2010 Season Under Way!

OK, so it's been a while since I've put anything on here, but I wanted to get a few things out there because, well... it's track season again! So far, this season is starting off great. Right now we have roughly 170 student-athletes turning out for track this season at Kentwood, which is an another all-time high. That alone is exciting because it is a indication of the success our program has had and the environment of excellence that the athletes of years past have left us with. Thank you Kentwood Track Alumni!

This week we concluded our first ever Septathlon competition. It is basically the same as the Pentathlon we used to do, but we added the softball throw event and we made it into a two-day event. (I am very glad we did this, the Septathlon took two full practices to complete, where we used to cram the whole Pentathlon into one day, which would have been impossible this year) The cool thing about the Septathlon competition is how competitive it has become. Athletes spend a lot of time thinking about and talking about it and comparing their marks in it over the years.

As many of the past years' competitions have been, the final outcomes were extremely close. On the girls side, the winner was Senior Aiesha Goodlow, who won for the second year in a row. Aiesha posted the fastest time on the team in the 60m (8.09) and was in the top 10 for most of the other events. Second place over all and top Sophomore honors wenet to Alyx Toeiana. Alyx won the Shot Put (event in which she is a school record holder), Standing Long Jump, Vertical Jump and the Softball Throw. Third Place and top Junior mark went to Holly DeHart. Holly won the 600m run (1:46) and set a new Septathlon record in the process. These top three were separated by a total of 4 points (Aiesha 245, Alyx 242, Holly 241), showing just how tight and intense the competition was. The top Freshman competing was Carly Horn, who scored 209 points and was 8th overall in the competition.

The compeition on the boys side turned out to be equally as close and intense for another year. This year's top competitor was Senior Tim Pettit, who won with a total score of 441 points. Tim won 600m run (1:25) and broke his own record in the process, as well as being near the top in all the events. Tim was pursued closely by fellow Senior Kevin Bateman, who took 2nd with a total of 440 points. Kevin's best event was the Standing Long Jump, which he won with a jump of 9'3". The top Junior in the field was newcomer JJ Maulupe, who took 5th place overall with a score of 405 points. The top Sophomore for the competition was Josh Corpuz, who took 19th place with 305 points. Top Freshman honors went to Dalton Madeing, who took 11th overall with 352 points. Complete results for this year's Septathlon can be found on our website here.

This coming week brings several important team functions and our first competition. On Tuesday, March 9th, we have our mandatory parent meeting. It begins at 7pm and at least one parent or guardian must attend in order for their athlete to be eligible for thier first competition. Please make a point to be there! On Thursday, March 11th, we have our "Spike Night" at the Road Runner Sports store in Kent Station. They will be providing free pizza & drinks, as well as a 10% discount on shoes and apparrel that night for athletes atttending. They do a great job of getting you into the right shoe and we have had a lot of success doing this in the past. Plus, they have pledged to donate $100 to our program for every 10 athletes that show up, so this is a great fundraiser at the same time! You don't have to buy something, but you can at least show up, find out what kind of shoes you should be in, eat some pizza and have a fun time all at once! Hope to see you all there! Lastly, the first competition of the season is next Saturday, March 13th at French Field. Any athlete that has the required 10 practices in and parent attended the mandatory parent meeting are eligible to compete in the Kent Jamboree. It begins at 12:30 and there is no admission fee. Let's hope for some good weather!

2010 is off to a fast start and we are all really excited about what this season may bring. Let's have a great year!

Coach Roche

2008 Season off to a fast start

I find it somewhat appropriate that the high school track season begins near the same time as Major League Baseball season spring training because there are many parallels between the two. As they say in baseball about spring training, "hope springs eternal." I feel this is a accurate statement about the Kentwood Track and Field team also; there are so many things to be hopeful about for this upcoming season. We've now completed our first two weeks of practice, our team pentathlon and the first-ever Kent Jamboree and there is much to be excited about as we head into our first SPSL dual meet against Federal Way.

