Defending champions in Covington’s backyard | Track and field preview

Published 9:44 am Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Speed and strength could likely be the scene on the oval as well as in the field this spring.

Both defending 4A state boys and girls track and field champions are from the Kent School District which means every team in the South Puget Sound League North division will be taking aim at Kentwood and Kent-Meridian, especially rivals Kentlake, Kentridge and Tahoma.

Defending Conquerors

Last year, the Kentwood girls track team stood on top of the podium at the state championship, and the squad has every intention of doing it again this year.

At the same time, Head Coach Steve Roche said he is not underestimating the competition.

“With the girls, we hope to repeat, but it won’t be easy,” he said. “Our strengths are definitely in sprinting, but we have talent in other areas. At this point, you never know. You hope for the best.”

“We have all the pieces,” senior Kacie Seims said. “I feel if those pieces come together we can do big things again.”

Both teams benefit from a large number of returners in addition to strong pre-season training. After the Kent Jamboree on March 10, Roche, like other Kent track coaches, is reserved about drawing conclusions based on the results.

“It’s tough, because we only had half the team eligible,” he said. “I was pleased with it. A lot of the kids are in shape, but they expected to go into the season as good as they were at the end of last year, and they’re not but that’s to be expected.”

Although the girls suffered a loss with the departure of sprinter Holly DeHart to graduation there are others stepping up to take her place. Senior Madelayne Varela, who took third at last year’s state meet in the 100 meters a tenth of a second behind DeHart, has been training since September with the intention of breaking DeHart’s time this year as well as the state record.

“I’m hoping to go above and beyond,” she said.

Whether or not she does ultimately, she also already proved herself to be an asset to the girls in another event, the long jump. During the Kent Jamboree, she flew 18 feet, one inch, which would have taken first at last year’s state meet.

Varela said that prior to the jump, she had not practiced or jumped off the board since middle school.

“We’re pretty excited about that,” Roach said. “It’s a new weapon, a new event she can be successful at.”

As for the girls team, Varela says they are prepared to defend their title.

“We’re just as strong and we’re ready to fight,” she said.

Seims, who took 10th in the javelin, has been working with a former Olympian to improve her crossover.

“It’s the essential part of the start,” she said. “It can set you up for success or failure.”

On the boys side, senior Danny Lunder took an alternative route for pre-season training by joining the swim team along with other runners, which he said has strengthened their cardiovascular endurance without the heavy impact of running.

“A couple of friends pushed me to do it,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done enough conditioning in the pre-season (otherwise). It’s a good way to not get injured. I think I’ve come prepared more than I was in the other years. Before I would just run on my own, but now I’m coming into the season in shape on previous conditioning.”

“I think it’s a good thing (swim team) because they built up their cardio without the pounding on the joints,” Roche said. “I’m excited about what it can do for them.”

With his gaze set on collegiate running, Lunder said he is vying for 4:20 or less in the mile.

Royals look to race to the top

If the Kent Jamboree was any indication of how well the teams will do the Royals should expect to go far this season.

State champions a year ago, the Royals boys team also took first at the jamboree, with the girls taking second.

“We were very thin for the jamboree,” said Head Coach Shane Barto. “(But) we went into it and where we came out on top the kids were like ‘This is what K-M is.’ We had a lot of young kids, 10 girls and took second. That’s saying a lot about what we have.”

After the departure of Head Coach Ernie Ammons, Barto has stepped in to help steer the team to another state victory, a potentially daunting task for his first year at the helm.

“There’s a lot of pressure to succeed,” Barto said. “But it’s a good kind of pressure.”

It won’t, however, be Barto’s first time coaching track or interacting with the students. He coached track at Newport in Bellevue for three years, and he is also K-M’s football coach, which has allowed him to develop relationships with the athletes prior to the track season.

“I know the kids,” he said. “It’s been really nice stepping in with those I already know. The team’s welcomed me. It’s a huge family. They have such great traditions. They’re accepting my structure and the changes. They have such talent it’s scary.”

Another reason they are highly optimistic, Barto said, is their indomitable spirit.

“The nice thing about the boys is the ‘want’ attitude,” he said. “They want to win state. I think we’re following in those (last year’s) footsteps. All I can say is that these kids have that position attitude that they know they’re going to do a good job.”

They can also owe their confidence to returners such as Abu Kamara and Jarey Suiter. Kamara, who is also a standout on Kent-Meridian’s boys basketball team, racked up three second place finishes at last year’s state championship as well as a gold medal in the 110 hurdles while Suiter took 15th in the 400 meters. Their 4X400 relay team also took third.

“We started off the season really well,” Suiter said. “We have a lot of good people. We have confidence in our team that will keep us up there. That’s what led us to state.”

“We’re going to be a threat,” Barto said. “That’s the easiest way to put it. Our guys have a lot of talent. The boys went to state and they don’t want to skip a beat.”

