TACOMA — Sydnee Boothby gave the Class 2A girls 1,600 meters all she could and more.
“I put everything I had into it,” she said.
The Washougal High senior did what she always likes to do on the track: lead a race from the start, and in the case of the first day of the Class 4A/3A/2A state track and field championship Thursday at Mount Tahoma Stadium, she led by a wide margin, too.
Boothby impressed the crowd with a lead as wide as 50 meters two laps in. Then, the roar of the crowd again grew as Anacortes’ Jessica Frydenlund chased Boothby down in the final meters, and took the lead for good at 40 meters to the finish to edge Boothby for the state title.
Frydenlund finished in 4:59.87. Boothby’s runner-up time was 5:01.30, a personal-best and school-record time. Teammate Jamie Maas placed fifth (5:11.12).
But those last several meters of the race? Boothby recalls it in full detail.
“I was pushing it like I always do,” she said, “and trying to kick it as fast as I always do. I knew (Frydenlund) would bring a good finish to it. I tried my best, but her kick is fantastic. I couldn’t beat her no matter how hard I tried.”
There’s familiar history with the two, too. At state cross country in the fall, Frydenlund finished second and Boothby was third in Pasco.
And it won’t be the last time they face off on the track at state this weekend, either.
Thursday was part of a busy weekend for Boothby. About 90 minutes after the 1,600, Boothby anchored the Panthers’ 1,600 relay team to a season-best in the preliminaries. She’ll also tackle the 800 on Friday and depending how that ends up, could run in the 800 final in addition to her 3,200 final on Saturday.
A busy schedule isn’t a problem for Boothby.
“I’m pretty excited,” she said. “I’m used to doing them all in one day. Having them spread out over three days is a really nice change of pace. I’m ready for it.”
DEJONG RUNNER UP IN 2A DISCUS — The week of practice leading up to state was up and down for Columbia River junior Logan DeJong.
DeJong, however, picked the right place — and the right throw — to hit her peak in the 2A girls discus competition. Her throw of 115 feet, 1 inch earned her a runner-up finish behind winner Sara Leasiolgai of Olympic (116-10).
“I’m thrilled,” DeJong said. “I’m glad I was able to finish on a high and throw the second-best throw of my life. All these girls are amazing and the competition was fantastic.”
In fact, DeJong’s had plenty of quality, competitive competition all spring from Southwest Washington. Entering Thursday, four of the five top marks in 2A this spring came from throwers in the 2A Greater St. Helens League. At one point, DeJong was the state leader.
Having that quality competition all season gave DeJong a boost at state, she said.
“It prepared me mentally and having such great competition the whole season was definitely good preparation for the meet,” she said, “The girls (in the 2A GSHL are amazing and I’ve grown to be really close with them. It makes it really easy to relax, have fun and throw far.”
Thursday, DeJong found herself in fourth place after the first round of finals, but popped her 115-1 on her fifth throw to climb to second place. It’s the best finish by River in the girls discus since Anna Adamko won the 3A competition in 2010.
AROUND THE TRACK — Kelso’s Josie Settle had the fastest preliminary time in the 3A girls 100 hurdles (14.66) to lower her own school-record time. She’s also the defending 3A triple jump state champion, an event she’ll compete in Saturday. … Ridgefield’s Isaiah Cowley lowered his season-best time by two-tenths in the 110 hurdles (14.69) to win his prelim. His time was second-best to Squalicum’s Andre Korbmacher, whose 13.80 set a meet record. He also owns the nation’s sixth-fastest time this spring. Cowley’s teammate, Landon Kelsey, placed third in the long jump (21-4.25). … Camas’ girls 1,600 relay, which has the state’s top time this spring, ran a personal-best 3:58.35 in the preliminaries to advance to Saturday’s final. It’s the third time this spring Camas ran a sub-4-minute time. … Union’s Rose Lappavong reached the podium in the 4A triple jump, placing eighth (35-5.75).
