Though some of the state championship contenders graduated at the end of last season, Federal Way’s boys and girls track teams are looking to maintain their place at the top of the South Puget Sound League Northwest.
The Eagles took the first step as their girls team defeated Thomas Jefferson 95-54 and the boys team won 100-45.
A few athletes from both schools posted some of the state’s best times, heights and distances for various events at the meet.
Ariya Kendrick’s 16.06 seconds time for the Eagles in the 100-meter hurdles event is currently the 10th best time in the 4A division, according to athletic.net. She finished 10th in the event at last season’s state championships.
Thomas Jefferson’s Taylor Sterling battled with Kendrick in the 100 hurdles, but despite taking the early lead she finished second. Her time of 16.41 is currently 13th best in the state.
Sterling still made her mark on the day, winning the 300 hurdles against Kendrick with a time of 49.89. Sterling also won the high jump with a personal best height of 5-3, currently the fourth best in state behind three other girls tied at 5-4.
Federal Way’s Alex Taylor also posted a then-best of the season time of 11.04 in the 100, a time he surpassed at Saturday’s Bill Harris Invitational with a time of 10.89. He currently is the state 4A leader with that time.
Jason Palmer also posted a top-1o time against Jefferson in the 200 with a time of 22.59, but he was able to surpass it at the Bill Harris Invitational and move into third in the state with a time of 22.23, just 0.01 seconds off of the two leaders.
Liai Taala was yet another Eagle to crack the top 1o in the state in an event at the meet. She won the girls shot put event with a distance of 37-4, good enough for 10th in the state currently.
Federal Way dominated most of the boys jumping events.
D’Jimon Jones won the high jump with a modest-by-his-standards 6-2 jump. He has cleared 6-8 this year already.
Mason Sallee, last year’s state champion in the triple jump and the current state leader in both the long and triple jump, won the triple jump with a distance of 44 1/2. His Federal Way teammate, Bobiono Sims, topped him in the long jump with a distance of 21-4 1/2.
Though he took second in the triple jump at the meet, Jefferson’s Jeremiah Duckworth leaped his way into the top 10 in state with a distance of 42-8 1/2.
Thomas Jefferson’s Michael Johnson, a state championship participant last year, won the pole vault event with a jump of 13-0. His height will make him one of the favorites to make the state competition from District 3 once again.
Federal Way freshman Makiya Worthy topped the girls 100 and 200 with times of 12.94 and 26.41.
Two of the closest races of the day took place in the girls 400 and 800 events.
Soleil Lewis gave the Raiders a first place finish with a time of 1:03.60, edging out Federal Way’s Jordan Houston by 0.01.
Julian Johnson held off Jefferson’s Victoria Delk by 0.17 in the 800 with a time of 2:38.65.
The Raiders swept the boys long-distance races. Rajesh Gill picked up wins in the 800 and 1600, winning the former by just 0.33 over Federal Way’s Connor Low with a time of 2:07.01.
David Jaquish, who played baseball for Jefferson the past two springs, won the 3200 with a time of 10:20.96.
Lydia Wolfram won the girls 1600 for the Raiders with a time of 5:52.10, just ahead of Federal Way’s Bethany Forward and Olivia Chong.
The three also were the top three finishers in the 3200, but in reverse order with Chong taking first and Forward taking second.
Chong, a tennis player for Federal Way last year, won with a time of 12:30.14.
After defeating Jefferson, the Eagles boys and girls went on to win at their annual Bill Harris Invitational event which was hosted on Saturday.
Both schools were idle this week for Spring Break.
Jefferson (0-1-0 boys, 0-1-0 girls) returns to action at 3:15 p.m. on April 13 against Mount Rainier at Highline Memorial Stadium.
Federal Way’s (1-0-0 boys, 1-0-0 girls) next meet will be the Oregon Relays on April 15-16 in Eugene, Oregon.
