No amount of rain could slow down the South Kitsap Wolves April 20 as both the boys and girls track teams took victories on their home ground against Kitsap County-foe Central Kitsap.
To say that it was an afternoon not suitable for any personal bests was an understatement. Pools of water could be seen around Kitsap Bank Stadium as chilly temperatures mixed with a constant falling of rain created miserable conditions for the athletes. Field events were no better, as event personnel could be seen working with leaf blowers to clear the discus ring of water.
While that lowered the normal expectations for even South Kitsap’s best track stars, it was still a productive day for the teams.
The women got a big boost in points in sweeping the shot put and discus events, led by top thrower junior Grace Degarimore, who also took first place in discus in the South Sound Classic the previous weekend. South Kitsap also took all nine points in the javelin, as the Wolves were the only team to enter. Junior Rylee Filbert took the win with a throw of 85 feet, 9 inches.
With no hurdlers entered, the Wolves needed to perform well in the running events to hold their lead. They did just that with sophomore Cheyanne Barker getting the Wolves’ first win of the afternoon in the 100-meter dash, finishing in 13.3 seconds. Two long-distance runners also took first place for South Kitsap, freshman Julia Blackwell in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 40.01 seconds) and sophomore Lauren Laws in the 1600 meters (5:25.62).
The girls were able to hold on in the end, securing a slim 47-43 win.
The boys, meanwhile, won by a little larger margin but not much—just 54-42.
Senior Riley Smith continued to improve his mark in shot put, winning with a personal best throw of 47-2, and senior Xander Austin took a convincing win in the javelin with a 132-7 throw. In the long jump, junior Jorden Lee took his second win of the year with a distance of 18-9.5.
Lee took another win in the 100 meters, which his team swept. Junior Wilson Lawson ran a personal best of 55.04 in the 400 meters, and sophomore Jefferson Smith continued his dominance of the 1600 meters with a time of 4:38.04, less than two seconds off his season record.
The Wolves’ final home duel of the year is scheduled for May 4 against Puyallup.
