Lakewood track sends 33 to districts

DUVALL — The Cougars brought 41 participants down to Cedarcrest High School May 18 for the Cascade Conference track championship and left with 33 of them punching their tickets to the District 1 meet.

By Travis Sherer • May 19, 2010 1:53 pm
Lakewood freshman Justin Peterson clears the high jump bar set at 6-2 to tie a personal best and win the Cascade Conference title at Cedarcrest High School.
Lakewood freshman Justin Peterson clears the high jump bar set at 6-2 to tie a personal best and win the Cascade Conference title at Cedarcrest High School.

DUVALL — The Cougars brought 41 participants down to Cedarcrest High School May 18 for the Cascade Conference track championship and left with 33 of them punching their tickets to the District 1 meet.

“That shows our depth,” said Lakewood coach Jeff Sowards. “We had a number placing two, three and four — and scoring in multiple events. If you look at our scores, it was a real team effort.”

Lakewood’s boys team finished just 6.5 points away from winning a conference championship with 109.5. Ironically, with such a high score, only one Cougar came away a district champion, Justin Peterson.

Peterson, a freshman, tied his personal record by clearing 6-02 in the high jump. “He did really well,” said Sowards about a freshman taking a Conference title. “It happens on occasion, but he’s definitely the exception to the rule.”

Aside from Peterson and junior Andre Scott’s third-place finish in the long jump (21-01.25), the Cougars were powered by track events, taking runner-up spots in both the 4×100 (45.46) and the 4×400 (3:33.04) relays. Members of the 4×100 team included Christian Graves, Tyler Pouley, Justin Peterson and Nolan Bingaman, while the 4×400 was Pouley, Chad Skiles, Graves and Nick Howe.

Scott was third in the 100 (11.50) and Pouley was third in the 200 (23.54). Senior Taylor Guske placed second in the 1,600 (4:26.95) and third in the 3,200 (9:59.55), while Blair Diamond was third in the 110 hurdles (16.22).

For the girls, who took fourth place with 96 points, senior Chrystle Clark earned a conference title with a pole vault of 9-03 — three inches higher than the runner-up. She also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles (16.18). Samantha Adams finished second in the javelin (108-10) and Charnie Dondrea was second high jump (5-01). Junior Kelsey Anderson had a pair of No. 2 finishes in the 800 (2:24.72) and the 1,600 (5:17.44).

The team of Ariel Jensen, Erin Dierickx, Amber Burnell and Kelsey Anderson finished second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:16.52, which set a new Lakewood record.

The top seven 2A finishers from each event go on to compete in the 2A district meet at Sultan, May 19 and 21.