By throwing the javelin 178-feet at the state meet Friday, Oak Harbor senior Matt Constantino accomplished something that hadn’t been done by a Wildcat track and field athlete in seven years.

Constantino’s heave gave him a second place finish, the highest finish by an Oak Harbor trackster since Wes Young took second in the high jump in 1996.

“Matt felt great afterward, much of it may have been relief after last year’s disappointing 14th,” head coach Seth Hodges said.

Under overcast skies and facing breezy weather similar to Oak Harbor as opposed to Pasco, Constantino got off to a strong start in the prelims.

“Matt usually hits his best mark in the first two throws, so we breathed a big sigh of relief when his first hit 175 to put him in second,” Hodges said.

His best throw of 178-feet came on his second toss and was good enough to temporarily put him in first place. Unfortunately for Constantino, Olympia’s Pat McCormick followed with a personal best by two feet, tossing the javelin 184-feet-3-inches. McCormick’s throw was good enough to hold up through the remainder of the competition as a strong head wind picked up.

“Matt knew he had nothing to lose with his last throw and put everything he had into it, but it got held up in the wind,” Hodges said. “It would have taken a PR by Matt to win it, but it was a hit or miss proposition with the head wind.”

With the second place finish, Constantino scored eight points for the Cats, good enough to provide them with a tie for 23rd overall.

Two other Oak Harbor athletes competed at the state meet in Pasco last weekend, but were unable to make the finals. Tim Harasti took 13th in the triple jump with a leap of 42-feet-5-inches and Mortrayl Hayes finished 16th with a jump of 41-feet-2 1/2-inches.

“The effort was there by each but neither seemed to have the pop in their legs necessary to hit their best marks,” Hodges said. “They competed well but it just wasn’t their day.”

Kyle Jenkins of Thomas Jefferson High School won the event, jumping 49-feet-8 1/2-inches.