La Conner runs circles around District track foes

The bus to Cheney will be full this week.

Filled with La Conner High track athletes eager to hit the freeway after having run in the fast lane at two-day NW2B District trials in Bellingham.

“We’re taking 29 athletes to State, and we won 31 of 34 events,” an elated La Conner head coach Peter Voorhees said after his charges dominated action at venerable Civic Field.

The Braves won the boys’ side of the District Meet by outpointing runner-up Friday Harbor 281-120. Concrete placed third, with 63 points.

The Lady Braves captured their half of the District bracket by a 295-90 margin over Friday Harbor. Concrete, with 49 points, settled for bronze.

La Conner senior Mitchell Grant literally made fast work of the sprints, mining gold in the 100, 200, and 400 meters.

Grant edged Friday Harbor standout Willie Blackmon in the 400, posting a :51.70 finish. Blackmon was clocked at :52.55.

Grant won the 100 in :11.83, the only entrant to break 12 seconds. He captured the 200 with a :24.13 final heat.

The Braves were equally strong at long distance.

La Conner’s Holden Brown and Scott Gregory won the 1600 and 3200 meters, respectively. Brown ran a 4:53.83, while Gregory was timed in 11:02.24.

Josh Summers and Buda Luna, like Grant, were multiple winners for the Braves.

Summers won the 110 meter hurdles in :17.00, claimed the high jump title with a leap of 5’-7, and triumphed in the pole vault.

Luna prevailed in the long jump, with 19’-7.5”, and triple jump, 39’-11.5”, and ran legs of La Conner’s victorious sprint and mile relay entries.

Luna teamed with Grant, Kaden Murdock, and Seth Schuh to clock a :47.02 in the 4x100 finale. He joined Brown, Kolbe Rasler, and Harrison Orkney to win the 4x400 in 3:48.56.

David Thomas, Zach Harris, and Brady Nelson completed a sweep for the Braves in field events.

Thomas won the shot put with a heave of 43’-1.5”. Harris was best in the discus at 133’-1”. And Nelson took top honors in the javelin, his throw of 151’-4” edging teammate Schuh for first place.

It was much the same story for the La Conner girls.

Emma Lee, Anna Cook, Abby Ray, Sofie Thulen, and Sarah Hastings emerged as multi-event victors.

Cook won the 400 in 1:04.43, and 1600 meters, 6:18.81, and the triple jump with 32’-4.75”.

Thulen took the long jump gold with a best effort of 14’-11.25”, while also winning the 100 meter in :16.97 and 300 meter hurdles, :50.34.

Lee, meanwhile, swept the sprints. She ran a :12.90 100 meters, then clocked a :27.08 in the 200.

Ray edged Friday Harbor’s Kendra Pew to wear the girls’ 800 meter crown. Ray hit the tape in 2:46.61. Pew’s time was 2:48.91. None of the other 800 meter entrants broke 3 minutes.

Ray led a 1-2-3 La Conner finish in the 1600 meters. She ran a 15:34.45 final, with teammates Emma Lagerwey and Fernanda Silva not far behind.

Hastings was the shot put winner, her 32’-11.25” throw just farther than those recorded by La Conner’s Katie Cram and Kamea Luna, who also medaled.

Hastings added gold in the discus with a toss of 100’-10”. Lady Brave teammate Heather Henriksen was second.

Henriksen would stand atop the medal stand as a member of the La Conner girls’ winning sprint and 800 meter relay teams.

Henriksen, Lee, Thulen, and Kamea Pino won the 4x100 with a time of :51.84. Henriksen, Lee, Cook, and Pino were clocked at 1:52.77 in the 4x200.

Silva, Hailey Azure, Madison Wilson, and Ashley Carlson combined to record a 5:17.89 first place finish in the mile relay for La Conner.

Kamea Luna rounded out a long list of Lady Brave individual event winners by placing first in the high jump.

She and the other La Conner High thinclads began getting ready on Monday for their next big jump — into the thick of State competition starting tomorrow, Thursday, on the campus of Eastern Washington University.