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.
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.
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
