Federal Way High school is looking for its third consecutive girls and boys track and field championship. They looked the part on March 19 against the Chargers of Kentridge.

The girls team put forth a dominant effort, winning the meet 122-28. The boys won 86-58.

Mariyah Vongsaveng, last year’s state champion in the girls 100-meter hurdles, looked ready to repeat as she posted a time of 14.8 seconds in the event. That time places her in second in the 4A classification. She only trails the leader by 0.06 seconds as of March 25.

Vongsaveng was also the winner of the girls 300 hurdles event, winning by nearly five seconds over Kentridge’s Madison Ibale, who finished second.

Gabriela Pelogi was another strong performer as she finished the best time in the girls 100 event with a time of 12.78. Her time is currently the tenth best among girls in the 4A classification.

Last year, Pelogi took home fifth in the state championships and is looking to match her former teammate and current Oklahoma Sooner, Hannah Cunliffe, who won state last year in the 100.

Pelogi also won the long jump event with a distance of 15-4.

While she finished second behind Pelogi in the 100 with a strong 13.06 time, senior Karis Cameron was able to take home the top spot in the 200 with a time of 27.03 seconds.

The girls 4×100 meter relay team once again looks to be a top contender as well. Against Kentridge they posted a time of 50.12, good enough for second best in the 4A classification at the moment.

Julian Johnson and Rachel Arnold posted one-two finishes in both the 800 and 1600. Johnson won the 800, while Arnold won the 1600.

Jonarra Swanson’s distance of 33-8 1/4 was the top mark in the triple jump event and currently is the 10th best distance in the 4A classification.

In all, the Federal Way girls team took two of the top three spots in all events but pole vault and the long and triple jumps.

For the boys, it was a close race between Alex Taylor and Jason Palmer in the 100-meter event. Taylor, who won the event, finished with a time of 11.19 and Palmer with a time of 11.22. The times are good enough for eighth and ninth in the 4A classification currently.

Palmer would also go on to post a time of 22.44 in the 200. That time currently only ranks behind one other in the state. Last year Palmer finished third in the 400. He did not run it at this meet.

Marcus Tate won the 400 with a time of 53.71. He was also a part of the boys 4×100 meter relay team that posted a time of 43.88, the fourth best time in the 4A classification currently.

Another standout performer was D’Jimon Jones who quarterbacked the football team to the state quarterfinals and was the sixth man on the state-champion basketball team.

Jones, who is participating in track for the first time this year, posted a jump of 6-9 in the high jump event. Currently, that is the top height in the 4A classification.

He also posted a jump of 21-8 1/2 in the long jump event, which is good enough for fourth in the 4A classification. He may prove to be a great replacement for Tyson Penn, who won state in the triple and high jump events last year, but has since moved to Bellevue.

Chico McClatcher and Jared Pulu are well-known track and field athletes who did not participate in this event due to not meeting the minimum practice requirements at the moment. They should be present from here on out.

Federal Way had a meet at Tahoma on Thursday after the Mirror’s publishing deadline.

Their next meet is on April 2 against Thomas Jefferson.