Ups and downs at district track

Last night was up in Rainier, near Olympia, for the District IV 1A track and field meet. The sun was out and the kids did great. Had a lot of fun, so much in fact I stayed till the end, which was not my original plan, since it is a 2 1/2 hour drive back, so pretty tired today, but it was worth it. In fact, I wouldn't have gotten the pic above of Josh Berteaux making one of his final vaults under the stadium lights. He reached a career best 13-feet-3 and placed second.


Here we have Andy Schott, Amanda Bell and Raven Rogers cheering on the boys 4x400 relay team as they come down the final stretch. The boys finished just .6 seconds out of making it to state.


Leticia Cervantes was unable to reach the minimum height in the pole vault and was an early out in the event. But she came back strong later on. (more on that in a minute). I saw some girls from other schools crying with mascara running all over their face after similar situations last night.


Josh Schenk placed fifth in the boys long jump to make state, with a leap of 19-feet-3.


Bell made the finals of the girls discus. And while she threw a career best distance, it wasn't enough to advance to state. I really liked the cages they had for this event, surrounded by netting and a fence.


Kenzi Wirkkala was a double qualifier, placing third in the shot put and second in the javelin. She will be joined at state by Cervantes, who came back from the disappointment of her showing in the pole vault to place third in the javelin.


And finally, speaking of disappointment, here's the boys 4x400 team who just got eeked out by the Onalaska team, to the left above. The boys 4x100 relay team, which features most of the same group, made state however, and in some cases individual events too. All in all a pretty cool night.

-DKM