POULSBO — It was a windy, cold and, at times, wet day for track and field athletes competing at North Kitsap High School on March 22. Still, that didn’t keep runners, throwers and jumpers from performing well at the meet.
The North Kitsap boys nearly took first place in every sprinting or long-distance event at the quad meet with Bremerton, Port Angeles and Chimacum.
Junior Clayton Williams finished first in the 100-meter with a time of 11.90 while Andrew Blackmore tied for second with 12.10 and Joel Ingram took fourth at 12.40.
In the 200-meter run, Vikings Nolan Patefield and Adam Parrish finished first and second respectively with times of 25.37 and 25.75 seconds.
The North Kitsap boys also finished first in both team relay events on the day. In the 4×100, Williams, Blackmore, Ingram and Joshua Stackhouse combined for a 46.33 while Jared Castillo, Parrish, De Guzman and Daniel Castro were right behind them at 47.63.
Even closer was the girls 4×100 relay in which North Kitsap’s Hailey Walker, Sarah Osmanson, Erika Reynolds and Lauren Weins posted a final time of 56.61, just ahead of the Port Angeles foursome (56.86). The girls 4×200 team of Maia Larsen, Erica Bigelow, Alyssa Cullen and Raelee Moore took first in the 4×200 relay, but the Roughriders prevailed the 4×400.
Vikings senior Ryan Brooks recorded a 43-01 1/2 throw in the shot put to take first in that event while junior Robert Shipp took care of discus with a measurement of 131-05.
North Kitsap freshman Alexandra Payne took first in shot put with 33-06. She didn’t stop there. Payne had eight more feet on her discus throw than the next finisher to take first in that event as well.
For Bremerton, junior Tyishea McWhorter dominated the sprinting events. She crossed the finish line with a time of 13.20 in the 100-meter and 27.47 in the 200-meter. McWhorter then took first in the girls long jump and triple jump events. She said the only thing going through her mind during those races was to “just finish.”
“It felt good,” she said. “It felt really easy, like a breeze. And I didn’t stress it at all. I knew since we’d have more awful-ish weather, that I’d take it easy and not try to stress myself this early in the season.”
That was a theme amongst her teammates as well. Junior sprinter Jordan Brown finished the boys 100 with a time of 13.06, and he said although he was nervous, his nose was dripping and his legs were freezing up, he intended to compete as best he could. Brown also took seventh in the 200.
“It’s very tiring,” he said. “But man, it’s my first meet [of the year]. We’ve got a lot of meets to go and I know I’ll be ready for the other ones.”
Knights junior Jesse Smith took home top honors in the pole vault with a leap of 11-06. Smith said the inclement weather can definitely make it difficult — especially if you have multiple events in which to participate. Smith also finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles.
Bremerton junior Aziah Hassan (57.32) won the 400-meter run, edging out North Kitsap sophomore Aaron De Guzman in the 400-meter by a little more than half a second (57.92).
— Jacob Moore is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. Contact him at jmoore@soundpublishing.com.
