Lady Panthers race to top spot of area junior highs

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, June 7, 2006

SILVERDALE — The junior high league track meet got off to a rainy start June 1, but Poulsbo’s Lady Panthers ended it with a screaming, jumping, hugging bus ride full of sunshine.

All 10 of the Kitsap area junior high schools gathered on the gray day at Silverdale Stadium, as athletes matched wits with the best of the best, hoping to reach their individual bests in the championship finals.

The Lady Panthers’ hopes were realized as coach Lee Hodin said “some outstanding individual performances and gutsy relay endeavors” combined to cinch the championship.

Poulsbo won the girls’ team title with 90 points ahead of Central Kitsap, which finished with 80, and Ridgetop, which came in third with 70. Kingston’s Lady Cavaliers placed seventh with 42 points.

“Wow! It is amazing,” PJH ninth grader and team captain Shauna Williams said of being crowned team champs. “I never would’ve expected it coming into the season, we were pretty raw this year.”

From a somewhat crude beginning, the Lady Panthers molded themselves into a family as encouragement drove the will to succeed. Williams cited team unity and hard work ethic, two paramount values the team had honed all season, as qualities that helped boost Poulsbo to the championship.

Freshman Siara Byers also gave quite a lift as she picked up two individual titles, and subsequently 20 team points, on the short track.

In the quickest race of the meet, Byers time of 8.58 seconds beat Bremerton’s Brooke Erickson by 1/10th of a second in the 60M dash. Then in the 100M dash, Byers was 1/10th of a second in front of Sedgwick’s Alyssa Albitt with a time of 13.57 seconds.

Allison Howe contributed to the Panther team cause in both events grabbing third place in the 60M and fourth in the 100M.

Ruby Roberts led the Kingston Lady Cavaliers with top tier performances on the distance track as she championed the 1600M field with a time of 5:27.02. In the 400M run, Roberts claimed second place in a neck-and-neck, nail-biter finish against Christin Woldberg of Ridgetop. Woldberg ended with a time of 1:03.91 while Roberts came in 1:03.97.

In the field, PJH’s Kelle Taplin (discus) and Michelle Lloyd (turbo jav) tossed their way to titles, while Lady Panther Lindsay Kocker leapt to a second place finish in the long jump.

“I think the best part was having everyone cheering for everyone else,” Taplin said. “Even though my event was off to the side, my teammates came up and were cheering me on, then we’d all go and congratulate all of the runners … the entire atmosphere was positive.”

Positivity is usually conducive to improvements, and in Taplin’s case, the electric atmosphere of the league meet sparked her best discus throw of the season at 87-09 for first place. Kingston’s Anika Kramberger finished second with a throw of 75-10.

“It was a little weird because last year, I didn’t even qualify for league,” Taplin said, noting that this year she beat her personal best throw by six feet in the league meet. “I’m glad that I got to end my junior high track season with that kind of a win.”

The Lady Panthers, as a whole, were elated to end the season on a first place note. Multiple individual successes, added with a second place finish in the 4x200M relay and a third place finish in the 4x100M relay equaled a sunny afternoon for Poulsbo.

“It was pretty crazy on the bus for the ladies,” Williams said of the ride back to Poulsbo. “We just had a great season. We worked really hard and we accomplished every goal we set out; I’m so proud of everyone.”

GRAY BOX

Boys results

Team: Central Kitsap 125, Marcus Whitman 84, Sedgwick 65, Kingston 52, Cedar Heights 51, Ridgetop 35, Fairview 34.5, Poulsbo 30, Bremerton 10.5, Oakland Bay 9

Kingston’s top finishers:

Discus

1. Ben Swartzwelter 136-03.75 Champion

3. Alex Van Deen 116-00.25

Shot put

4. Alex Van Deen 41-06

Long Jump

2. Taylor Chisholm 17-06.5

High Jump

3. Doug Vogel 5-06

4x200M Relay

3. Kingston 1:42.88

200M Hurdles

5. Josh Byers 28.33 seconds

75M Hurdles

2. Josh Byers 11.96 seconds

60M Dash

5. Taylor Chisholm 7.96 seconds

Poulsbo’s top finishers:

Turbo Javelin

2. Glenn Runnels 157-02

3. Eli Young 149-00

Shot Put

5. Bradley Deshano 40-11

Long Jump

6. Jaecen Avery 15-01.5

4x200M Relay

5. Poulsbo 1:44.79

4x100M Relay

4. Poulsbo 48.50 seconds

75M Hurdles

5. Blake Mackie-Baker 12.66 seconds

6. Matthew Peters 12.99 seconds

1600M Run

6. Tyler Spear 5:05.59

800M Run

5. Max Tomlinson 2:14.93

6. Tyler Spear 2:16.80