Competition usually brings out the best in athletes.

Just ask Thomas Jefferson’s Kendra Ansotigue. The junior uncorked a personal-best throw of 128 feet, 6 inches in the javelin Saturday afternoon at Mount Tahoma High School to win the West Central District championship in the event.

The throw, which came on Ansotigue’s second to last of the competition, also shattered the old Thomas Jefferson school record by more than five feet and qualified her for Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s Class 4A State Track and Field Champinoships at Mount Tahoma High School. The meet is being held in Tacoma this year after several years in the Tri-Cities. Carrie Estlund set the old record in 1996 at 122-10.

The Jefferson junior admittedly had an off day at the South Puget Sound League Sub-district Championships last week in Kent. Ansotigue finished third in the event with a throw of 98-6.

But the West Central District title didn’t come out of nowhere. Ansotigue had cruised through the SPSL regular season unbeaten and was the No. 1-ranked javelin thrower entering the sub-district meet.

Ansotigue’s javelin title was the only championship won during the highly-competitive West Central District Meet in Tacoma. The Federal Way High School boys took home the gold medal in the team competition, thanks in large part to the district titles won by Trenton Pinson in the 100 meters and Robert Shelby in the 300 hurdles.

The Eagles, who went unbeaten in the SPSL North Division for the second year in a row, outdistanced second-place South Kitsap and third-place Kent-Meridian. Beamer finished fourth in the team standings.

Pinson won his title in a stacked 100-meter final Saturday. The Federal Way junior, who transferred from Thomas Jefferson earlier in the school year, outleaned Beamer’s Duran Ward at the line in a time of 10.91. Pinson was the seventh seeded sprinter entering the meet and ran without any pressure at Mount Tahoma.

Ward, the top seed entering districts, got a little revenge on Pinson in the 200-meter final and with Beamer’s state-leading 4×100 relay. Ward ran a blazing 21.58 in the 200 final to outdistance second-place Pinson (21.81) and led Beamer’s defending 4×100 state champion relay team to the West Central District crown in 42.84 seconds. Pinson and the rest of his Eagle 4×100 relay team finished third in the event (43.12).

Shelby blazed to the title in the 300 hurdles Saturday in a time of 39.11. The Federal Way junior entered the finals as the third seed in the event after Friday’s preliminary round time of 39.50. Shelby also earned a state berth in the 110 high hurdles with a fifth-place finish (15.10).

Jefferson sophomore Kayla Adams also snared a district title in the girls shot put Saturday in Tacoma. Adams, who led the state most of the season, unleashed a throw of 41-6 in the finals to outdistance second-place Krystall Fowler from Lincoln (40-8 1/2).

Adams also finished second in the discus behind Bethel’s Jackie Brown Friday. Brown threw 121-7, compared to Adams’ throw of 115-11. Adams finished seventh in the shot put at last year’s state championships, which Jefferson teammate Sofia Malamura won.

The boys pole vault was also a solid event for Jefferson. Senior Wylie Johnson ended up third with a leap of 13-0 and teammate Jonathan Volland was fifth at 12-0. Johnson won the SPSL title with a leap of 13-6 and was the No. 1 seed entering the district meet.

Beamer’s Anthony Hogan also had a strong district meet. The senior finished second in the 110 hurdle final in 14.70, was fourth in the 300 hurdles (40.13) and was also part of the 4×100 relay title.

Other state qualifiers from the Federal Way school district on the boys’ side were Jefferson’s Chase Braxmeyer in the 3,200 (sixth, 9:46.31), Federal Way’s Andru Pulu in the shot put (fifth, 52-0) and fourth in the discus (146-10), Beamer freshman DJ May in the triple jump (fourth, 43-0 1/4) and Federal Way senior Andre Barrington in the long jump (fourth, 23-2 1/4) and triple jump (fifth, 42-6 1/4).

On the girls’ side, Federal Way’s Jacqie Evenson will run in two individual events after finishing fifth in the 300 hurdles in a time of 45.74 and sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.44). Evenson’s teammate, Jaleecia Roland also qualified in a pair of events after finishing fourth in the high jump (5-2) and triple jump (36-3 1/2).

Evenson and Roland also helped a pair of Eagle relay teams advance to state with second-place runs in the 4×100 and 4×200 events Saturday. Federal Way finished behind Bellarmine Prep in both races.

Beamer’s Taylor Kartes also qualified for state in the 800 by finishing third in a time of 2:22.53.

Decatur’s lone participant at the Class 4A State Track and Field Championships in Tacoma will be wheelchair athlete Kyle Ralphs. The Gator junior finished third in the 100 in a time of 25.02, third in the 200 (45.99) and first in the 400 (1:55.23).