It's been fun to see our team pentathlon grow from just a day of practice with the purpose of identifying potential areas of talent to something that the athletes look forward to and strive very hard to win. This year both of last year's winners are returning, but both had very stiff competitors from whom they had to defend their titles from. Junior Captain Steven Warner narrowly beat out Senior Demitrius Bronson last season, but unfortunately he wasn't able to compete in all of the events because of an injury issue. The competition this year was not as tight, with an outstanding series of events put together by Junior Devin St. Clair beating out Seniors Nikiel Taylor and Chris Selvar. St. Clair scored 329 pts to 310 for Taylor and 301 for Selvar. Devin's marks were: 60m Dash:7.18, Standing Long Jump: 10'1" (which set a new Pentathlon Record), Shot Put: 29'9", 600m Run: 1:34, and Vertical Jump: 32.5". On the girls side, Junior Ashley Luther was seeking her third straight title, but every year it seems her competition gets better and better. This year, one of Ashley's fellow Juniors, Kyra Gaines took the overall title over Luther (who took third with 161 pts) and Freshman Holly DeHart (second with 166 points) with a score of 172. Kyra's marks were: 60m: 8.56, Standing Long Jump: 6'0", Shot Put 22'1", 600m: 2:07 and Vertical Jump: 19.5". Overall results of the team Pentathlon can be found here.

Yesterday, Saturday the 8th of March was the date of the first-ever Kent Jamboree. As recently as four years ago, all four Kent high schools would meet in an "All-City" dual meet. Since our league has grown so much since then, it has made it logistically difficult to pull off such a meet today, and the Kent Jamboree is the mini-recreation of that meet. All four high schools were missing many athletes due to various reasons, but it was a great chance for our athletes to see some early-season competition nonetheless. In such an early meet it would be expected that marks would not be that impressive, but there were a number of athletes with PRs or record-setting performances that highlighted the day.

Junior Captain Cody Fishel picked up this season past where he left off last season with a very impressive high jump of 6'4" in which high jump coach Rick Comer stated, "he would have cleared 6'6" with that jump." Most years, 6'4" is a mark that would place at the state meet, so that makes the fact that it is only the first meet even more impressive. Another impressive performance was made by Senior re-newcomer Ryan Patterson in the Javelin. (Ryan came out for track his Freshman year, but did not the past two). Ryan, in his first meet ever throwing the Javelin, threw 141'3", a mark good for #3 on Kentwood's all time top ten list. Another newcomer that surprised on the boys side was Sophomore Tim Pettit (above and to the left). In his first high school race ever, Tim clocked an impressive 2:08 in the 800m race, leading for the first 600m. We're excited for big things from all three of these athletes this season.

On the girls side, a couple of Freshman Records and top 10 performances highlighted our first competition. Holly DeHart, a Freshman, led a group of 12 Kentwood girls in the 100m Dash and broke Dana Wareham's Freshman Record in the process. Holly ran an automatic time of 13.49, beating out Dana's 13.3 hand time last year. Another Freshman Record fell in the 1600 when Erin Chinchar beat out Meghan Hoffman's record by two seconds with her time of 5:55.0. Erin is thus far carrying on the Chichar tradition of distance running excellence (her older brothers Brian and Michael were very successful distance runners for Kentwood). A third set of impressive marks were put together by 2007 state competitor in the high jump and javelin. Lindsey (above and to the right)high jumped 5'4" and threw the javelin 114'3", only slightly below both of her 2007 PR's. Results of this meet can be found here.

This week brings us our first dual meet of the 2008 season, against the Federal Way Eagles. Federal Way has several very talented athletes and had a very successful 2007 squad, many of whom are returning for what should be another very good year. The Federal Way boys team finished last season 2nd in the SPSL North with a 5-2 dual meet record and several very talented athletes. One of the best in the SPSL in the jumps this year will be Senior Andre Barrington. Barrington returns best marks of 21'9" in the Long Jump, 43'2" in the Triple Jump, 6'0" in the High Jump and 15.3 in the 110 High Hurdles. Federal Way also has a very talented thrower returning, Andrew Pulu with best returning marks of 47'10" in the Shot Put and 130'10" in the Discus. For the girls side, their 2007 team had the same record as us, but also have a couple of state-level athletes. Jacquie Evenson tops the list, having the top returning marks in the 100 Hurdles (15.7), 300 Hurdles (45.8) and Long Jump (16'7"). A note to the parents, driving directions to all of our away meets can be found under the links button on our main page, and then: driving directions. Or, you can just follow this link. Whichever works best for you. :)

