All-Region boys track and field athlete of year: Lexington Reese

Joshua Bischoff, Jr., Washougal

Peyton -Fredrickson, Sr., Skyview

Silas Griffith, So., Ridgefield

Ryan Gunther Sr., Camas

Kaden -Harbertson Sr., Skyview

Bailey King, Jr., Union

Steven McCombs Sr., King’s Way

Jacob Ringold, Sr., Col. River

Quentin Sills, Sr., Hockinson

Eli Whitmire, Sr., Woodland

Tupre Wickliff Sr., Evergreen

When Lexington Reese first joined Mountain View’s track and field team as a junior, it was simply to get stronger and faster for football.

Fast forward one year. Reese couldn’t imagine not throwing the javelin.

Yet after suffering a broken wrist that required surgery during football season, Reese was unsure if he’d be able to throw by this spring.

His goal of improving on his fourth-place finish at the state meet was hanging by a thread.

“It was super tough,” Reese said. “It was like having something within your reach, then having it taken out of your reach.”

Not only did Reese’s wrist heal in time for track, his javelin marks were among the state’s best for most of the season. At the state meet last month, the senior capped his high school career by finishing third in Class 4A.

For his accomplishments. Reese is The Columbian’s All-Region boys track and field athlete of the year.

When he was injured during Mountain View’s sixth game of the football season, Reese did not think his throwing wrist was broken.

In fact, the quarterback played the rest of that game on Oct. 10.

But in the following days, the pain did not subside and the swelling increased. X-rays confirmed the fracture. Surgery followed, and Reese spent the next eight weeks in a cast.

After the cast came off, it would be several weeks before he would throw again. Though he strengthened his legs and core muscles in the weight room, Reese was unsure what would happen when he actually had a javelin in his hand.

“I watched videos of me throwing last year. I was in shock I was able to even throw like that,” he said. “It’s amazing throwing something over 190 feet.”

Working with Gresham, Ore.-based coach Scott Halley, Reese did drills for three weeks before even attempting to throw.

Once he did, Reese said it took several times of running past the foul line, javelin in hand, before he mustered the courage to let it fly.

He credits his intensely competitive nature for that.

“In everything I’ve ever done in athletics, I’ve always been a super-hard worker,” Reese said. “I try to be the best that I possibly can.”