The East Jefferson (EJ) track and field athletes traveled to Sammamish High School in Bellevue to compete in the 15th Annual BCS Invitational. 

A total of 22 schools participated, with events starting at 10 am. Conditions at the meet were moody ranging from predominantly overcast and cool to periods of sunshine and showers.

The top placing EJ athlete at the competition was sophomore Kaida Rodrigues who placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 33-04.50. Other top finishers for the Rivals included sophomores who all had third-place finishes.

Arden Moore ran the 300M hurdles in a personal record (PR) of 47.01, Clara Camp PRed in the 200M dash with a 27.28 and Joshua Yearian ran a strong 4:33.59 in the 1600M run.

The girls 4x400 meter relay team of Rodrigues, freshman Avery Dean, and sophomores Kaydence Plotner and Abby O’Keefe also clinched a third place with a time of 3:46.82. This was Dean’s first ever 400M run and head coach Fraser noted that “she went out really hard… and came through for the team.”

The highest placing male Rivals in other running events included senior Nikolas Erickson in the 100M dash (18th, 12.02), sophomore Jackson Dupuy in the 200M (15th, 25.37), Yearian in the 800M run (seventh, PR 2:03.24), and in the 3200M run senior Soare Johnston and sophomore Noah Isenburg finishing nearly in tandem for seventh and eighth places respectively in times of 10:01.08 and (PR) 10:01.75. Johnston and Isenburg had the most dramatic and tension-filled race of the day as they relentlessly pushed each other through the eight-lap event.

The 4x400M relay team of Yearian, senior John Mercado, and freshmen Zeke Banks and Biorn Brostrom all ran strong legs to place sixth in a time of 3:49.34.  

In the field events sophomore Charley Schweitzer was the top EJ placer in both the shot put and the javelin. He was 39th in the shot with a throw of 29-07.00 and 30th in the javelin with a PR of 99-02.00. In the discus, sophomore Ethan Perovitch was 35th with a 73-07.00.

In the girls running events, the top Rivals were sophomore Carina Shiflett in the 100M (eighth, 13.67), Plotner in the 100M hurdles (ninth, 17.23), and juniors Leah Ferland and Michael Gregg in the 3200M finishing in 11th and 12th with times of 13:05.54 and (PR) 13:11.07. The girls 4x100M relay of O’Keefe, Moore, Shiflett, and Camp placed fifth with a time of 52.27. In a bittersweet moment, the girl's 4x200M relay of Camp, Shiflett, Moore, and O’Keefe ran the second fastest time ever recorded for EJ (and formerly PT) girls but were disqualified. Fraser said, "Despite the regrettable disqualification, this shows how much potential these girls have.”

The field events saw sophomore Emma Joy take 26th in the shot put with a throw of 21-02.50. Fellow thrower freshman Isla Emerson was the top EJ athlete in the discus with a toss of 66-03 for 19th place, and older sister Sienna Emerson placed sixth in the javelin with a 96-04. Plotner, who EJ jumps coach Roland Nikles calls “a quick study and a hard worker,” also competed in the triple jump placing fourth with a 31-01.25 leap.

In the final team scoring, the East Jefferson girls placed ninth overall, and the boys tied with Evergreen (Seattle) for 14th.

The Rivals have two competitions in the coming week. On Wednesday, May 7th, the majority of the team will travel to Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma to compete in a Nisqually League meet. On Friday, May 9th, the distance runners will head to Liberty High School in Renton to run at the distance-only Liberty Twilight Invitational.

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