The first night of the 2A, 3A, 4A Washington Track
and Field Championships at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma was filled with
great races, as the 3200 meter finals were run under clear and calm skies. The races
themselves were far from clear and calm as they featured thunderous kicks,
record breaking performances and an upset.
The action got underway with Sanne Holland(Cheney) and
Brittany Gappa(Squalicum) battling it out for not only the state title, but who
would break the 2A Meet record. Holland prevailed in the end and broke Shannon
Porters record of 10:50 from 2007 with a 10:48.40. Both Gappa, who ran 10:51.07
for 2nd, and Holland are juniors so last night’s record may not last beyond next
year.
Gappa’s teammate Patrick Gibson(Squalicum) took on perhaps
the biggest distance name at the meet as he would battle Marcus Dickson(White
River) for the 2A Boys title. Dickson, who has the 2nd fastest 1600
meter time in the US, would be attempting a run to 4 state titles this
weekend. Gibson, who is junior and hopes to run under 9:00 in the next 12 months,
took off at a swift clip, kept the pace honest and forced Dickson to the edge
of his range. Dickson, who was out matched, finished 2nd after Gibson picked up the
pace in the last 1600 meters. Both athletes were under the 2A Meet record of 9:05.88 by Kris
Kwiatkowski from 2007 with Dickson at 9:04.9 and Gibson, who slashed close to 6 seconds off his personal best, at 9:01.86 to claim the state record, the win and in many eyes the upset victory.
In an evening of very close races, Katie Knight(North
Central) enjoyed the largest margin of victory as she won the 3A title by over
20 seconds with a time of 10:27:49. Knight, a junior, had the fastest time of
all division finals on Thursday night and was followed across the line by Katie
Bianchini of Glacier Peak, who is also a junior in 10:51.03. Knight will also
run try to run to state title at 1600 meters on Saturday.
The Boys 3A 3200 meter title looked to be decided before the
last lap as Nathan Weitz(Shadle Park) separated himself from the rest of the
field and was comfortably on sub 9:00 pace. As the bell rang sophomore Joe
Hardy(Seattle Prep) had other ideas started to pick up his pace and close Weitz’s
lead. With 300meters to go it still looked like the winner was clear, but Hardy
found another gear and started gaining ground with every stride. Closing in
what appeared to be closer to 1600 pace than 3200 pace, the sophomore over took
a struggling Weitz in the last 200 with a brilliant kick and appeared to ease
up in the last 25 meters. Hardy, not only kicked to a state title, but he broke
the 29 year old 3A Meet record of 8:55.86 set by Karl Van Calcar with an
8:55.22 clocking.
The closest race of the night was for the girl’s 4A title as
Chandler Olson(Woodinville) and Jordan McPhee(Mt. Rainier) put on the battle
that left all the seniors off the pace. Olson, who is a junior, ended up only
beating McPhee, a sophomore, by a .01 as they posted times of 10:33.69 and
10:33.70. Last night’s race was a 12 second personal best for Olson. Both Olson
and McPhee will meet again at 1600 meters on Saturday.
In the last 3200 meter race of the night, Mead junior Andrew
Gardner used his vast experience from the last several state meets to help him race
to his first state track title. Gardner, was who 5th in 2011 and 2nd
in 2010, left nothing to chance as he ran a smart race by tucking in behind the
leaders for most of the race and then kicking for the win over the last 400
meters. Gardner, much like Hardy in the 3A race, put on display the idea that in
distance races you only have “one move”. Perfectly timed, Gardner’s kick
separated him from Jacob Smith(Wenatchee) and Conor McCandless(Gonzaga prep)
who ran impressive times of 9:01.96 and 9:03.60. In addition to winning a state
title, Gardner also set a new personal best(8:59.83) and ran under 9:00 for
3200 meters for the first time.
WIAA 2A, 3, 4A action continues today at Mt. Tahoma High
School in Tacoma with track events starting at 11:00 am. A full schedule of
events can be found here.
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