La Conner High races to twin District track titles

La Conner High thinclads literally ran away with the 2B District Track-and-Field Championships at Stanwood on Friday.

The Braves bested Concrete 112-15, while La Conner’s girls outdistanced the Lady Lions 88-39 in what was essentially a dual meet between the longtime league rivals.

By securing the twin track crowns, La Conner swept five NW2B sports races this spring, Athletic Director Peg Seeling said Saturday.

In addition to track, La Conner’s softball and golf teams won outright league championships, while the baseball team shared top honors with Concrete but earned a No. 1 seed at Bi-District.

But it was in track where La Conner won in a runaway.

For the Braves, it all started in the sprints.

Junior speedster Mitchell Grant won at both 200 and 400 meters. He clocked a :23.36 in the 200 and was timed at :52.83 in the 400.

Grant also joined Harrison Orkney — the District 100 meter champ — Sidney Lease, and Wylie Thulen to capture the sprint relay with a :45.44 finish.

Grant, Orkney, Kolbe Rasler, and Josh Summers also combined to bring home the gold in the mile relay, finishing the 4x400 in 3:45.88.

Orkney, who ran an :11.78 100 meters, was runnerup to Grant in the 200.

La Conner senior Rafael Ponce-Venegas won the 800 meters in 2:06.53 and placed a close second to Grant in the 400.

La Conner was likewise strong in long distance events.

Senior Alec Azure swept the 1600 and 3200 meters for the Braves. He posted a time of 5:00.46 in the 1600 and finished the 3200 in 11:16.77, just nipping Concrete’s Kevin McLaughlin at the tape.

La Conner’s Scott Gregory placed second in the 1600 and third in the 3200, respectively.

Summers, in addition to running a leg of the mile relay, finished first in both the high jump and 110 meter hurdles, clocking a :16.97 in the latter event.

Rasler, a freshman, clinched a La Conner sweep in the hurdles by claiming the 300 meters in :47.94.

The versatile Lease won the District shot put title with a heave of 42’-9 1/2”, edging teammate Nathaniel Stoppleman. Lease also led a 1-2-3 La Conner finish in the javelin with a toss of 131’-07”.

Freshman Brady Nelson, with a 125’-3” finale, won the javelin silver. La Conner’s Seth Schuh was third, at 123’-4”.

Budda Luna, another La Conner freshman, was also another double winner.

Luna went 17’-3” to earn gold in the long jump. His 36’-1 1/2” leap in the triple jump also placed him atop the leaderboard.

As was the case in the javelin, La Conner took all three medal spots in the discus.

Aach Harris was the top entrant, at 122’-2”. Schuh finished second with a throw of 112’-9”. Robert Duckworth, at 109’-4”, took the third slot.

On the girls’ side, Jessica Kiser gave her foes the runaround in three different events.

The La Conner senior was District titleist in the 800, 1600, and 3200. She capped a grueling day by running a leg of the Lady Braves’ victorious mile relay effort.

Kiser clocked a 2:35.03 800, finishing just ahead of teammate Anna Cook. She and Cook also ran 1-2 in the 1600. Kiser finished in 5:50.40 to Cook’s 5:58.05.

The two teamed with Lady Braves Nicole Henriksen and Sofie Thulen to win the 4x400 relay.

Thulen and Henriksen enjoyed big days, as well.

The freshman Thulen won the 100 and 300 meter hurdles events, winning close races each time against Concete’s Jasmine Hopfield.

Thulen would add a second place finish to Cook in the triple jump.

Cook hit the pit at 31’-11 1/2”, while Thulen stretched the tape to 30’-2 1/2”.

Thulen’s classmate, Hailey Azure, won the girls’ long jump at 10’-5” and 100 meters in :15.11 to earn dual crowns.

Henriksen, meanwhile, swept the 200 and 400 meter dashes. She ran a :29.99 200 and a 1:09.96 400.

Henriksen also joined her sister, Heather, Ryan Kiser, and Kyla Crawford to claim the girls’ 800 meter relay title. The Lady Brave quartet finished the 4x200 in 2:06.45.

The Lady Lions, who won the sprint relay, were paced by field event standout Rebecca Torheim, who won the District shot put and javelin contests and placed fourth in the discus.