At league meet at home, track and field stars shine

There was lots of action for spectators to keep up with, and several island athletes set personal bests.

April 5, 2023 1:30 am
Freshman Emily Harrington, an instant before exploding out of the blocks in the girls 400-meter dash (John Decker Photo).
Freshman Emily Harrington, an instant before exploding out of the blocks in the girls 400-meter dash (John Decker Photo).

On Tuesday, March 28, the Pirates Track and Field team hosted six other Nisqually League teams at the VHS Stadium.

There was lots of action for spectators to keep up with — from the discus, shot put, and javelin contests that took place in the throwers’ plaza, to the acrobatic aerial show known as the pole vault. There were also jumping events along with sprints, distance and relay events to be taken in — a lot to keep up with for those observing from the grandstand.

When all of the eighteen different events concluded, the VHS boys had finished in sixth place in the team scoring, with 52 points — only 28 points behind second-place Klahowya. The girls finished in second place out of six teams, with 156 team points — only 22 points away from the meet winner Bellevue Christian.

Highlights for the boys’ team included Bodie Thomas winning both the 1600 meters, in 4:36 minutes, and the 3200 meters, in 9:55 minutes. Holland Moore set a personal best in the 400 meters in 57.29 seconds.

Christain Kincade set his personal best mark in the 1600, with a time of 5:10 minutes, and in the 300-meter hurdles, in 52.12 seconds. Alec Pottinger took fifth place in the discus, with a throw of 107 feet.

Dominic Medeiros set a personal best in both discus, at 79-feet-four-inches, and javelin, at 85-feet-four-inches.

Highlights for the girls’ team included the 4×100 meter relay — they won with a time of 52.79 seconds.

The team included Lena Puz, Annabelle Moeckel, Ameila Medeiros, and Alana Bass.

Medeiros also took first place in the discus, with a personal best throw of 105-feet-9-inches. Bass also took first in the 200 meters in 27.17 seconds, and the 400 meters with a personal best time of 60.86 seconds. She additionally won the long jump, with a leap of 16-feet-1-inch.

Puz also placed first in the shot put, with a mark of 30 feet. Madeline Yarkin took second in the 1600 meters, in a time of 5:44 minutes. Yarkin was followed by Cecelia Guenther, in third place, who smashed her personal record with a time of 5:57 minutes. Kiara Bartell took first place in the high jump with a leap of 4-feet-4 inches.

The team’s next meet will be on April 12, at Charles Wright Academy with four other Nisqually League schools.

Kevin Ross is the head coach of Vashon High School Track and Field.