The last few years, the Tiger Invite at Battle Ground has served as a season preview for the top track and field athletes in Southwest Washington.
If the results from Saturday are any indication, it’s going to be a pretty exciting spring for track in Southwest Washington.
And nowhere was that more evident than at the shot put ring where Skyview’s Connor Jensen, Mountain View’s Ethan Tonder and Ridgefield freshman Trey Knight outperformed the rest of the field by about 10 feet.
Jensen won the event with a throw of 58-9 1/2 . Tonder was second at 56- 3/4 and Knight was third at 55-9 3/4 .
But get this. Those weren’t even their best efforts of the week.
On Tuesday, Jensen broke the Skyview school record with a throw of 59-6 in a dual meet against Battle Ground. That is the best mark in the state by an athlete at any classification according to Athletic.net.
Tonder broke the Mountain View school record with a throw of 57-5 in a meet Tuesday against Fort Vancouver. That mark was not reported to Athletic.net — not exactly sure why. But if it had been, it would rank Tonder No. 2 among 3A athletes in the state.
And Knight had a throw of 57-8 in a meet against Mark Morris on Thursday, which ranks No. 1 among 2A athletes in the state. He also leads the state in 2A in the discus.
Also on Saturday, Union’s Trevor Bushman cleared 14-6 in the pole vault, which tied him for the best mark in the state this season and the best in 4A.
We also learned Saturday that the Merriweather twins at Union are really, really fast.
OK, I guess we already knew that.
But Dai’lyn Merriweather posted the fastest time in the state this season in the 200 meters in 24.45 seconds. Jai’lyn was fastest in the 400 in 56.28.
The twins teamed with Makayla Woods and Logan Nelson to run the state’s fastest mark and a Union school record in the 400 relay (48.42). And the twins, Woods and Brooklyn Jackson were fastest in the state in the 1,600 relay (3:59.47).
Earlier in the week, Camas’ Madison Peffers tied the state’s best mark this season in the high jump at 5-4.
Here are other locals who currently lead the state in their classification. Again this is according to Athletic.net as of Saturday night. And if your coach isn’t logging results into Athletic.net, please ask him or her “Why not?”
Boys: Daniel Maton, Camas (4A 800), Gavin Lee, Heritage (4A javelin), Silas Griffith, Ridgefield (2A 1,600 and 3,200), Justin Frahm, King’s Way Christian (1A 400), Jeremy Scott (1A 300 hurdles).
Girls: Emma Jenkins, Camas (4A 1,600), Alyssa Chapin, Hockinson (2A 100 hurdles), Julia Stepper, Woodland (2A long jump), Sarah Ellis, Columbia River (2A pole vault).
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
