The East Jefferson Rivals Track and Field Team competed in their opening meet of the season on Thursday, March 20, at Sequim High School. In addition to EJ and the host school, teams from Clallam Bay, Crescent, Kingston, Neah Bay, and Port Angeles were also present. Athletes experienced cold conditions, but were not inconvenienced by rain or wind. 

Highlights from the sprint events included senior John Mercado’s 9th place finish — out of 53 contestants — in the 100m, with a new personal record (PR) of 12.48.

Mercado also finished 9th in the 200m again with a PR of 25.78. Fellow senior Traycen Brown took 7th in the event with a time of 25.51. Freshman Zeke Banks was the top EJ finisher in the 400m run with 5th place finish and a time of 1:00.38.

In the girls sprints, returning sophomore Abby O’Keefe placed 9th out of 37 athletes in a PR of 14.19. She was followed by freshman Rayna Pray who took 11th in her HS debut in 14.74. Senior Sienna Emerson was the top Rival in the 200m, nabbing 7th place with a time of 30.06. Sophomore Kaydence Plotner did double duty in the hurdle events taking 3rd in the 100m race with a time of 17.89 and second in the 300m race with a time of 50.92.

In the longer distances, sophomore Joshua Yearian won the 1600m in a time of 4:43.18 with teammates senior Soare Johnston and junior Dustin Hines following in third (4:57.16) and fourth places (5:00.44) respectively. Yearian returned to run the 800 and placed fourth in 2:09.68. In the longest event of the day, EJ athletes went one-two with sophomores Noah Isenberg and Nico Errichetti finishing well ahead of the other competitors. Isenberg’s time was 10:38.24 and Errichitti set a PR of 10:58.24.

East Jefferson girls competed in the 1600m with junior Leah Ferland placing 3rd in 6:21.55 and fellow junior Michael Gregg taking 4th in an unrecorded time due to a timing malfunction.

The relays were exciting events with stiff competition. Four rookie EJ girls (freshmen Elan Dudley-Nollette, Rayna Pray, Macy Little, and sophomore Charlotte Tarada) took 4th place in the 4x100m race in a time of 1:01.

In the culminating event of the evening, EJ girls also placed 4th in the 4x400 m relay. The team, composed of O’Keefe, Ferland, Gregg, and freshman Makenna Johnson, ran a time of 4:54.88 and Gregg reported that it “was a blast.” 

Rivals boys fielded two teams in the 4x400 relay with the A team taking 3rd place and the B team 5th out of 7 teams. The A team was led by veteran senior Dillon Page Castillo who was followed by Banks, Brown, and Yearian for a time of 3:56.29. The B team was led by freshman Biorn Brostrom who handed off to Hines, Isenberg, and Johnston to run a 4:13.06.

East Jefferson field events were off to a strong start with rookie senior Mason Iverson taking 3rd place in the shot put with a throw of 35-08.50. Junior Charly Schweitzer took 7th in the discus with a PR toss of 78-03. Senior Morgan Hanson long jumped to a 6th place finish with a 15-02.50. On the girls side, O’Keefe took 4th place in the shot with a 23-01.50 while freshman teammate Isla Emerson debuted in the disc with a throw of 58-00, good for a 7th place finish. Emerson also competed in the javelin throwing 72-11 for a 5th place finish and older sister Sienna taking 3rd overall with a toss of 81-09. In the girls jumps, Johnson competed in the high jump placing 4th with a leap of 4-02.00.

Head Coach Ian Fraser noted that it was a solid start for the team, especially as there were a number of athletes who did not compete due to illness and injury. He praised Yearian, Plotner, Mercado, and O’Keefe as having remarkable season openers.

The team will next compete at Klahowya in their first Nisqually League meet of the season on Tuesday March 25, after press time.

Alice Fraser is the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the East Jefferson Rivals.