Murdock sweeps hurdles at Skagit Showdown meet

La Conner High School hurdles standout Tommy Murdock took top honors in his races at the Skagit Showdown Meet in Sedro-Woolley last Wednesday.

Students from various sized schools competed, but Murdock was clearly in a class by himself.

The junior swept the boys' 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, hitting the finish line in 0:16.02 and 42.00, respectively.

The reigning state 2B hurdles champ placed a strong third in the 100-meter dash, clocking an 0:11.46 finish, behind Carsten Reynolds (0:11.17) and Connor Cox (0:11.29), both of host 2A Sedro-Woolley.

Murdock also ran a leg on the mile relay, joining Jacob Pommels, Isaiah Price and Thomas Kitchen for a second-place finish. They recorded a 3:47.64 finish in the 4x400 meter finale.

La Conner thrower Alexzander Martin also mined gold, winning the discus competition with a toss of 118'-2".

The Braves edged Mount Vernon Christian for third place on the leaderboard, trailing Sedro-Woolley and Burlington-Edison.

Simon Bouwens, Flint Huizenga, Lane Tenborg and Isaac Kitchen placed second in the 800-meter sprint medley relay, at 1:49.10. In the sprint relay, Pommels, Price, Thomas Kitchen and Kali Adams clinched third place at 0:47.16.

Pommels added an individual silver in the 200 meters, crossing the tape in 0:24.12. Bouwens finished fourth, four-tenths of a second behind Pommels.

On the girls' side, La Conner was paced by Morgan Huizenga, who was second in the javelin (79'-0") and fifth in the shot put (23'-11").

Addison Wigal picked up fourth place in the javelin, at 70'-9."

Maeve McCormick placed fifth in the long jump (13'-5") and 400 meters (1:09.84) and seventh in the 100 meters 0:13.96) as her team finished fourth in the girls' standings.

Lydia Grossglass edged McCormick for sixth place in the 100 with a 0:13.95 clocking.

The team took part in another highly competitive non-conference test, venturing into the Cascades for the Cashmere Invitational Track & Field Meet Saturday.

Murdock, Martin and Price again led the way. Murdock bettered his 110-meter hurdles time with a 0:15.58 finish but settled for second place behind Porter Wilhite of 1A Lynden, who ran a 0:15.51. Martin was second in the discus with a 112'-5" heave and Price was second in the javelin at 145'-7".

Murdock took fifth in the 100-meter dash (0:11.78) and joined Pommels, Brendan Kitchen and Thomas Kitchen to finish fourth in the 4x400 relay with a 3:46.07 finish.

Pommels contributed a fourth in the 200 (0:23.58) and an eighth in the 100 (0:11.93) and the team tallied 41 points for fifth out of 17. Lynden ran away with the boys' title, amassing 157 points. Cashmere was the runner-up with a 104.5 score.

The Lady Braves notched their lone point at Cashmere with an eighth-place finish in the 4x100 sprint relay. Huizenga, McCormick, Wigal and Grossglass ran a 056.19.