TACOMA — One of the lowest moments of Daniel Maton’s track and field season helped provide the necessary fuel for a career-best time, another state title, and a place in state history.
Like he’s done twice on the state-meet stage, the Camas High senior captured Class 4A’s boys 1,600-meter title Thursday at the opening day of the 4A/3A/2A state meet at Mount Tahoma Stadium. In doing so, he set a career-best time of 4 minutes, 6.04 seconds and also called it the best four-lap race of his state-meet career. He bested Joe Waskom of Mt. Si, who finished second in 4:06.64.
Maton joined Ridgefield’s Trey Knight (2A boys shot put) as Clark County’s athletes to repeat as a state champion Thursday.
Maton, who will run next season at the University of Washington, becomes 4A’s first-ever three-time champion in the 1,600 meters/mile before 1979. He joins Wenatchee’s Rufus Kiser (1924-26), who won three titles in the mile as the only large-school runners with three titles. Five runners have done so at the 1A, 2B or 1B level.
Maton didn’t know of his place in state history until Thursday.
“That’s awesome,” he said. “It shows a lot about my consistency, and that I can keep going at it.”
But Maton said he felt the pressures of being a multi-year state champion before jumping to the starting line at Mount Tahoma Stadium. And his winning time is the fastest ran at a state meet across all classifications since Auburn Riverside’s Carl Moe ran a 4A meet-record 4:05.09 in 2003. Camas teammates Jackson Lyne and Sam Geiger placed ninth and 11th, respectively Thursday.
Maton called Thursday’s race the hardest of all his state races because of the added pressure, but yet, the most rewarding, too.
He took the lead from the field for good with 600 meters to go, and although Waskom and Woodinville’s Luke Houser made up the final trio pack, Maton held off for a career-best time. He ran a 4:07.50 in his 2018 title last spring.
“I felt like I had to win,” Maton said. “It felt so good to see no one in front of me.”
A month earlier at the prestigious Nike/Jesuit Twilight Relays in Portland, Maton placed 11th in an elite-mile race he won as a junior. The race last month featured familiar faces from Thursday’s 1,600 meters.
That fueled Maton, who also ran in Camas’ heat-winning 4×400 relay preliminary to qualify for Saturday’s final. He also is the two-time defending 4A 800 champion and runs in Friday’s preliminaries.
Thursday set him up perfectly for that, he said.
“I’m definitely more confident in the 800 this year,” he said.
Knight saves best for last in shot
Knight, a junior at Ridgefield, hasn’t lost a high school shot put competition since placing second at state as a freshman in 2017.
But Thursday, he still saved his best for last.
He bested his 61-foot throw in the preliminaries to 63 feet, 4 inches on his final attempt to win by more than 8 feet.
Knight’s season best is 63-5 1/2 inches thrown in March. No athlete has thrown 60-plus feet against Knight this spring, but Thursday’s state meet gave Knight an extra edge. A number of throwers hit personal-best marks and six throwers over 50 feet. Jackson Gibbon of White River finished second and district-rival Tyler Gilliland was third.
That gave Knight a little more energy, and not just because it’s the state meet, he said.
“It’s always good to have people close to you,” Knight said, “and push you.”
Knight also is the defending 2A discus champion. That competition is 1:40 p.m. Friday.
Other notable performances
• Woodland’s Tyler Flanagan had the fifth-fastest 2A 110 hurdle preliminary time Thursday to advance to Friday’s final.
• Battle Ground’s Trent Thompson, 4A’s leader in the javelin entering the state meet, placed third tying his career-best of 191-4. Union’s Jackson Saylor placed seventh.
• Camas’ 4×400 relay team won its heat with the second-fastest time to advance to the finals.
• Union’s Andres Solorzano-Jones placed fourth in the 4A boys high jump (6-4).
• Ridgefield’s Kyle Radosevich placed fourth in the 2A boys 1,600.
