Athletes shine at state championships

Sumner’s Lancaster earns second state tennis championship; track titles go to Panther’s Cody Miller and Dreakeanna Adair, Sumner’s Rhaven Dean.

By Kevin Hanson • May 30, 2017 10:00 am
Brooke Nelson slides back to first against Meadowdale on Friday in the 3A state championship tournament. She was also the winning pitcher in the game. Photo by Kevin Hanson.
Brooke Nelson slides back to first against Meadowdale on Friday in the 3A state championship tournament. She was also the winning pitcher in the game. Photo by Kevin Hanson.

Like many prep athletes from throughout the area, they scattered for the Memorial Day weekend. Unlike the most, the elite Hornets, Spartans and Panthers took to the road in search of athletic glory.

The past weekend featured local athletes participating in the state track and field meet, tennis championships and fastpitch tournament.

Here’s a rundown of how top competitors fared.

TRACK AND FIELD

Bonney Lake: The Panther boys had the best team finish among local programs, placing fifth at the Class 3A state meet in Tacoma. The Bonney Lake girls were 13th.

For the boys, senior Cody Miller ran to a state championship in the 100-meters hurdles while also placing fifth in 300-meters hurdles; senior William Glick was fifth in the 800 meters; senior Caleb Davis was fifth in both the shot put and discus; junior Donovan Henderson was seventh in the triple jump; senior Mykel Fisher placed eighth in the 800 meters; and senior Jake Martin was 13th in the high jump.

For the Panther girls, junior Dreakeanna Adair took the state title in the discus. In the same event, teammate Kiana Schwendeman, a senior, was sixth.

Enumclaw: Among the Hornet girls making the finals, the 4×400 relay crew of Taylor Tandecki, Carli Boger, Gracie Neu and Taliah Olson placed fifth. Individually, junior Hunter Storm finished eighth in the 3200 meters and 11th in the 1600; junior Emmie Neu was 13th in the high jump.

For the Hornet boys, junior Connery McLaughlin was second in the javelin and senior Brandon Barnett tied for seventh in high jump.

Sumner: For the SHS boys, Michael Russell was fourth in the 400 meters and sixth in the 200; Dane Elwell tied for seventh in the high jump; David Davydenko tied for 10th in the triple jump; Chase Skuza was 13th in the shot put and 16th in the discus; and Ethan Talley was 13th in the high jump.

The top performance for the boys was a second-place finish in the 4×100 relay; making up the team were Russell, Tre Weed, Connor Wedington and Derek Lee.

Among Spartan girls, Rhaven Dean earned a state championship in the javelin, also placing 10th in the discus. Junior Emma Sjolund was eighth at 800 meters and 10 in the 1600.

White River: For the Hornet girls, the top effort came in the 4×200 relay, where the squad of Chloe Mitchell, Chloe Anastasi, Emma Robbins and Grace Clapshaw placed second. In the 4×100 relay, the team of Hannah McGinnes, Robbins, Mitchell and Anastasi finished seventh. Individually, senior Courtney Gelmini placed eighth in the 3200 meters and 16th in 1600 meters; junior Kelsey Bunker tied for 11th in the javelin.

For White River’s boys, the top finish was provided by senior Greg Piontek, who was fifth in pole vault. Spencer Hall made the finals in two events, winding up 10 in the long jump and 14th in the high jump. David Wright was 16th in the pole vault.

FASTPITCH

Bonney Lake: The Panthers brought home fourth place hardware after winning three of five games at the Class 3A state tournament, staged at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

Bonney Lake won twice on Friday, beating Bainbridge 4-2 and then knocking off defending state champion Meadowdale 5-4. Saturday brought a semifinal, 7-1 loss to eventual champion Redmond, a 2-1 victory over Snohomish and, in the final game of the season, a 4-1 loss to Lake Washington.

White River: The Hornets opened with a tourney victory but dropped their next two games, limiting their state experience to just one day.

Playing at Carlon Park in Selah, White River began by knocking off Cedarcrest High 8-7. That sent the Hornets to a quarterfinal contest against W.F. West and the Hornets fell 9-2 to the eventual Class 2A champions. The season ended with an 8-6 loss to Othello.

TENNIS

Sumner High’s Jade Lancaster made it two titles in a row. She steamrolled four opponents on the way to a Class 4A singles championship during the weekend tournament, a year after taking the singles title when Sumner competed in the 3A ranks.

Playing in the Tri-Cities, Lancaster beat Yasmini Qazi of Wenatchee 6-3, 6-1 then whipped Todd Beamer’s Avery Liening 6-2, 6-0. The semifinal round saw Lancaster bounce back to defeat Maddie Egan of Rogers; after falling 6-0 in the first set, the Spartan rallied to win the next two 6-3 and 6-4. Playing for the title, Lancaster defeated Hannah Gianan of Camas 6-2, 6-0.

Spartan teammate Tayva Jacobsen also had qualified for state; she dropped her first two matches and was eliminated.

Sumner had a pair of entries in the boys 4A doubles tournament. The teams of Zaylan Jacobsen/Kyle VanHout and Richard Mark/Marcus Peterson dropped their first two matches and were eliminated.

Enumclaw had several athletes place in state, including Taylor Tandecki, Carli Boger, Gracie Neu and Taliah Olson, who all placed fifth in the 4x400 relay. Photo by Caleb Cochran.

Enumclaw had several athletes place in state, including Taylor Tandecki, Carli Boger, Gracie Neu and Taliah Olson, who all placed fifth in the 4×400 relay. Photo by Caleb Cochran.

Michael Russell was a part of the boys’ 4x100 relay. The team placed second in the state competition. Photo by Vince Miller.

Michael Russell was a part of the boys’ 4×100 relay. The team placed second in the state competition. Photo by Vince Miller.