Rivals track and field teams wrap up regular season with top times

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The East Jefferson Rivals track and field teams concluded their regular season with a pair of meets in Silverdale and Renton.

The majority of the team traveled to Klahowya Secondary School on May 4 along with Bellevue Christian and Vashon Island for a Nisqually League meet.

Ellise Gardner and Tusker Behrenfeld each picked up a pair of victories in the throwing events, with Gardner winning the javelin (92 1) and shot put (25 7), and Behrenfeld taking the javelin (155 3) and discus with a personal-best throw of 123 3. Event wins were also secured by Anson Jones in the shot put (41 8), and Connor Paterson in the long jump (16). Additionally, every sprinter and long-distance runner who competed ran lifetime bests. These were highlighted by Aurin Asbell’s third place
100-meter finish (13.63), which brought her district ranking up to fifth, and Alex Harvey’s fifth place in the 400-meter (56.79).

A small group of East Jefferson distance runners traveled to Liberty High School in Renton on May 6 to compete in an evening of distance races under the lights. Battling heavy rain, almost all of the EJ crew came away with new lifetime best marks.

The night began for EJ with Fiona Fraser battling in the heaviest rains of the night to a second-place finish in her heat of the 1600-meter in 5:44.86, nearly a 7-second improvement on her previous best.

Fraser was trailed in that heat by Lia Poore (6:07.85) who also improved her best by over
9 seconds.

Camryn Hines finished 14th overall in the fastest girls heat of the night with her second-best-ever 1600-meter run in 5:32.86.

Sebastian Manza, Glen Dawson, and Soare Johnston took to the line in the penultimate boys heat of the night. Manza kept a cool race of positioning throughout the middle laps and unleashed a ferocious final lap to take the heat win in 4:31.34, a 10-second improvement to his personal best.

Manza was followed by Dawson (4:43.11, nearly 8-second personal best), and Johnston’s approximately equal to his best in 4:51.25, despite getting tangled up and tripped in the third lap of the race.

Max Allworth-Miles raced in the final and fastest heat of the night and recorded nearly exactly the same time as Manza had earlier, with a 4:31.44 time that improved his best by over 9 seconds as well.

Allworth-Miles and Manza are now ranked sixth and seventh respectively in the 1A division of the state in the event heading into the postseason.