The East Jefferson Rivals Track and Field Team had two competitions this past week.

The first was a nine school Nisqually League meet at Charles Wright Academy (CWA) in Tacoma on Wednesday, May 7, and the second the distance only Liberty Twilight Invitational on Friday, May 9, at Liberty High School in Renton. 

Conditions at CWA were not in the athletes’ favor as the sprinters and jumpers were subjected to head winds most of the meet. Conversely, the weather in Renton was mild, calm, and slightly warm setting the stage for optimal performance.

Sophomore Kaydence Plotner was the only Rival to capture a 1st place victory at the league meet, with a solid run of 17.29 in the 100 meter hurdles. She was also the only athlete to place 2nd, which she did with a leap of 31-04.00 in the triple jump.

Two other EJ athletes were able to take 3rd place overall: sophomore Abby O’Keefe in the 400 meter run in 1:06.13 and freshman Zeke Banks with a huge personal record (PR) in the 800m of 2:09.75. Head Coach Ian Fraser noted that “Banks has put in a lot of work this season and in his last three races it has all come together with him taking eleven seconds off his initial time of the season and setting significant PRs.”

Other highlights from the meet for the boys included sophomore Jackson Dupuy placing 12th and 14th in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes with times of 12.26 and 25.77. In the 400 meter run junior Dillon Page Castillo set a PR of over a second to run 55.60 and place 4th. In the throws, senior Mason Iverson placed 12th in the shot put with a mark of 32-04.75 and 13th in the javelin with an 89-02 toss. Junior Charly Schweitzer was the top finisher in the discus with a PR throw of 82-10 which was good for 15th place. Senior jumper Morgan Hanson, set a PR of 5-04.00 in the high jump to place 5th and jumped a seasonal best (SB) in the long jump to take 7th (16-06.50).

Additional girls performances of note on the track were sophomore Carina Shiflett’s 7th place in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.64, freshman Avery Dean’s 13th place in the 200 meter (30.79), and Plotner’s 7th place finish in the 400 meter in a PR of 1:08.50.

In the field events, O’Keefe threw a 21-07 for 15th place in the shot put and freshman Bonnie Blair was 13th in the javelin with a 42-02 effort. In the discus, sophomore birthday girl Emma Joy celebrated by throwing a PR of over six feet to place 6th with a 68-06.

The Liberty Twilight Invitational is a unique event where only the 1600 meter and 3200 meter are run in heats getting faster as the event progresses. The event features upbeat music accompanied by videos on the jumbotron, intense competition, huge crowd energy, and post-race ice cream for all.

This year there were 55 schools present and in the 1600 meter there were 461 boys entered divided into 17 heats. On the boys side, the Rivals top finisher was sophomore Joshua Yearian, who placed 52nd overall with a PR of 4:29.62. The other EJ athletes to compete were sophomore Noah Isenberg (128th, PR 4:42.30), junior Dustin Hines (163rd, PR 4:48.32), sophomore Nico Errichetti (172nd, PR 4:49.52), senior Soare Johnston (175th, 4:49.59), freshman Biorn Brostrom (187th, 4:53.16), and sophomore Kepler Edmundson (376th, 5:18.03).

Post race, Isenberg commented that he had no idea that Kenny Loggins’s Danger Zone was blasting throughout the stadium during his race and that all he could hear was the “pounding of feet and the roar of the crowd… it was intense.”

In the girls 1600 meter, there were 254 competitors spread over nine heats with the EJ girls in three of them. In order of place were juniors Hilina Taylor-Lenz (93rd, PR 4:46.42), Leah Ferland (137th, SB 6:00.16), and Michael Gregg (148th, 6:04.15). 

The Rivals are set to compete next in the District Championships which span three days. The first and third days of competition will be at Klahowya Secondary School on Saturday, May 17, and Thursday, May 22, with an intermediary day of competition on Monday May 19 at Bellevue Christian.

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