Track teams do well at MVC meet

Reigning state hurdles champion Tommy Murdock won three solo events, Morgan Huizenga climbed atop the medal podium twice, and the Lady Braves captured two relay crowns as La Conner High School’s track-and-field teams finished near the top of the leaderboard at an 11-school meet hosted by Mount Vernon Christian on March 28.

Murdock claimed one of his signature events – the 110-meter hurdles – and placed first in the 100- and 400-meter sprints to help lead La Conner to a third-place finish on the boys’ side of the March 28 trials.

MVC edged Coupeville 139-136.5 for the boys’ team title. La Conner was third with 106.5 points. Friday Harbor (74) was a distant fourth.

Huizenga swept the javelin and high jump for the La Conner girls, who were runners-up in their half of the meet to host MVC. The Lady Hurricanes totaled 156 points. La Conner also reached triple digits with 105.5 points. Coupeville (93) and Lopez Island (56) rounded out the top four.

Strong efforts in the relays propelled the Lady Braves.

Huizenga joined teammates Nora McCormick, Lydia Grossglass and Kiana Jenkins to win the sprint relay. The La Conner quartet clocked a time of 53.8 in the 4x100.

Maeve McCormick, Grossglass, Jenkins and Nora McCormick breezed to first place in 4x200 with a 1:54.0 finish.

Huizenga again showcased her versatility by triumphing in the javelin (92’-2”) and high jump (4’-8”). In the javelin, her La Conner teammates Reese Bird and Addison Wigal also enjoyed solid performances. Bird placed fourth at 81’-9” and Wigal was sixth with a toss of 76’-7”.

Jenkins, meanwhile, contributed a second-place clocking (29.1) in the 200 meters and a third-place leap (4’-6”) in the high jump.

Nora McCormick added to the Lady Braves point total by taking top honors in the 100-meter hurdles, hitting the tape in 17.9. Grossglass was a close third at 18.5 and Aisley Zimmerman took fifth with a 19.7 clocking.

Grossglass augmented her work in the relays by placing second in the 100 meters with a time of 14.0. Kim Williams, one of the handful of eighth graders competing for the Lady Braves, mined bronze in the triple jump at 28’-1.75”.

Murdock continued a stellar start to his senior season with wins in the 100 meters (11.0), 400 meters (53.6), and the 110 hurdles (16.2). He also ran a leg of the Braves’ 4x100 relay entry, joining Simon Bouwens, Marlin Bralens and Lane Tenborg for fourth place in 49.6.

Bouwens added a second in the 110 hurdles (18.2) and 200 (24.7) and a third in the 100 dash (12.2). Bralens placed fourth in the 110s, finishing in 20.0. Tenborg picked up third place in the triple jump (34’-7”).

Eighth grader Yandel ­Rosales-Rojas led the Braves’ field events contingent with a winning 17’-8” leap in the long jump.

La Conner’s Flint Huizenga collected second place in the javelin (117’-10”) while teammate Alex Martin finished third and fifth, respectively, in the discus (112’-7”) and shot put (36’-1.5”).

The La Conner thinclads, off this week for spring break, resume action April 10 with the 2024 Skagit Showdown at Whittaker Field. La Conner will host league rival Mount Vernon Christian and 2A schools Burlington-Edison and Sedro-­Woolley.