1,600 relay — 1, Bonney Lake 3:26.13.

Discus — 1, Jason Bracken (Prairie) 156-11; 3, Ryker Gilbert (Mountain View) 144-10; 4, Ethan Tonder (Mountain View) 143-0.

Triple jump — 1, Ahmaad Rorie (Lincoln) 46-5.5; 4, Columbia River 43-2.5.

Pole vault — 1, Peter Zalk (Prairie) 14-0; 2, Luke Middelstadt (Prairie) 13-6; 3, Alexsander Salfetnikov (Prairie) 13-0.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
3A BI-DISTRICT MEET

At Sunset Chev Stadium, Sumner

Saturday’s finals

Team scores (top 10) – COLUMBIA RIVER 110, ENUMCLAW 81, DECATUR 77, PRAIRIE 58, MOUNTAIN VIEW 52, KELSO 52, PENINSULA 49, AUBURN MOUNTAINVIEW 45, KENNEDY CATHOLIC 34, WILSON 26.

(Winner and local qualifiers to state)

100 meters — 1, Emily Morgan (Columbia River) 12.31; 5, Emma Walton (Mountain View) 12.89.

200 — 1, Emily Morgan (Columbia River) 26.24; 3, Danica Person (Mountain View) 26.34; 5, Emma Walton (Mountain View) 26.51.

400 — 1, Ariell Garnett (Kennedy Catholic) 58.24; 5, Karen Nguyen (Fort Vancouver) 1:00.48.

800 — 1, Lindsay Asplund (Prairie) 2:19.61; 5, Taylor Hallquist (Columbia River) 2:22.51.

3,200 — 1, Michaela Bruns (Prairie) 11:24.07; 4, Jamie Ferris (Prairie) 11:37.35.

100 hurdles — 1, Maria Blad (Enumclaw) 14.94; 2, Ellie Walker (Columbia River) 15.55.

300 hurdles — 1, Maria Blad (Enumclaw) 45.6; 2, Ellie Walker (Columbia River) 46.33; 3, Erykah Weems (Hudson’s Bay 46.40.

400 relay — 1, Columbia River 49.24; 3, Mountain View 49.83; 5, Hudson’s Bay 50.87.

800 relay — 1, Columbia River 1:43.91; 3, Mountain View 1:46.27.

1,600 relay — 1, Enumclaw 4:01.40; 2, Prairie 4:06.16.

Javelin — 1, Mariah Horton, Kelso 124-2; 4, Liliana Delgadillo 116-0.

Long jump — 1, Ericka Budnich (Decatur) 17-3.75; 5, Julie Williams (Mountain View) 16-1.

High jump — 1, Ellie Walker (Columbia River) 5-5; 3, Hailey Hartney (Mountain View) 5-1; 4, Danae Lee (Hudson’s Bay) 5-1; 5, Evi Wilson (Columbia River) 5-1.