We're off to a great start this far and we're looking forward to what undoubtedly will be another season to remember. Hope springs eternal! Go Conks! (Photos courtesy of Mick White and Kent Valley Sports)

Coach Roche

Reflecting on one season, preparing for another

To think back to the 2007 season, it will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest in the history of the school, and hopefully will be seen as a turning point in the program where Kentwood Track and Field went from a school with a few good athletes to a school with a great track program. Many other teams here at Kentwood have enjoyed a long history of success and I believe we're building that same thing with the track program. This school undoubtedly has the potential to be one of the great programs in the state, as our Football, Basketball, Volleyball and other teams have risen to the level of.

Looking back at the state meet from last May, I saw some incredible performances, and some great reasons to be very excited for this upcoming season. A couple of our seniors gave their last performance on the high school stage and are already off to great things in college. The greatest distance runner in Kentwood history, Michael Chinchar, finished his high school career by medaling in both the 1600 and 3200 races. Michael did not have his best races, but he leaves the program as the school record holder in both of those events and has set a standard so high that it will take an extremely special athlete to even come close to his level. Michael did have some very successful summer meets too; highlighted by his placing 2nd in the 1500m at the USA Junior Nationals meet in a time of 3:51. Michael is now running for the prestigious University of Arkansas Track and Cross Country teams. He will be missed and very well rememberd.

Another senior left us with many memories and a gutsy performance in his last high school race. Eric Brill qualified for the 3200m race, and race the best race of his high school career, running a 9:26.44 and barely missing a state medal in his only state appearance in the sport. Eric was one of the hardest working distance runners Kentwood has ever seen; his jovial attitude and fun-loving spirit will be missed. Eric continues his Track and Cross Country Career at Western Washington University, where he will only continue to improve as a runner.

Of the 25 points the boys team scored at last May's state meet, 22 of them are returning to the team this coming year. Of the most surprising was the performance by Junior Chris Selvar. Chris entered the season with a state appearance under his belt from his Sophomore season in the 800, but had failed to qualify for the finals. Throughout the 2007 season, Chris saw steady improvement, but after early season losses to teammate Michael Chinchar and at the Tacoma Invite, Chris turned a corner and from the Bellevue Invite on, Chris ran under 1:56 in the 800 6 times. At the state meet, Chris won his preliminary heat easily which set up a showdown with the athlete Chris had to out-kick the week before, Charlie Williams from Gig Harbor. Altough Chris beat him at the District meet, Charlie had the fastest time in state for 4A in the 800 and was considered by many to be the favorite in the event. Despite this, Chris was determined that he could and would beat Williams. After one lap. Chris was in great shape, sitting on the hip pockets of the race leaders. With 200 meters to go Williams pushed to the head of the group and Chris went with him. Down the homestretch it was neck and neck, but Chris took the inside track and out-kicked Williams one more time... this time to become a state champion in a time of 1:54.36. It wil undoubtedly be one of the most memorable races in Kentwood Track and Field history.

There were many other shining performers during the meet too, notably Sophomore Steven Warner. This was Steven's first state track meet, but he did not waste any time in taking care of business. Although he placed 5th in his heat of the 100 High Hurdles, he still qualified because of his time (14.84, #2 all-time at Kentwood), and then made good on his finals apearance with a surprising 4th place finish and a time of 15.00. He was not satisfied with just one state medal though. After qualifying in the prelims of the 300m Hurdles with a time of 39.68, Steven also took home an 8th place medal in that event. Just when you think he'd be satisfied, he was also on the boys 4x4 relay that placed. That gave Steven 3 state medals and a total of 6 races in rougly 30 hours in the hot Pasco sun. Not a bad way to end your Sophomore year!

