TACOMA — Prairie’s Nolan Mickenham called Friday, the second day of the state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma Stadium, a good day.
The junior is in three Class 3A sprints finals, including anchoring the Falcons’ 4×100 relay team that’s seeded sixth for Saturday’s event final.
A good day might be even better for Saturday.
“I’m ready to come out and run,” the Prairie junior sprinter said. “It’s a good day to PR (personal record) at the state championships.”
Mickenham ran near-personal-best times to reach the 100 (10.98 seconds) and 200 (22.34) finals and also anchored the Falcons’ 4×100 relay that will have the sixth-fastest time of Saturday’s final.
Like Mickenham in 3A, Hockinson’s Micah Kinnunen will be busy in three 2A sprints finals (100, 200, 4×100 relay). He saved his best performance Friday for last — the 200. His blistering 21.84 prelim time gives him the top seed for Saturday.
“I found some energy in me,” said Kinnunen, whose ran his first-ever sub 22-second 200 Friday.
Kinnunen also anchored Hockinson’s 4×100 relay team that will be seeded second in Saturday’s final. The quartet of Davis Baker, Tony Richardson, Makaio Juarez and Kinnunen ran its first sub-43 time of the year — and 42.78 — seeded behind Cheney’s 42.52. Charles Johnson, 2A’s top sprinter who ran personal-bests 10.60 (100) and 21.66 (200) in last year’s state finals — will run the anchor leg for the Blackhawks. Kinnunen edged Johnson in Friday’s 200 prelim by 0.03 seconds.
The 4×100 relay continues to better its school record, but for Kinnunen, he said the team wants to continue lowering the time to “leave the biggest mark possible” for future sprinters to achieve.”
“It’s not about winning,” he said, “it’s more about setting the standards high for everyone else coming up in our school.”
Woodland’s Bishop, Union’s Laxson get second place
Woodland high jumper Alex Bishop had never attempted 6 feet 6 before Friday, yet that’s the height that gave the junior not only a new personal-best, but a runner-up finish in the 2A boys high jump. He placed third in 2017.
Two jumps before clearing a new personal-best that tied the school record, jumps coach Andrew Johnson shouted to Bishop his 6-4 jump was his best all year.
Then came 6-6, a jump Bishop later admitted he questioned if he’d get it.
“Once I landed on the mat and looked that the bar was still on,” he said, “I was excited.”
Had W.F. West’s Colby White not cleared 6-7 — a height Bishop and White jumped at as the final two competitors — Bishop would’ve been state champion based on fewer misses.
“It was a good day for me, though,” he said.
Competing at Mount Tahoma Stadium isn’t new for Union’s Cody Laxson, but reaching the podium is. The senior, who will jump for Mt. Hood Community College next season, ended his career with two medals in the 4A jumping events. He added a second-place finish in the triple jump after placing fifth in Thursday’s long jump.
“Being up there was pretty fun,” Laxson said.
And twice, no less. Friday, his 46-2.75 jump on his final attempt leaped Laxson from fourth to second a week after a 46-6 at regionals seeded him first at state.
Five area hurdlers place in finals
Before this spring, Prairie’s Valerie Schmidt probably would’ve said her favorite of the two hurdles races are the 300s.
“They were for the longest time,” she said.
Now, she leans toward the 100 hurdles, running the best of her career entering state. Friday, Schmidt placed fourth (15.40), also the highest state finish of her career.
She’ll also compete in Saturday’s 300 hurdles final after running a 46.03 preliminary time.
In that same 3A 100 hurdles final, Mountain View’s Katherine Kadrmas’ 15.60 placed her seventh. In a 4A 100 hurdle final featuring three nationally top 100 times, Camas freshman Lucy George placed sixth (14.72). Woodland’s Tyler Flanagan placed fifth in the 2A boys 110 hurdles final (15.53) and Hockinson’s Alyssa Chapin was seventh on the girls side (15.55).
AROUND THE TRACK: Camas’ Daniel Maton and Heritage’s Ryan Cibart went 1-2 in their 4A 800 preliminary. Both advance to Saturday’s final in a race where Maton is the defending state champion. … Camas’ Blake Deringer, who made his first regionals appearance this spring, will race in Saturday’s 4A boys 100 and 200 finals. … Skyview will have two athletes (Krystal Kaufman, 4A girls 800; Jack Thomas, 4A boys 400) and its relay in Saturday’s finals. Fort Vancouver’s Mark Koryagin won the boys wheelchair shot put and javelin titles. His shot put mark of 21-8.50 is a new meet record. Teammate Lincoln Glick won the boys ambulatory discus.
