North Kitsap’s Vikings ruled their home turf, but athletes from Sequim and Olympic High weren’t far behind.
In the first of four postseason weekends, several of Sequim’s Wolves put up strong marks and look primed for a long playoff run at the Olympic League championships in Poulsbo on May 9.
Sequim’s boys — led by Oscar Herrera, the Male Running Event Athlete of the Meet — finished a shade behind NK in the team standings (128 to 121.5) with Olympic taking third, while Sequim’s girls placed third with 111.5 points, behind NK (126.5) and Olympic (126.5). Sequim High head coach Brad Moore was named the Olympic League’s boys 2A Coach of the Year.
Herrera, a junior who qualified for the state meet in both 110- and 300-meter hurdles events events last season, swept the events at league Saturday — edging out Kingston senior Garrett Rouser, the defending 2A state 300-meter champ in both. Herrera set personal bests in both events.
Herrera joined Miguel Moroles, Jason Springer and Logan Habner in winning the 4×400 relay with a 3:27.40 mark that’s the third-fastest mark in the 2A classification, according to athletic.net.
“Coach (BJ) Shade has worked them very hard,” Moore said of Sequim’s winning relay squad. “That’s the fastest 4×400 team I’ve ever had.”
SHS senior Alex Barry continues to dominate in the javelin, throwing a state 2A-best 186 feet, 4 inches to win the event at league by more than 30 feet.
Moore said a key rule change in the javelin this year is that coaches can review a previous attempt by an athlete, and after showing Barry his first final throw and emphasizing how to drive off one leg, the Sequim athlete tossed his best mark of the season.
“He’s very capable of throwing 200 feet,” Moore said of Barry.
Sequim senior Josh Cibene won the pole vault with a 13-foot effort.
Brendon Despain, a Sequim junior, raced to a second-place finish in the 3,200-meter race (10:19) behind Port Angeles’ Peter Butler and took fourth in the 1,600-meter race.
Sequim’s boys 4×100 relay team of Barry, Herrera, Springer and Curtis Gorr took third, less than a second off the winning pace.
Sequim’s Austin Adams’ 40-foot, 10-inch throw in the discus was good for third, as was Chris Whitaker’s 124-9 mark in the discus. Miguel Moroles took fourth place in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter race while Jackson Oliver cleared 5 feet 10 inches for a fourth-place finish in the high jump.
On the girls’ side, Sequim junior Waverly Shreffler posted another impressive all-around effort, winning the 800-meter race in 2:25.84, taking second in the 400-meter race (1:01.19) and, along with teammates Gretchen Happe, Sadie Woods and Heidi Vereide, helped break the school record in the 4×200 relay of 1:48.26.
The previous record set in 2007 of 1:48.54 by Anna LaBeaume, Chase O’Neil, Alexandra Sele and Megan Zumbuhl.
“We’re predicting they’ll run faster than that,” Moore said. “We hadn’t really put that four together (this season).”
Shreffler, Vereide, Woods and Megan Breckenridge raced to a big win in the 4×400, topping the North Kitsap squad by more than 10 seconds. Moore said SHS’s 4×400 relay has a good chance of breaking the school mark this season as well.
Junior Alyse Armstrong earned a pair of runner-up finishes, in the high jump (4-8) and the pole vault (8-6), while Vereide took third in the long jump (15-8.25).
SHS sophomore Cheryl Armstrong was third in the shot put with a 29-foot, 9-inch effort.
In the 100-hurdles event, Sequim’s Mattie Clark was third and Katelyn Rogers took fourth, and Woods raced to a third-place finish in the 200-meter sprint.
Meet honors
Joining Herrera with league meet honors were a Roughrider and two Trojans.
On the boys’ side, Keshun McGee of Olympic took the meet’s Male Field Event Athlete of the Meet, after he broke the meet’s 20-year-old triple jump record (Brandon Reese, Central Kitsap), and took first in the long jump and second in the 100-meter dash.
On the girls’ side, Gracie Long edged out Shreffler for the Female Running Event Athlete of the Meet for her wins in both 1,600- and 3,200-meter races.
Danielle Monzon of Olympic won the Female Field Event Athlete of the Meet, winning the 100-meter race and long jump and placing second in the triple jump.
Joining Sequim’s Moore was Cristi Frank of North Kitsap in winning the Olympic League’s Female Coach of the Year honor.
Besides McGee’s effort, Chloe Seferos of North Kitsap had the meet’s other record-breaking effort; her pole vault of 11 feet, 3 inches broke the meet mark of 10-6 set by Dani Weatherbee of Port Angeles in 2007.
Looking ahead
Sequim athletes compete at a subdistrict meet on Saturday, May 16, at Bremerton High School with the same field from Saturday’s league meet schools in the 1A classification.
Top athletes from sub-district qualify for the West Central District meet, set for May 22-23 at North Mason High School in Belfair, with competitors from 21 other schools, from Olympic, South Puget Sound and Seamount leagues.
The top six marks in each event at districts earn athletes a spot at the class 2A state meet, scheduled for May 28-30 at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
“I think we’re going to send a lot of kids to districts and hopefully to state,” Moore said.
“We’re looking at how we make it all the way to state how for (the Wolves) to be successful when they get there,” Moore said. “That’s out focus right now.”
