La Conner thinclads sweep Bi-District track trials

The space race might be a thing of the past, but not Luna landings.

La Conner High senior Budda Luna landed atop the leaderboard in three different jumping events at the 2B Bi-District track and field championships in Shoreline on Saturday.

Luna mined gold in the boys’ high jump, 6’-0”, long jump, 21’-2”, and triple jump, 41’-9½, as the Braves eased to the Bi-District team title by a 143.5-66 margin over runner-up Friday Harbor.

Seattle Lutheran placed third with 62.5 points.

On the girls’ side, it was much the same story. La Conner was a world apart from the rest of the field.

The Lady Braves, with sprinter Emma Lee, hurdler Sofie Thulen, thrower Sarah Hastings, and jumper Matty Lagerwey claiming multiple golds, donned the team crown in fairly easy fashion.

La Conner outpaced Friday Harbor 146-73, with Crosspoint Academy, at 34, settling for bronze.

Lee, as has been her custom much of the spring, swept the 100 and 200 meter sprints. She ran a :13.04 in the 100. Her 200 time was :26.29.

Lee’s closest rival in the 200 was teammate Kayla Hagen, who clocked a :28.74 silver medal finish.

Hagen would also place second at 400 meters, posting a time of 1:06.92, just ahead of La Conner teammate Justine Benson who at 1:10.54, was third.

Thulen continued her dominance of the 100 and 300 meter hurdles. She won the Bi-District 100s in :16.27. She ran the 300s in :48.78, finishing ahead of teammate Addison Reinstra, who took the silver.

Lagerwey literally won the long jump by leaps and bounds. Her winning effort of 16’-6 ½” was more than two feet longer than that of silver medalist Jaclyn Domenech of Friday Harbor.

Lagerwey also captured the triple jump with a leap of 33’-7½”.

She also joined Lee, Thulen, and Sage Burgmeier to clock a winning :51.71 finish in the sprint relay, edging a Friday Harbor quartet.

Lee, Thulen, Hagen, and Brianna Porter enjoyed equal success in the 4x200, coasting to the gold with a 1:48.36 posting.

Benson, the Bi-District high jump title winner, teamed with Hagen, Reinstra, and Porter to bring home the gold in the mile relay as well. The La Conner quarter-milers combined to post a 4:47.63 finish in the 4x400.

Hastings led a strong Lady Braves contingent in the field events. She won the shot put by more than five feet 34’-6¾” to 29’-4” over Becky Azure of Concrete and the discus by nearly 15 feet 106’-9” to 92’-7” over Crosspoint’s Kennedy Breda.

In the girls’ javelin, Burgmeier and Porter placed second and third, respectively, behind Sara Rist of Friday Harbor.

The javelin likewise was a strong event for the La Conner boys.

Brady Nelson, an Everett Community College track signee, took top honors with a season best effort of 171’-3”. La Conner teammate Geoffrey McGaughey was second at 160’-0”, also a season best effort.

Nelson added a silver in the discus, placing second to La Conner’s Kaden Murdock, whose 119’-9” heave clinched gold.

Michael Page, McGaughey, and Nelson scripted a 1-2-3 finish for the Braves in the shot put. Page went 42’-6 ½” to secure the gold. McGaughey was the only other contestant to top 40 feet, at 41’-9”.

McGaughey and Murdock showed their versatility by running legs of La Conner’s gold medal Bi-District 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay entries.

Luna and Arjuna Adams rounded out the Braves’ sprint relay quartet, which hit the tape at :46.11. Adams and distance specialist Charlie Cram filled out the La Conner mile relay squad, whose winning time was 3:45.64.

Cram, meanwhile, also ran the 800, 1600, and 3200 meters. The La Conner freshman won the 3200 in 11:00.48, finished second in the 1600 at 5:02.93, and was third in the 800 in 2:15.43.

Adams and Murdock added further to the Braves’ medal count. Adams edged Crosspoint’s Peter Park for the 300 meter hurdles title, clocking a :44.32 finale.

Murdock finished second to Concrete’s Blaine Storms in the 400 meters.

In what has been something of a marathon season for La Conner thinclads, the Braves and Lady Braves are poised this week to go the distance one more time.

That being for their annual road trip to Cheney for the State 2B Championship Meet, where La Conner has fared quite well in recent years.

The three-day event, held on the campus of Eastern Washington University, opens tomorrow, Thursday, and runs through Saturday.