The Port Townsend High School track and field teams competed at North Mason High School in Belfair March 21 against 1A Coupeville, plus 2A teams Olympic and North Mason.

“It was a nice meet with which to open our regular season league schedule,” PTHS coach Ian Fraser said. “We lucked out with the weather, as we experienced neither strong winds nor precipitation until the very end of the meet.”

Fraser saw this meet as “a sort of developmental training session” for many of his athletes, pitting them against much heavier competition schedules than usual.

“Even competing through fatigue, we saw some very promising performances,” Fraser said.

Event winners included Aubry Botkin in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.81; Eileen Leoso in the shot put at 30 feet, 11.5 inches; and Nathan Cantrell in the 1,600-meter at 4:57.41.

“Eileen’s win was a dominant one, besting the league’s no. 2 shot putter by nearly 2 feet,” Fraser said. “Aubry’s win was equally impressive, as she handled the late race fatigue much better than the previous week, and posted a nearly half-second victory over fellow All-State hurdler Lindsey Roberts of Coupeville.”

After what his coach deemed three “pedestrian” laps in the 1,600-meter race, Cantrell initiated “a vigorous surge for home,” in Fraser’s words, in the final lap.

“He led in a strong Port Townsend contingent, taking three of the top four spots, with sophomore Seamus Fraser and freshman Joe Molotsky each posting large personal bests,” Fraser said.

Other top placers included Botkin again, second in the long jump at 14 feet, 10.25 inches, and third in the 100-meter at 13.63; and Ally Bradley, second in both the 800-meter at 3:53.83 and the 3,200-meter at 13:21.17.

Leoso placed second in the javelin at 107 feet, and Bella Lusk placed third in the triple jump at 18 feet, 10 inches. Cantrell placed second in the 800-meter at 2:12.7.

Seamus Fraser placed second in the 3,200-meter at 11:04.96, and third in the 1,600-meter at 5:06.15. Molotsky earned fourth in the 1,600-meter at 5:13.80, and fifth in the 800-meter at 2:19.89.

Dylan Tracer placed second in the discus at 99 feet, 10 inches, as well as fourth in the shot put at 35 feet, 3.75 inches, and sixth in the 200-meter at 24.85.

The 4x400-meter relay team of Molotsky, Cantrell, Kincaid Gould and Fraser closed out the meet with a fifth-place finish of 4:07.79, in which three of the four ran “their best-ever split times for that distance,” according to Fraser.

The Port Townsend teams look forward to competing at Coupeville March 28, when they face all of the Olympic League 1A teams – Coupeville, Chimacum and Klahowya – plus Mount Vernon Christian.