Braves' Murdock wins hurdles, beats larger schools

Bigger isn’t necessarily better.

La Conner High School’s Tommy Murdock proved that statement beyond doubt Friday, punctuating it with an exclamation point by sweeping the hurdles events at the Bedlington Twilight Track & Field Meet in Lynden, where the reigning State 2B champion fended off challengers from larger schools.

Murdock, competing against 1A-3A hurdlers, cruised to twin wins in the 110s (0:16.23) and 300s (0:41.46), a feat all the more impressive when you consider he had done the same just two days prior at an NW1B/2B League meet at Coupeville.

The La Conner junior showed no sign of fatigue, improving on the times he posted on the Wolves’ oval.

Murdock clocked a 0:16.59 in the 110 hurdles and a 0:42.27 in the 300 last Wednesday as the Braves placed fourth in a seven-team conference field.

Murdock also joined La Conner teammates Jacob Pommels, Isaiah Price and Thomas Kitchen to capture top honors in the sprint relay at Coupeville. The Braves quartet combined in the 4x100 for a 0:46.35 finish.

Nor was that the full extent of Murdock’s work on the day.

He, Pommels and Kitchen teamed with Finn Hakenson to place second in the mile relay with a 4x400 time of 3:49.89.

In addition, Pommels contributed Top Ten finishes in the 100 and 200 meters. He ran fourth in the 100 in 0:12.17 and seventh in the 200 with a 0:26.61 clocking.

Price also fared well in solo contests. He was second in the javelin with a toss of 137’-3” and placed seventh (31’-7.25”) in the shot put.

Kitchen, meanwhile, took fifth in the long jump at 17’-7” and 10th (33’-8”) in the triple jump.

Hakenson was sixth (35’-9”) in the triple jump and seventh (16’-9.25”) in the long jump.

Isaac Kitchen added to La Conner’s strong showing in the hurdles by finishing fourth behind Murdock in the 300s at 0:47.75. He also placed ninth (33’-8.5”) in the triple jump.

Alexzander Martin chipped in a fifth-place finish in the discus with a heave of 90’-2” and was eighth in the shot put at 30’-11.25”.

Other Braves’ highlights at Coupeville included Brenden Kitchen’s fourth place effort (2:29.43) in the 800 meters and a sixth-place finish (0:12.17) by Simon Bouwens in the 200 dash.

On the girls’ side of the Coupeville meet, La Conner ended up seventh on the team scoreboard and was paced by Maeve McCormick, Emily Smith and Addison Wigal.

McCormick was fourth (13’-1”) in the long jump, sixth (0:14.27) in the 100 meters and ninth (58’-2” 0 in the javelin. Smith was fourth (24’-9”) in the triple jump and seventh (11’-6”) in the long jump. Wigal secured sixth place in the javelin with a 63’-5” throw.

The La Conner thinclads resume action today (Wednesday) with a 4 p.m. conference meet hosted by Mount Vernon Christian.