South Whidbey athletes Cayla Calderwood, Will Hallberg and Andy Bennett gained a first place at the two-day Cascade Conference track-and-field meet in Cedarcrest on Friday.

And Falcon thrower Nikki Enters had two firsts.

Calderwood had a personal best high jump of 5 feet, 2 inches; Hallberg triple-jumped 43-01, and Bennett long-jumped 20-09.5.

“My goal was to sweep all three of my events,” Bennett said. “My knee was holding me back, but injuries are part of the experience.”

Bennett added that although he’s not 100 percent, he plans to put everything he’s got into the District 1 meet this week.

Enters, meanwhile, threw her discus 100 feet, 7 inches and her shot put 33 feet to secure top honors for South Whidbey in those events.

It was something of a trifecta for the girls shotput team as Kelsey Engstrom took second with 32 even and Christine Johnson placed third with 29-10.

In the boys 100-meter dash, Elijah Fergusson — a freshman but moving up fast — finished at fifth with

11.55 seconds. Jon Poolman and Fergusson took second and third in the 200-meters with 22.80 and 23.05 respectively.

Scott Stallman placed second in the 800-meter run with 1:59.21. Sam Lee came in fourth in the 1,600-meter distance race in 4:35.57.

In the 300-meter hurdles, Bennett was third at 42.22 while Lee, Stallman, Poolman and Jasper Tyler were fourth in the 400-meter relay in 3:31.40.

Jackson Engstrom put his shot 44 feet, 3 inches for third place and David Monell was right behind with a throw of 42 feet even.

For the girls, Calderwood placed second in the long jump with 16-04 and triple jump at 36-08.5. Laura Barrow ran the 300-meter hurdles in 49.02 for a second-place finish.

Gwen Bakke was third in the 100-meter dash at 13.29 and Caroline Habel placed fifth in the 800-meter with 2:34.

After two days and 18 events, the South Whidbey girls team was third out of eight schools with 105 points, behind King’s and Archbishop Murphy.

The boys team finished third overall at 97 points, behind King’s and Lakewood.

“I thought if everything went well, both teams could score around 100 points and place in the top three,” said Falcon coach Doug Fulton. “It was gratifying to see everyone perform so well. I can’t think of anyone who didn’t record a season best or come close to one.”

In another piece of good news, the South Whidbey boys track team has been named state 2A academic champions for spring 2009.

The 18 Falcons honored posted an average 3.446 grade point average to secure the honor.

“There’s some pretty smart kids out there,” said Falcon coach Doug Fulton. “The school, their parents and the community has every right to be proud of their achievement.”

The boys will be awarded a plaque at the state track meet at Tahoma High School in Tacoma on May 30.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.