16 Falcons qualify for state meet / Track

Sixteen Falcons earned a trip to the state 1A track meet as the South Whidbey High School boys finished second and the girls third in the 14-team bi-district championships Thursday and Saturday, May 17 and 19, at King’s.

The state meet is Thursday through Saturday, May 24-26, at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

King’s won both the boys and girls team titles at bi-district. The boys had 161 points to South Whidbey’s 98.5.

The Knight girls won a tight race for first with 98.5 points, followed by Meridian (91.5), South Whidbey (90.5) and Seattle Academy (87).

The top four finishers in each bi-district event earned a spot at state.

Sophia Nielsen, Matthew Simmons and Kristopher Dixon each qualified for four state events to pace the Falcon attack at the bi-district meet.

Nielsen won three individual events (100 hurdles, 15.54; long jump, 17-9.5; triple jump, 34-11.25) and ran on the third-place 4×100 team with Karyna Hezel, Alexandra Kurtz and Mikayla Hezel (51.41).

Nielsen’s mark in the long jump was more than a foot and a half better than the runner-up and a new school record.

Simmons won the 100 (11.36) and placed second in the 200 (23.16) and in both relay races. He joined Dixon, Carl Henri Chapman and John Bartel in the 4×100 (44.28) and Bartel, Callahan Yale and Dixon in the 4×400 (3:30.45).

Dixon added a second in the 110 hurdles (15.7) and a third in the 300 hurdles (41.21), and Yale was third in the 800 (1:59.97).

Issiah Gonzales will compete in two events at state, taking third in the high jump (6) and fourth in the triple jump (41-04.5).

Romey Rohde will return to state after finishing second in the pole vault (12).

The girls 4×100 relay team will be joined at state by the other relay squads. Mattason Straub, Lila McCleary, Karyna Hezel and Kurtz were third in the 4×200 (1:47.9); and Kurtz, McCleary, Grace Complita and Elizabeth Donnelly took fourth in the 4×400 (4:09.1).

Donnelly was third in the 800 (2:18.78), McCleary third in the 300 hurdles (47.63) and Straub fourth in the 100 (13.06).

Emily Vanberg finished second in the javelin (114-06) to round out the South Whidbey state qualifiers list.

Other South Whidbey results at bi-district

Fifth, boys: Max Dodd, 400, 53.36; Larsen Christiansen, 300 hurdles, 41.8; Owen Boram, javelin, 152-02.

Fifth, girls: Kurtz, 400, 1:02.17.

Sixth, boys: Bartel, 200, 23.91; Kole Nelson, 110 hurdles, 16.33; Sam Martin, pole vault, 10-06; Cameron Jensen, long jump, 20-08.

Sixth, girls: Karyna Hezel, 100, 13.19; 200, 27.32.

Seventh, boys: Casey Justus, discus, 108-02.

Seventh, girls: Kaia Swegler Richmond, 3,200, 11:37.9; Serena McLain, 100 hurdles, 17.71; Rachel Harder, discus, 88-05; Straub, long jump, 15-04.

Eighth, boys: Justus, shot put, 36-02.

Eighth, girls: Complita, 400, 1:04.25.

Ninth, boys: Michael Cepowski, 3,200, 10:17.62; Dylan Davis, discus, 106-07; Nelson, high jump, 5-06.