Thinclads shine at Twilight meet

The La Conner High mile relay team shared the limelight at the Stanwood Twilight Invitational Track Meet.

The Braves’ quartet of Kolbe Rasler, Mitchell Grant, Harrison Orkney, and Josh Summers took top honors in the 4x400 meter event, capturing gold with a time of 4:11.86 in a field that included entries from Lake Stevens, Oak Harbor, and other larger schools.

La Conner’s mile relay triumph highlighted a sixth place finish for the Braves, who more than held their own at the May 9 competition.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Braves were eighth, just behind Mount Vernon and Snohomish.

The Braves nearly swept the relays at Stanwood as Grant, Orkney, Wylie Thulen, and Sidney Lease were just off the winning pace in the 4x100 meters.

Lake Stevens edged La Conner, which was clocked at :45.87, by a mere five-tenths of a second in a hotly contested sprint relay.

La Conner beat Oak Harbor for the silver in a virtual photo finish. Seattle Academy placed fourth.

Grant and Orkney likewise made their presence felt in the solo sprints.

Grant, coming off a superb showing in the recent Skagit County Track-and-Field Cham-pionships, placed second at Stanwood in the 400 meters.

The La Conner junior ran :52.39 in a final heat won by Snohomish senior standout Kyle Sager.

Orkney added a Top Ten finish in the 200 meters, placing ninth in :25.15.

Summers, also a member of the Braves’ mile relay squad, showed his versatility at Stanwood by finishing fifth in the high jump and sixth in the 110 meter hurdles.

Lease added a seventh place finish in the javelin to his role in helping the Braves clinch the 4x100 runnerup spot.

Freshman Budda Luna nar-rowly missed a medal for La Conner in the triple jump. He settled for fourth behind a trio of seniors, with a leap of 36’-1/4”.

The Braves were just outside the Top Ten in middle and long distance events. Scott Gregory posted a time of 2:19.94 in the 800 meters, placing him 11th in a large field. Alec Azure matched that finish in the 1600, hitting the tape in 5:05.95.

Gregory was 17th in the 3200 meters, timed at 11:38.33 over eight laps.

Alejandro Ruis was 11th and Robert Duckworth 12th in the triple jump and discus, respectively.

Anna Cook and Heather Henriksen set the pace for the Lady Braves in their half of the Stanwood meet, each bringing home a bronze.

Cook was third in the 800 meters with a time of 2:34.63. Henriksen placed third in the javelin with a toss of 82’-8”.

Henriksen was also sixth in the discus, with a throw of 83’-5”, one foot shy of Lady Braves’ teammate Kyla Crawford, who placed fifth.

Cook added an eighth place effort in the triple jump, going 30’-7 1/2” in the finals.

La Conner senior Jessica Kiser proved adept at running both sprints and long distance. She was fifth in the 1600 meters, with a 5:37.33 finish, and placed 10th in the 200 meter dash in :30.10.

Lake Stevens won the boys’ team title at Stanwood, easily outdistancing Oak Harbor 176.5-108.5. The Braves finished with 47 points.

Oak Harbor outpointed Stanwood 155-139 for the girls’ team crown. La Conner totaled 30 points, 10 more than ninth place Chimacum.