Most girls take perhaps five hours to get ready for their high school prom. But AnnaMarie Forza, a senior at Enumclaw High School, did not have that luxury. Instead, she had about 30 minutes to get ready for the end-of-the-year dance.

She and Zach Mason, a junior at EHS, competed Saturday at the Washington State Combined Event Track Championships – the same day as prom – so Forza and Mason, who attended the dance together, had to scurry out of the locker rooms garbed in their dance attire as quickly as possible in order to make it to the dance in Seattle on time.

“I think it’s really neat that these kids are trying this,” Zach Mason’s mother, Jayne Mason, said.

For Forza, Saturday was not her first time at the Washington State Combined Event Track Championships. She competed as a sophomore, taking third overall. Saturday, Mason placed 18th in a field of 48.

Mason and Forza have been friends for about three years. They first met when Mason was a freshman on the track team and Forza was a sophomore. Both are involved in other sports at Enumclaw High School. Mason is a wide receiver for the Hornets’ football team and Forza cheers on the Hornets on the sideline as part of the cheer squad.

“The fact that my son, Derek, was on the cheer squad was enough inspiration for AnnaMarie to join the squad when she had the chance,” Pat said.

Concerning the Washington State Combined Event Track Championships, the boys and girls competed in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively. The decathlon is made up of 10 events. On the first day, boys competed in the 100-meter dash, long jump, shotput, high jump and the 400-meter dash. On the second day, the events were the 110=meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500-meter run.

The heptathlon features eight events in two days. On the first day, girls took part in the 100 meters, hurdles, high jump, shotput and 200 meters. The events on the second day were the long jump, javelin, and 800 meters.