Fifteen Plateau track and field athletes – 10 from White River High School and five from Enumclaw – will perform on the state’s biggest stage this week.
The special dozen and a half will participate in the Class 3A track and field championships that run Thursday through Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
Each qualified for the state show last week during the West Central District meet, also staged at Mount Tahoma High. The top eight finishers in each of the Friday and Saturday events earned a place at state.
White River’s athletes showed just how far they’ve come, with the Hornet boys placing sixth among 29 teams and the girls finishing 12th out of 26 squads. The Enumclaw High girls wound up 14th and the EHS boys were 22nd.
White River
The White River effort at the WCD meet was highlighted, as usual, by the boys 1,600-meter relay team, which boasts the best time among all state 3A relay crews. The brotherly quartet of Collin and Kramer Green, plus Mat and Marcus Dickson, pared their time to 3 minutes, 22.32 seconds to win the district meet, edging out the foursome from nearby Bonney Lake.
Each of the relay boys also qualified for state in an individual event. Marcus Dickson won the WCD 1,600-meter title with a time of 4:24.18; Collin Green placed second in the 400 meters with a clocking of 50.09; Kramer Green ran the 300-meter hurdles in 38.94 to place third; and Mat Dickson was eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:00.95.
Also on the boys side, Austin Shirey cleared 13 feet, 3 inches to place fifth in the pole vault.
Among the White River girls, Carley McCutchen and Lauryn Wate qualified for state in two events each.
McCutchen is going in both hurdle events after placing second in the 100-meter version with a time of 16.10 and finishing third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.71. Wate made her mark in the 800 meters, placing fifth in 2:21, and the 1,600 meters, 5:13.82.
Alysa Aasheim earned a state berth by finishing eighth in the javelin with a throw of 111-97.
The White River team of Cassidy France, Jessica Lindner, Aasheim and McCutchen combined to run the 800-meter relay in 1:46.25, guaranteeing a state trip with a fifth-place finish.
Enumclaw
Few prep athletes compete at the state meet in three individual events, but that’s exactly what Stephanie Schreiner will be doing this week.
She raced around the district venue to capture a third-place finish in the triple jump, bounding 35-11.75; third place in the 400-meter run, 59.08; and fifth place in the 200 meters, 26.42.
Other Enumclaw High athletes with standout performances at the WCD meet were Braden Timpe, who placed second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.88, and Larry Calvert, who finished just one spot behind Timpe with a showing of 1:58.88. AnnaMarie Forza was fifth in the javelin with a toss of 115-06 and Joe Cerne, a first-year track and field participant, placed eighth in the javelin, throwing 158-09. Jordan Grant worked his way to alternate status in the discus, placing ninth; should anyone be scratched from state competition, he would make the state trip.