Royals girls, however, also intend to get up there with the boys, junior Chloe Watson said, even though they have less numbers.

“I see a lot of new kids making a big impact on our team,” she said.

Martin said that, “I feel like we’re pretty strong and we’re pretty consistent with times.”

Watson, who is also an outside hitter for the volleyball team at K-M, took eighth in the long jump at the state championship meet, but suffered the loss of her jump and hurdles coach. Still she’s working at landing a spot on the podium.

“I think I’ll be fine,” she said.

Martin, who placed 10th in the two mile and 12th in the mile, said her performance at the March 10 jamboree was less than stellar, but didn’t plan on getting a new PR so early in the season.

“I was just trying to get into how things work,” she said.

Kentridge aims to fly high and run fast

The Chargers are all about two things this year, hurdles and relays, after strong performances in last year’s state meet on both the boys and girls team in those events.

Additionally, boys Head Coach Al Water said they are looking to plug in the other events needed to preserve their fourth place finish.

“We have good members, although we’re missing a few returners,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty good state competitors and some new people who are going to be good as well.”

Kaid Tipton, a hurdler and member of the 4X400 relay team, said in order to get back to state they will need to work on not only improving their personal performances, but figuring out where they need to strategically compete to gain points. The field events, for example, was where they had the biggest loss due to graduation.

“We’re definitely getting better, though,” he said.

Relay team member Reggie Collins said no matter how well they do in other events the hurdles are essential.

“As a team we scored well (in hurdles),” he said. “That’s our biggest hope for state. It takes time for us to measure where we get most of our points from.”

The girls team has a strong boost from sophomore Lexi Klinkenberg, who placed sixth in state in the 300 hurdles. At a non-league meet against Auburn, she took second and first in the 100 and 300 hurdles respectively.

“The freshmen need a little time to improve,” she said. “But they’ll get there.”

Kentlake looks to reload

This year is expected to be one of recovery for the Falcons, as all of their state-competitors last year graduated. Still, Co-Head Coach Brian Wilson said that they have good returners as well as talented newcomers who they hope will help bring back depth to the team.

“Obviously you’re going to miss those points,” he said. “So we start the season with a point deficit. Everyone misses seniors.”

Most of the team was ineligible to compete at the Kent Jamboree on March 10, preventing the coaches from determining just how good some of the newcomers are.

“We have a lot of new people, so we should do well,” said senior Dakota Lobdell. “We have more people. It’s more quantity than quality, but I think we have enough people now.”

For junior hurdler Tori Lanza, the year is a chance to make up for what she saw as a poor season performance last year, when she only advanced to districts.

“Last year was kind of a setback,” she said. “It was a bad year, I guess. A lot was going on. My mind wasn’t completely on track.”

During the fall, she decided to give up playing soccer in order to concentrate on improving various aspects of her technique that she felt kept her away from state.

“I’ve got to work on getting my steps down,” she said. “My speed work needs to be a little faster.”

Tahoma fields huge team

If there’s strength in numbers, Tahoma could do well this season, with a turnout of around 215 combined for both boys and girls. With so many athletes, however, Head Coach Garry Conner said that they have spent much of the early season attempting to see where the talent lies.

“The numbers are big,” Conner said. “We’re trying to make sure we know who they are and what they can do. We’re just working with those numbers. By the first meet, we’ll iron this stuff out. It’s a little early to tell.”

With the girls taking eighth place last year at state, the Bears hope to improve on it in spite of the loss of sprinter Cassie Jensen. Top returners include juniors such as Elizabeth Oousterhout, Savanna Haverfield and Paige Hammock.

“Practices have been going really well,” Oousterhout said. “I hope it’s going to be a good season (for us).”

Oousterhout placed 15th at state in the two mile at 11:30.86 and hopes to break 11:10, while Haverfield, who took 10th in the 100 hurdles at 16.99 is looking to break 16 seconds and place in the top five.

And Oosterhout knows something about doing well at state as she was part of Tahoma’s champion girls cross country squad in the fall.

Haverfield stated, “I’ve got a lot of work to do, but, I feel pretty confident.”

“I think we’re going to be pretty strong,” Hammock said. “We lost a lot of people last year, but, I think we’re going to be strong.”

On the boys side, returners such as sophomore Denham Patricelli started off his high school track career with a ninth place at state in the javelin at 179 feet, 11 inches. Others, such as thrower Aaron Davis, plan to make state this year after placing at districts.

“I wasn’t too happy about that,” Davis said.

Davis does know something about improving from one year to the next as he proved at the state wrestling championships, Mat Classic XXIV, at the Tacoma Dome Feb. 17-18 when he won a state title in the 220 pound weight class while also being part of Bears state champion team.

While he wrestled during the winter, he said the training is very different. To prepare, he trained at the UW indoor clinics in an effort to improve his throwing technique.