TACOMA — Twin sisters. Twin state champions.
Jai’lyn and Dai’lyn Merriweather now have more in common than DNA. The identical twins from Union each have a state track and field championship.
Jai’lyn won the Class 4A 400 meters Saturday at the state track and field meet. About an hour later, Dai’lyn triumphed in the 200 meters at Mount Tahoma High School.
It was hard to tell what excited the Merriweathers more – winning or watching the other win.
“When (Jai’lyn) was running, I was screaming my lungs out,” Dai’lyn said. “After seeing her win, I was almost in tears.”
But as identical as the sisters are, their victories Saturday were far from alike.
Jai’lyn entered the 400 as the fastest qualifier. She ran smoothly for the first 200 meters, then pulled away from Issaquah’s Nikki Stephens to win in a personal-best time of 54.73 seconds.
Dai’lyn was the third-fastest qualifier in a 200 meter race expected to be won by Tahoma’s Olivia Ribera, who owns the fastest time in the state this season (24.62 seconds).
With 100 meters to go, Dai’lyn was in sixth place and several feet behind the leaders.
Then her legs entered another realm of physics. Dai’lyn’s stride lengthened, her arms sliced through the air and her head bobbed as she jetted past Ribera right before the finish line. She finished in 24.87 seconds, a personal best.
“I always like that extra surge,” she said. “Coming off the curve, I felt really good.”
But if Dai’lyn’s race was like lightning, Jai’lyn’s race took a thunderous toll on her.
“I felt good but I’m not going to lie, it was painful,” Jai’lyn said. “I pushed really hard. Once I passed the other girl, I didn’t know how far back she was. So I just said ‘go, go, keep going and don’t stop.'”
Dai’lyn said her coach promised to buy the sisters Blizzards if they won on Saturday.
Better make that a double. Which flavor?
“All of them,” Dai’lyn said, laughing. “I love ice cream.”
Lofstead sets record in pole vault
Caleigh Lofstead of Camas had hoped to become state pole vault champion. She can now call herself that and more – a state meet record holder.
Lofstead cleared 12 feet 7 inches to set a 4A state meet record. That was 10 inches higher than anyone else.
“Just winning was the goal,” the junior said. “I didn’t expect to come out here and get the meet record.”
Lofstead has now made her mark on the state meet’s newest sport that has seen records being consistently raised over its 16 years.
After focusing on gymnastics as a child, Lofstead began vaulting in eighth grade.
“It’s such a fun sport,” she said. “I always heard gymnasts make good pole vaulters … Gymnastics definitely helps with your body awareness, but there’s still a lot you have to learn.”
Fast freshmen
Two freshman sprinters were unfazed by the size and pressure of the state meet. Prairie’s Kaylin Sperley finished second in the 3A 100 meters. Jewell Paden of Heritage placed fourth in the 4A 100 meters.
“I was a little disappointed from yesterday,” Sperley said of the preliminaries. “I wanted to show everyone that I belong here.”
Paden also put any doubt aside that she belongs among the state’s best.
“This is one of the biggest meets I’ve been too,” Paden said. “Competing against upperclassmen was nerve-racking. I had to pull myself together and do what I needed to do.”
• Despite being sidelined by injury for much of the season, Hudson’s Bay junior Erykah Weems placed fifth in the 300 hurdles.
Weems suffered a stress fracture in her left foot at the beginning of the season. She didn’t race until the final meet before sub-districts on May 5.
“It was hard, but I’m a hard worker,” Weems said. “I like to get stuff done. I don’t like just watching other people do stuff that I can do myself. So it was a hard time, but I overcame.”