Another bright spot for the boys team was the performances of both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Both groups came in with hopes of medaling, especially the 4x4 , who had visions of winning the whole thing. Although neither team came away state champions, both did realize their goals of medaling and set the stage for what could be their greatest accomplishment year. The 4x1 would have been thought of by many to be potentially a dark horse for a medal since we did not qualify any athletes in the 100, 200 or 400 open events, but to the surprise of some they not only qualified for the finals, but took 7th in a time of 43.45. On that team, every single member is returning for the 2008 season. The boys 4x4 came into the meet with high aspirations, and rightly so. The team was undefeated all throughout the postseason to that point, and had defeated some very high calibur teams along the way. The team had already set the school record and they were hoping for that again and then some when they arrived in Pasco. The prelim race went very well considering that the team was 2nd in their heat and re-smashed their own record with a time of 3:21.93, but the bad news was that four teams from the other heat had run a faster time, setting the stage for a great finals race. The finals ultimately went well, but not as well as hoped and the team finished in a time of 3:23.40 and 5th place. Considering the circumstances of the meet, it was still a very admirable accomplishment and one will continually be proud of. At that point the collective members of the team had run 12 races in hot weather, and the guys were running on all they had left. Like the boys 4x1, each member of the team (Demitrius Bronson, Devin St. Clair, Steven Warner and Chris Selvar) are returning for the 2008 season and they have served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Other athletes to compete at the state meet this past may were Sophomore Cody Fishel, who cleared 6'0" in his first state appearance in the High Jump; Sophomore Lindsey Moore who jumped 5'2" in her return to state and threw the Javelin 111'1", just barely missing out on finals. Our last state competitor was Freshman Dana Wareham, who ran well in her time of 60.34, but missed out on the finals in the 400 meters.

The upcoming season holds unlimited promise, not just because of the returning state athletes, but the many others waiting in the wings. There are many Freshmen coming in that will be able to contribute to the program right away and other athletes that have spent many hours lifting and running in preparation for the 2008 season. 2007 was a great season, but 2008 has the potential to be every bit as good if not better. To my athletes out there, remember this: you begin building your success this spring right now! Lets keep building what we began! Go Conks!

Coach Roche

On to state! Boys are district champions!

For a program that has never had a league champion, we were thrilled to achieve that for the first time. We had taked as a team about how cool it would be to put up a banner in the gym under, Track and Field, League Champs, and it was very cool to achieve that. Lost somewhere in the mix was the thought that the boys team could add another banner under the district championship banner. Well, that thought definitely isn't lost anymore.

West Central District is the largest and perhaps the most competitive district track meet in the state. To advance to state from this district usually puts you in the top teir at the state meet, so it's an incredible honor for any athlete to get to state. That being said...we have a lot of people going to the state meet.

I guess it would make sense to begin with the obvious candidate to qualify for the state meet, Michael Chinchar. Michael came into the meet with the fastest time in the district in the 1600 and the 3200, and Friday night he won the 3200 easily with his season best time of 9:14.13. Saturday though, saw a competitor with a time much closer to his own and a stiff headwind coming into the homestretch. Michael went out fast in the first 800, but that stiff wind caught up with him and with 200m to go, Charlie Williams of Gig Harbor had caught and passed Michael. Michael refused to quit though, and kicked past Williams to win with a time of 4:18.33. It was not Michael's best time by far but he had perservered through an excruciating final lap to beat a worthy opponent. Williams doubled his misery when he was also outkicked in the 800 by our Chris Selvar, giving Kentwood district champions in all three running events.

Joining Michael at state next weekend will be his partner in crime, Eric Bril. Eric set a huge PR in the 3200 (9:27.61) to take fourth and qualify for his first state track meet. Another big win came from Chris Selvar in the 800, where he also out-kicked Charlie Williams to win in the time of 1:55.67. These three guys scored half of our 70 team points in just these three events. I guess this goes to show how important a cross country team is to a track program. (These guys placed 7th at state cross country last fall).

Others that will be making the trip trip to Pasco are first time state competitors (and Sophomores) Steven Warner in the 110 and 300 Hurdles and Cody Fishel in the High Jump. It is an extraordinary feat for a Sophomore to advance to the state meet, so to have two achieve that is a sign that bodes very well for the future of this program. Both Steven and Cody are capable of standing on the awards podium this year. Also going are both of our boys relays (4x100: Nikiel Taylor, Devin St. Clar, Chris Selvar and Demetrius Bronson; 4x400: Demetrius Bronson, Steven Warner, Devin St. Clair and Chris Selvar), who, according to the times coming in, both have a great shot to come home as medalists. This promises to be a great meet for this program.

