ER @ Gig Harbor
The Jaguars made the long trip out to Gig Harbor to compete against the Tides on this unseasonably hot Thursday afternoon.
The freshmen boys continued to demonstrate that the future is bright at Emerald Ridge. In the boys’ jumps, freshmen KJ Saunders and Hugo Ntanda equaled their personal bests with leaps of 6’ and 5’8” respectively. Ntanda followed that up with a personal best leap of 18’ in the long jump, while KJ had a season best in the triple jump. Another freshman, Keyshaun White, had a season best in the long jump (and 100). Freshman 400 record holder, Yahir Gonzalez, improved upon his lifetime best with a run of 54.85 and a lifetime best in the 100 as well. Yahir led fellow-freshman Noah Stalker to a PR in the men’s 400 and they were joined by upperclassmen Logan Hawley, Filemon Beni, and Anthony Parchman who all had lifetime best marks and led a 1-5 finish for the Jags. Other season or lifetime bests for the Jag men included Xavier Willis (100 & 200), Justyn Forward (100), David Garibaldo (100 & 200), Skye Berbert (200), Hugo Ntanda (200), Filemon Beni (200 & 400), and Jamari Honeyblue (200).
In the men’s distances, Christian Galang (800), Ben Stilphen (800), Garrett Arthur (800), Josiah Chapman (1600), and Brandon Bennett (1600) all had personal bests. Adam Volkman also had a personal best of 5:02, narrowly missing the 5 minute barrier in a winning effort, out-leaning the Tide runner by .02 seconds.
After a great week at Sumner, the men’s throwers kept their marks at or near their lifetime bests. Jonah Mains had another 47’ throw, while juniors Paul Langston and Jonathan Henke each had lifetime bests in the shot put. Henke also had a personal best in the discus and was joined by Wes Leonard on the PR train. Ben Clarke and Justin Cummings each had lifetime best tosses in the javelin.
On the women’s side, Ellie Peterson continues her great season with a PR in the shot put and nearly equals her PR in the discus. Thanatcha Dorn-In (Shot Put) and Melody Ferguson (Javelin) also took advantage of the great weather to throw lifetime bests.
Senior Mareonna Henderson was a double-event winner, leaping 16’4” to win the long jump and running a lifetime best of 60.7 in the women’s 400 to lead a 1-2-3 finish for the Jags. She was followed by sophomore Sophia Brown (62.10) and freshman Carley Huber (62.58), both running personal bests to complete the sweep. Other sprinters with personal bests included Aleira Artis (100 & 200), Jasmine Beebe (100), Allison Santos-Rodriguez (100 &200), Carley Huber (200), Sophia Brown (200), Nicole Fleetwood (200), Faith Fawcett (200), and Jacqueline Blas (200 & TJ).
Season and personal bests were plentiful in the women’s 800, with Breana Burge, Melody Ferguson, Yeena Kee, and Christina Noll all taking advantage of the sunshine. In the women’s 1600, junior Sydney Colbern led from wire-to-wire and ran a personal best of 5:34.10 under the scorching sun; this time automatically qualifies her for the post-season in only her second attempt at the distance. Colbern also came back and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team of Karlee Stueckle, Sophia Brown, and Carley Huber.
The Jags head north to Shoreline Stadium on Saturday in what promises to be a much colder and wetter day at the track.