La Conner High throwers are outstanding in their field

It’s their field contestants who are throwing La Conner Braves foes off track this spring.

Both figuratively and literally.

It happened again last week, at Northwest 1B/2B League Track and Field trials at Mount Vernon Christian.

Michael Page, Zach Harris, and Brady Nelson swept a trio of field events to help lead the Braves to the meet title.

La Conner edged host MVC 217.5 – 179 for top spot on the boys’ leaderboard.

The La Conner High Lady Braves, led by Anna Cook’s four solo victories, placed a strong second to Mount Vernon Christian on the girls’ side of the meet, missing gold by a narrow 185 – 183 margin.

Page headlined the boys’ shot put finals with a winning toss of 40’ – 3”. His teammate, David Thomas, placed second at 39’ – 4.5”.

Harris, meanwhile, captured the discus with a 126’-8” heave. The versatile Page finished third, while La Conner’s Brady Nelson took fifth.

Nelson would have his time in the Winner’s Circle as well. He topped nearly two dozen entrants in the javelin, thanks to a 134’-5” effort.

La Conner’s Nick Reese, Harris, Thomas, Geoffrey McGaughey, Hunter Kroon, Nathaniel Stoppleman, and Josh Summers also finished in the top ten of the javelin finals.

Summers added triumphs in the high jump and 110 meter high hurdles. He cleared 5’-8” in the high jump and ran the 110s in :17.51.

La Conner sophomore Budda Luna nearly struck double gold in the triple jump and long jump. Luna went 38’-1” to win the triple jump and placed second in the long jump at 18’-3”.

On the oval, La Conner’s Scott Gregory did mine gold twice.

The Braves senior nipped Grace Academy’s Drew Ridewood for the 800 meter crown, clocking a 2:23.3 finish. Gregory won the 1600 meters in 5:18.4, nine seconds ahead of MVC’s Kendall Van Zanten.

La Conner sprinter Mitchell Grant claimed the 100 meters- — perhaps the meet’s most anticipated race — by hitting the tape in :11.64.

Kameo Pino matched Grant by winning the girls’ 100, turning in a time of :13.48. She was joined on the medal stand by Lady Braves teammate Sage Burgmeier, who clinched bronze, finishing ahead of Mount Vernon Christian’s Haley Hood.

Pino and Burgmeier would later join Emma Lee and Sofie Thulen to post an impressive win in the sprint relay. The La Conner quartet finished with a time of :53.85, nearly four seconds better than their closest competitors.

No one, it turns out, was close to Cook when it came to excelling across the board — be it in the sprints, middle and long distance, or jumping pit.

Cook won the 200 meter dash, 800 and 1600 meter runs, and triple jump.

She won the 200 in :28.86, the 800 in 2:37.42, and the 1600 in 5:50.1. Her winning leap in the triple jump — 32’-7.5” — bested by more than 4 feet the distance reached by silver medalist Danielle Van Zanten.

Thulen likewise enjoyed a runaway win, hers coming in the 100 meter high hurdles, with a :17.45 clocking.

Kamea Luna, Heather Henriksen, and Katie Cram added to the Lady Braves medal count. Luna placed second in the high jump, while Henriksen earned silver in the javelin. Cram finished third, just back of Neah Bay’s Faye Chartraw and Concrete’s Rebecca Torheim, in the shot put.

In related notes:

• La Conner High thinclads also competed at the 15-school Cashmere Invitational on Saturday. The Braves were led by Luna, who was fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump, and Grant, fourth in the 400 meters and seventh in the 200 dash. Luna and Grant then teamed with Corbin Silk and Kolbe Rasler for a seventh place finish in the sprint relay. Holden Brown, 800 and 1500 meters; Gregory, 3000 meters; Summers, 110 meter hurdles and high jump; Rasler, 300 meter hurdles; Page, shot put and discus; Harris, discus; and Nelson, javelin, also recorded Top Ten finishes for the Braves.

• Thulen paced the Lady Braves at Cashmere with a silver in the 100 meter hurdles at :16.92, fourth place finish in the 300 hurdles, and ninth place showing in the long jump. Lee in 100 meters; Cram, shot put; Sarah Hastings, discus; Kamea Luna, javelin; and Henriksen, javelin, placed in the Top Ten of their respective events.