Griffin, Hill earn third-place finishes at state.

The Knights’ track and field caravan rolled into Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium for the 2008 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington State Track Meet hoping to return home with a little hardware.

And while Bremerton failed to bring home a gold, seniors Alex Griffin and Jacki Hill each captured bronze medals, ending their careers on the podium.

Griffin, running the 100- and 200-meter dashes in preliminaries, took third in the 100 finals after failing to qualify for the 200 finals, an event he hoped to run.

In the 100 prelims Griffin notched an 11.05-second time for third place, finishing behind winner Kinsley Ojukwu of Peninsula (10.91) and Rainier Beach’s Avimael Castro (11.04). The same three went first, second and third in the finals, with Griffin running 10.88, behind Ojukwu (10.73) and Castro (10.85).

In the 200 prelims, however, Griffin managed only 12th place at 22.67, four spots shy of qualifying. Ojukwu won the 200 finals, running 21.89.

Hill meanwhile ran the 200 and 400 in prelims, finishing ninth and third respectively. The ninth-place 200 finish (25.70) wasn’t good enough to qualify for finals.

But in the 400 prelims Hill came alive to finish third at 57.86, behind Newport’s Jasmine Cho (57.14) and Michelle Fero of Holy Names Academy (57.62).

Despite trimming her time to 57.40 in the finals, Hill still came away with third.

After breaking the school record at districts, the 100 relay team — Griffin, Jamiere Abney, Jamaree Wells and Chris Flemming — also reached the finals.

Posting an eighth-place time of 43.33 in prelims, the quartet entered finals hoping to motor to the podium with a faster time.

It did run faster, logging a 43.29, but settled for fifth. West Seattle’s team of Aaron Grymes, Markeem Adams, Christian Crain and Brandon Brown took gold at 42.74, the exact time Bremerton posted at districts.

Senior Angela Anderson competed in the pole vault, reaching the finals and placing 10th. She vaulted 10-foot flat, a season best.

In the boys javelin freshman Kyle Kennedy earned ninth on a 175-07 throw. Bellevue’s Robert Hintz took first at 192-06.

Anderson figures to vie for state medals in the coming years, with three years of eligibility remaining.

Hill, Griffin, Wells, Abney and Anderson are set to graduate in June, leaving Kennedy and Flemming as the lone state qualifiers to return next year.