Also qualifying for the state meet and winning at districts were Lindsey Moore... no, not in the High Jump, but in the Javelin. Lindsey threw an 18 foot PR and won the district meet! Not bad considering it's only the fourth meet she's ever thrown in! Lindsey did qualify in the High Jump too, jumping 5'4" and placed 2nd. Also qualifying for the state meet was Dana Wareham in the 400. Dana pulled off a very impressive feat of qualifying for the state meet as a Freshman with her finals time of 59.91.

The amazing season coninues! On to state!

Coach Roche

Boys are SPSL Champs!

Kentwood High School has had numerous league, district and even state championships in its 26 year history, but never has there been any of those in Boys or Girls Track and Field. Until now. For the first time in team history, a Kentwood Track and Field team will put up a banner on the gymnasium wall under Boys Track and Field: League Champions. This has been something that has been a great source of pride and motivation for our kids this season, and now they will have something they can always hang their hat (not worn at school, of course :), that they put up that banner, that they were the first ones. For the Girls team it may seem that this season was not a good one, but that would be a very inaccurate assessment considering the team's lack of depth and youth. As I told the team last week, the boys team was at the same place the girls team was four years ago, and I truly do believe that the Girls team will be outstanding in the seasons to come.

The clinching meet for the boys came in the last dual meet of the season at home against Kentridge. The Boys team finished the meet with 11 first place finishes, along with several season-best marks. First places were brought home by Devin St. Clair in the 200m (22.96) and the Long Jump (21'8"), Michael Chinchar in the 800m (1:55.89), Chris Selvar in the 1600m (4:29.05 in his first time ever running it), Eric Brill in the 3200 (10:09.21), Steven Warner in the 110 Hurdles (15.17, a season best) and 300 Hurdles (40.38), Adam Smith in the Shot Put (42'2"), Cody Fishel in the High Jump (5'10") and Junior Gauldin in the Triple Jump (42'3"). The Boys 4x100 relay of Nikiel Taylor (pictured to the right), Devin St. Clair, Damion Ricks an Demetrius Bronson also took home a first place finish (44.33). Perhaps the highlight of the meet was the dual between Chris Selvar and Eric Brill in the 1600. Chris had never run the race before, although his 800 time is one of the best in the state and Eric's best event this season has been the 3200 and had yet to have a "break out" time in the race. Eric pushed the pace the whole race and as they came down the homestretch, Chris' kick was better than Eric's and Chris ran his time of 4:29.05, and put him in the #4 spot all-time at Kentwood. In the process, Eric ran a season best time 4:30.29, his fastest time since the district meet last year. The boys won the meet by a score of 95-41 and finished the season with an amazing 7-0 record.

The girls team, although losing 42-92 to Kentridge, had several season-best marks also. Event winners for this meet were Dana Wareham in the 400m where she continued her amazing run of success with her time of 60.85, Erin Bradfield in the Discus (95'4"- a season best mark), Lindsey Moore in the High Jump (5'6"- the 5th time this season she has reached that mark), and Jillian Jainga in the Pole Vault (6'6"). One of the bigger performances in this meet that did not win was by Fresman Sarah Belter (pictured to the right) in the 800m. Sarah turned out her best time of the season and re-broke her own Freshman Record with her time of 2:35.81. As I mentioned before, this season could be looked at negatively based upon the 1-6 record, but on a team with only four senior girls, there is much to look forward to in the coming years with many more performances by Lindsey Moore, Dana Wareham, Ashley Luther, Kyra Gaines and so many other talented young athletes.

This past week was the first of two qualifying meets for the state meet in Pasco. The SPSL meet always has an abundance of quality marks, and this year was no exception. This year's meet was not scored, so there are no team places to write about but there were many memorable performances by Kentwood Track and Field Athletes.

