White River High track and field athletes kicked off the dual-meet portion of their 2009 season March 18 with a successful nonleague encounter at Fife High.

The Hornet boys won 114-29 and the girls were 74-57 victors. Both teams had diminished rosters, as athletes were still becoming eligible following extended basketball seasons.

Event winners were particularly plentiful on the boy’s side of the ledger. Taking a pair of first-place finishes were Collin Green in both the 200- and 400-meter runs; Marcus Dickson in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters; Kramer Green in both hurdle races; and Grant Peckham in both the discus and javelin.

Other winners were Matt Dickson in the 800 meters; Blake Halvorson, high jump; Austin Shirey, pole vault; Blake Tidwell, long jump; and Hunter Chadwick, triple jump.

The Hornet boys also won both the 400- and 1,600-meter relay races. Making up the 400 team were Tidwell, Collin Green, Kramer Green and Chadwick. Forming the 1,600 relay were Michael Madden, Matt Dickson, Kramer Green and Collin Green.

On the girls’ side of competition, White River was led by two-time winner Jessica Lindner, who was tops in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdle races.

Other individual event winners were Ashley Llapitan in the 3,200 meters, Sierra Gulla in the discus and Alyssa Aasheim in the javelin. Also winning was the Hornets’ 400-meter relay team of Kelsey English, Ajanna Russell, Lindner and Aasheim.

The Hornet track and field crew will be in action today, Wednesday, participating in a double dual meet with Bonney Lake and North Thurston. The meet will be at Bonney Lake High.

Reach Kevin Hanson at khanson@courierherald.com or 360-802-8205.