3A/4A District Track: Mickenham sparks Prairie to boys title

In the tense, quiet few seconds before the starter’s pistol fires, Nolan Mickenham finds peace.

“Just clear my mind,” he said. “Try not to think about anything and hear that sound.”

It’s a stark contrast to the furious pace Mickenham sets once that gun fires. The junior from Prairie blazed through the sprinting events at the 3A/4A District 4 Track and Field Championships at McKenzie Stadium.

Mickenham’s winning time Thursday in the 200 meters was a personal best of 22.57 seconds, 1.4 seconds faster than the second-place runner. It came on the heels of a similarly dominant showing the previous day in the 100 meters, which he won by a half-second.

Mickenham helped Prairie cruise to the 3A boys team title with 176 points, 60 ahead of Kelso.

The 4A boys title came down to the last event. Camas won the 1,600 relay, putting the Papermakers a half point ahead of Union, 114-113.5.

William Sun of Camas had a dominant district meet in the hurdles. One day after winning the 110 hurdles, he cruised to the 4A title in the 300 hurdles. His season-best time of 40.42 seconds won by more than a second.

As the stakes rise, the fine-tuning begins, especially for hurdlers like Sun.

“We start moving into more technical stuff,” he said. “We’re cutting down the quantity of workouts, so I feel a lot better going into those meets.”

Daniel Maton won one of Thursday’s most-anticipated races, the 4A 800 meters. The reigning state champion bested Heritage junior Ryan Cibart, who owns the second-fastest time in 4A statewide this season. Maton led from the start, eventually winning by about 20 meters in 1:53.91.

“I didn’t know how fast I was going to have to go,” Maton said. “But I knew I’d have to go pretty quick, which is fun for me. It’s nice to have another guy that’s quick.”

Each event’s top three finishers in 4A and top four in 3A advance to the bi-district meets next weekend. The state championships follow May 24-26 in Tacoma.

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD
4A District Meet
At McKenzie Stadium
Thursday’s finals
Bi-district qualifiers (top 3)
Team scores — Camas 114, Union 113.5, Skyview 77.5, Heritage 31, Battle Ground 17.
200 — 1, Jack Thomas (S) 22.13; 2, Blake Deringer (C) 22.28; 3, Zachary Terry (C) 22.61.
800 — 1, Daniel Maton (C) 1:53.91; 2, Ryan Cibart (H) 1:57.50; 3, Bruce Erickson (S) 2:00.17.
3200 — 1, David Connell (C) 9:23.09; 2, LJ Floyd (C) 9:30.18; 3, Spencer Twyman (C) 9:49.53.
300 hurdles — 1, William Sun (C) 40.42; 2, Zach Maier (S) 41.16; 3, Cason Shepard (U) 42.26.
1600 relay — 1, Camas (Mason Gross, Bryce Leighton, William Schultz, Daniel Maton) 3:27.92; 2, Heritage 3:30.05; 3, Skyview 3:34.29.
Discus — 1, Zion Faaopega (U) 138-0; 2, Victor Naumov (U) 134-1; Christopher Barron (S) 133-6.
Long jump — 1, Cody Laxson (U) 22-0; 2, Weslie Tran (U) 21-1.5; 3, Willie Tran (U) 20-11.5.
High jump — 1, Ethan Gould (S) 6-2; 2, Andres Solorzano-Jones 6-0; 3, Jaxon Milligan (U) 5-8.

3A District Meet
At McKenzie Stadium
Thursday’s finals
Bi-district qualifiers (top 4)
Team scores — Prairie 176, Kelso 116, Mountain View 84, Evergreen 80, Hudson’s Bay 57, Fort Vancouver 6.
200 — 1, Nolan Mickenham (P) 22.57; 2, Aaron Marshall Jr. (E) 23.97; 3, Sam Chhim (K) 24.23; 4, Miguel Cruz (E) 24.45.
800 — 1, Colten Jorgenson (K) 2:03.29; 2, William Sanborn (P) 2:06.57; 3, Brandon Phillips (P) 2:07.23; 4, John Sesay (FV) 2:07.33.
3200 — 1, Luke Lund (P) 10:01.76; 2, Shun Yamaguchi (MV) 10:02.48; 3, Ryan Ransom (K) 10:32.69; 4, Jimmy Peabody (K) 10:35.43.
300 hurdles — 1, Jeremy Harju (E) 39.93; 2, Caleb Sagert (P) 40.69; 3, Jett Pharn Cromb (P) 41.43; 4, Dylon Ward (K) 42.28.
1600 relay — 1, Prairie (William Sanborn, Hezekiah Dixson, Ian Davis, Payton Millet) 3:35.21; 2, Kelso 3:36.38; 3, Evergreen 3:44.34; 4, Hudson’s Bay 3:49.98.
Discus — 1, Daniel Furcron (MV) 140-7; 2, Todd Johanson (K) 134-0; 3, Devin Ciobanu (E) 130-2; 4, Angel Terry (HB) 127-3.
Long jump — 1, Glen Perry (MV) 21-6; 2, Sam Chhim (K) 21-4; 3, Gage Bloomfeldt (K) 21-3; Tresean Foreman (MV) 20-5.5.
High jump — 1, Wyatt Prutch (HB) 5-10; 2, Jaden Lewis (HB) 5-8; 3, Jerrin Hunter (E) 5-6; 4, Abraham Dixson (P) 5-6.