The Girls tam qualified several athletes through to the district meet this coming week at Mt. Tahoma High School. Leading the way, as she has many times this year, was Freshman Dana Wareham. Dana has had a very impressive streak of PR's in the 400m, and this week she took it up to a new level. Dana not only won her heat, but ran an amazing time of 59.78, putting her into a great position to move on to the state meet in two weeks. Dana also qualified for the district meet in the Long Jump with a new PR of 16'2". Other individuals qualifying for districts are Lindsey Moore in the High Jump (5'4") and Javelin (99'6"), Erin Bradfield in the High Jump (4'10") and Ashley Luther in the Long Jump (15' 11.5"). Another exciting thing for the girls team was the fact that all three relays qualified for the district meet. The Girls 4x100 relay of Ashley Luther, Kyra Gaines (pictured to the left), Kristen Olenick and Rachel Gilstad qualified with their time of 51.93; the 4x200 team of Ashley Luther, Kyra Gaines, Abby Brauer and Dana Wareham qualified with a season-best time of 1:46.99; the 4x400 team of Ashley Luther, Abby Brauer, Vanessa Parker and Dana Wareham also qualified a huge PR of 4:07.85. I have mentioned this before, but I truly believe the 4x4 is the backbone of every track team (and, I believe, the most exciting race), and it gives me a great sense of pride to see that relay along with all the others do so well and move on to the next level.

As they have all year long, the boys team had some amazing performances and a very large number of athletes will be moving on to the district track meet this upcoming week. Michael Chichar turned in his second fastest 1600 time of the season, and narrowly missed breaking the SPSL meet record in the event with his time of 4:10.98 with the second place finisher running over ten seconds behind him. Michael is also moving on in the 3200m with his time of 9.28.45. Other athletes moving on are Eric Brill in the 1600m (4:27.90) and 3200m (9:39.66), Danny Smith in the 3200m (10:01.31), Chris Selvar in the 800 (1:55.64), Devin St. Clair in the Long Jump (20' 11.75") and 200m (22.60), Demetrius Bronson in the 200m (22.98), Andrew Fung in the 110 Hurdles (15.10-pictured to the left), Steven Warner in the 110 Hurdles (15.33) and 300 Hurdles (39.78), Ricardo Tucker in the 300 Hurdles (41.07) and Cody Fishel in the High Jump (6'0"). Just like the girls team, both boys relay teams advanced to the district meet. The 4x100 relay of Nikiel Taylor, Devin St. Clair, Chris Selvar and Demetrius Bronson won their heat with a time of 43.45. Th 4x400 team of Steven Warner, Devin St. Clair, Michael Chinchar and Chris Selvar not only won their heat, but re-broke their own school record (with two different members) and re-established themselves as the fastest 4x4 in the state. You could say they had a good day. :)

This week upcoming brings the district track meet at Mount Tahoma High School. As I have written before, I believe this is the premier high school Track and Field facility in the state. The top 6 competitors from this meet will advance to the state meet May 25th and 26th in Pasco. Information on the meet can be found here.

There are many good time left in the season, so please stay tuned! Go Conks!

Coach Roche

Conks cruising into postseason

Well, it's been two weeks since the last update... a lot of things can happen in two weeks! It would be an understatement to say that we have had a successful two weeks, it may have been two of the most successful weeks in our program's history. It's so fun to be a Conk right now!

The best place to start would probably be two weeks ago at the Bellevue Invite. Bellevue is a lot of fun for us because we get to take a very large team to the meet, so many of our younger athletes get a chance to compete on the "big stage" of an Invite. Last year our Boys team placed fourth, and we anticipated that we should place at least that or higher.

To put it lightly, we far exceeded all of our own expectations. Our boys team won the Bellevue Invite by over 30 points with 125.75 points over second place Todd Beamer. Six first place finishes and three seconds made the Bellevue Invite one of the most successful in team history. As the day was historic, so was our Boys 4x400 relay. Up to that point in the year, the 4x4 had won many meets, but hadn't had a "breakout" performance like last year. Junior Demetrius Bronson led off for the first time this year with a solid 51.7 split. Sophomore Junior Gauldin followed with a 51.7 split, despite a very awkward handoff that undoubtedly cost them some time. Sophomore Devin St. Clair then got the baton with a 15 meter deficit on the leader and closed the gap dramatically with a 49.8 split and handed it off to Junior Chris Selvar who outkicked the anchor for Eastlake (see picture) to bring home the victory in a school record time of 3:23.63. This was, until the past week's meets, the fastest time in the state. I firmly believe the 4x4 is the backbone of any track and field team, so it brings me and the rest of the program great pride in seeing it have so much success. Of the other event winners, Chris Selvar won the 800m in a personal best 1:55.31 time (tying Michael Chinchar for the team lead and #2 all-time). Michael Chinchar overcame illness and a poor 1600m race to win the 3200m in a season-best time of 9:18.0. Sophomore Cody Fishel tied his PR and won the High Jump with his jump of 6'3". Devin St. Clair won the Long Jump for the second straight year with his jump of 21'6 3/4". Also, Junior Gauldin won the Triple Jump with his jump of 42' 7 1/2". All of this led to an overwhelming victory for the boys team, and a really heavy trophy to present to the team. Way to go boys!

