Mount Si girls track team grabs district championship
May 27, 2009
By Ryan Piersol
Two down, one to go.
A week after capturing the league championship, the Mount Si girls track and field team nabbed a Class 3A District title at the Sea-King Championships at the Southwest Complex in Seattle May 22.
Mount Si won three individual events and finished with 120 points, beating out runner-up Rainier Beach by an impressive 38 points. It was the third district title in school history for the Wildcats.
“We expected to be competitive for the league, right from the beginning of the season. But now they’ve exceeded expectations,” head coach Dave Clifford said. “I knew that we would be up there and the kids just performed really well.”
Mount Si’s other district titles came in 1996 and 1997. The latter one was followed by the program’s only state championship.
Going into this week’s state meet — scheduled for May 28-30 at Mount Tahoma High School — the Wildcats are not a favorite, despite their recent success. Still, Mount Si could win some individual state titles and looks to have a solid shot at finishing in the top five overall.
“There are a lot of good 3A teams, but we could sneak in for a trophy. It’s going to be tough,” Clifford said. “Diana Keller is probably the odds-on favorite to win the 100 hurdles and Georgia Reynolds is up there in the pole vault.”
At districts, Keller turned in a personal-best time in the 100-meter dash for the second straight week. Her time of 14.74 in the finals was a winning time.
The Wildcats also had a pair of event winners in the field. Kelly Besmer took home first in the javelin with a toss of 113 feet, 5 inches, while Reynolds won the pole vault with a vault of 10 feet.
After that came a slew of second-place finishes by Mount Si — Corina Linder in the discus, Helen Hasbun in the long jump and Nikki Stanton, Natalie Opsvig, Hannah Hasbun and Helen Hasbun in the 800-meter relay.
Both Hasbuns, Stanton and Keller also teamed up to place third in the 400-meter relay. Other third-place finishes included Helen Hasbun in the 200-meter run, Hannah Hasbun in the 300-meter hurdles and Molly Meyers in both the shot put and javelin.
Seattle Prep won the boys meet with 103 points, although Mount Si did score 63 points to place sixth overall.
Brandon Roddewig had another big day for the Wildcats, winning the pole vault with a vault of 14 feet. The senior also took second in the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches.
Kyle Stevens placed second in the javelin with a toss of 185 feet, 10 inches, while Ryan Ransavage placed the same in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet 6 inches. Zach Storm was fourth in the javelin.
Chad Makela had Mount Si’s best run of the day, taking third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.66. Roddewig also had a top-10 finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