The girls team also had some good performances on the "big stage". Like the Boys, the highlight of the meet was the very last event, the 4x400 relay. The team of Sophomore Ashley Luther, Junior Abby Brauer, Junior Vanessa Parker and Freshman Dana Wareham set a season best time of 4:16.0 solidifying themselves as #4 on the top ten list. This is also significant because it is the first time since 1993 that the Girls 4x4 has run under 4:20.0. Dana Wareham also had a great run in her 400m dash, running 61.0 and placing 7th overall. Other strong performances for the girls came from Sophomore Kyra Gaines, who ran a personal record 27.40 in the 200m dash. Freshman Aiesha Goodlow turned in her fastest time of the year with her time of 18.38 in the 100 Hurdles and was joined in the PR club by Junior Erin Bradfield who jumped 31'10" in the Triple Jump. These performances earned the Girls a 24th place finish. Overall meet results can be found here.

Last week saw one of our team's toughest dual meets of the season. Our Girl's squad put up a good fight, but lost 57-84 to the KM Girls. Our Girls won 6 events, and were competitive in many others. Event winners included Kyra Gaines in the 100m (13.2), Dana Wareham in the 200m, (26.9, a season PR and #3 all time) and Long Jump (16' 1 1/4", #7 all time), Lindsey Moore in the High Jump (5'6"), and both relays (4x100: Ashley Luther, Kristen Olenick, Kyra Gaines and Dana Wareham, 51.7; 4x400: Luther, Abby Brauer, Vanessa Parker and Wareham, 4:16.2).

The Boys team churned out perhaps the toughest dual meet of the season, winning over KM by a score of 80-56. Up to that point, KM had only lost once, and was in contention for a share of the league title. Many athletes stepped up and had great performances to assure the win. Michael Chinchar stepped out of his usual events and won the 400 in a team best time of 51.4. Another highlight for the Boys team was Junior Gauldin's PR Triple Jump of 43'2 1/2" This win moved the boys team to a 6-0 record (not including 2 Invitational wins) and further established themselves as a powerhouse team in the state.

The KM meet also provided the girls team with a couple of PR's and strong performances. Event winners were Kyra Gaines in the 100m (13.2, moving into the top 10 list), Dana Wareham in the 200m (26.9, moving up the top 10 list) and the Long Jump where she set a season PR (16'1 1/2"), Lindsey Moore in the High Jump (5'6", tying her PR), and both relay teams took home first place finishes. Meet results for the KM dual can be found here.

Last saturday saw our boys and girls team split up for the prestigious Shoreline and Lake Washington Invitational meets. Shoreline is an all-boys meet and Lake Washington is an all-girls meet and both attract some of the top athletes in the state. Our girls team only sent 12 athletes to Lake Washington, but they competed hard and represented Kentwood well on the big stage. The girls squad was led by Lindsey Moore who placed 2nd in the High Jump (the 4th time this year she's jumped that height). Lindsey also set a PR in the Javelin with her throw of 99'9". Dana Wareham also had a big day, winning her heat in the 400m with a time of 60.85, and running the anchor legs on both the 4x2 and 4x4 relays. All three relays ran at Lake Washington and although they didn't run their fastest times of the season, all three were competitive within their hear in what perhaps is the best meet competition they will see all year (including state because the entries are based on marks, not classifications).

The boys squad went into their toughest invite of the season with the Shoreline Invite. Shoreline traditionally brings a very talented field from all across the state to compete against. Our boys stepped up to the challenge and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the state. There were several highlights of the meet, led by event winners Michael Chinchar in the 1600m, and Devin St. Clair in the Long Jump. Michael ran away with the 1600m title, winning in a time of 4:12.18, missing the meet record by little over a second. Devin leaped to a big victory with his jump of 22'6", showing the state that he is capable of winning a big meet. Another thrilling event was the boys 4x4 relay which saw another showdown with Eastlake High School (the team our boys beat to win the Bellevue Invite the week before). This time though, there wasn't enough room to outkick them and our boys took 2nd place with their time of 3:24.82. In the end, the boys team took home second place to Evergreen of Vancouver, a team that we will definitely see at the state meet. Meet results can be found here and news story here.

These meet were a good taste of what our competition will be like as we cruise into the postseason, hopefully preparing us for the great competition to come.

Boys are Tacoma Invite Champs!

Invite season is always so fun because there are so many great chances for big performances due to the good competition; to see our kids perform so well is very exciting to see. This past week we went to our first full-team invite, the Tacoma Invitational. There were 32 teams there from Western Washington (and one from Oregon), and it brought out the best in many of our kids. Many of the schools at this meet have had a lot of success, including Wilson High School, which was the Boys 4A 2006 State Champion.

One of the tough things about this meet is that it does not allow for either boys or girls squad to showcase our depth, so we have to rely heavily on our top athletes to get us points. Our boys came through though, and brought home the 1st place trophy on Saturday. There were many outstanding performances, but one performance in particular stood out above all of the rest. Sophomore Devin St. Clair came into this season with high expectations based upon his great Freshman season where he Long Jumped 21'11" and Triple Jumped 42'5". So far this year though, he hadn't been able to pop a "big one" in the Long Jump, with his best being 20'9" at the Arcadia Invite (off of the wrong foot). Devin finally put that to rest with his school record breaking jump of 23'4" to win the Tacoma Invite. His jump is the longest recorded so far this year for the 4A division. The Tacoma Invite was also highlighted by several other athletes beginning with event winners in the 1600m by Senior Michael Chinchar(4:29.11), and the High Jump by Sophomore Cody Fishel (6'2"). Other big marks were produced by Junior Demetrius Bronson who took 2nd in the 200m (23.23), Sophomore Steven Warner who took 4th in the 300 Hurdles (PR time of 41.27, moving him to #8 on the Top 10 List), Senior Eric Brill who took 5th in the 3200m (10:02.30) and Senior Andrew Fung who took 6th in the 110 High Hurdles (16.04). Both Boys relays performed well also, posting their second fastest times of the season to this point. The 4x100m relay (Nikiel Taylor, St. Clair, Damion Ricks and Bronson) took second with their time of 43.56, and the 4x400 relay (Gauldin, Ricardo Tucker, St. Clair and Chris Selvar) took 7th with their time of 3:32.02. The Distance Medley Relay (Jake Logar, Mark Hoffman, Kramer Wahlberg and Danny Smith) also placed 7th with their time of 11:41.15.

There were several highlights for the Girls team at the Tacoma Invite as well. The 4x200 Relay team of Kyra Gaines, Ashley Luther, Rachel Gilstad and Dana Wareham ran a season-best time of 1:51.63 putting them way ahead of where the same relay team was at this point last season. Freshman Dana Wareham came up big with a 7th place finish in the 200m (28.31) and a 6th place finish in the 400m (62.32) along with being the anchor leg on the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Senior Jillian Jainga also scored points with a 5th place finish in the Pole Vault. Season best times also were had by the 4x100 relay (Gaines, Kristin Olenick, Gilstad and Karyn Hauch with a time of 54.08), Junior Arielle Amoranto in the 100 Hurdles (18.79) and Junior Erin Bradfield in the Discus (83'1"). The Girls team ended in a tie for 16th place out of 32 schools.

This week coming up holds two meets for the team, the first being a dual meet versus Tahoma. Tahoma has been a powerhouse team on both the boys and girls side, as they have a very strong distance running contingent for both boys and girls. Their boys are led by Junior distance runner Jonothan Lafler and Seniors Matt Voss and Chad Ford for their sprints and hurdles. The Tahoma girls squad is led by Senior senior Megan Zukowski, who is leading the SPSL North in both the 100m and 200m.

This Saturday holds our second team invite, the Bellevue Invite. Many more of our athletes will be competing at Bellevue than did at Tacoma, so that should make for more outstanding marks! Hopefully the weather there will be as nice this year as it was last year. Maybe our team can pull out another win! Go Conks!

Coach Roche