Wildcat boys surge to second in North meet / Track

Several surprising performances lifted the Oak Harbor High School boys track team to second place in the Wesco North Championships Wednesday and Friday, May 10 and 12, at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

The Oak Harbor girls couldn’t match the boys output and placed sixth in the seven-team meet.

The top seven in each event automatically qualified for the district meet, which is 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, and 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Shoreline Stadium.

The eighth- and ninth-place finishers in the North meet also have a shot to advance to district. Their marks will be compared to those of the South meet to determine two more district qualifiers. Those spots will be officially announced Monday evening.

The first four in each district event qualify for the state meet May 25-27 at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School.

Boys Wesco North Championships

Favored Arlington won with 183 points. Oak Harbor (119.5) edged Stanwood (113) and Snohomish (112.5) for second. The Wildcats finished behind Stanwood at the Twilight Invitational a week earlier and lost to Snohomish in a regular-season meet April 13.

Everett finished with 59 points, then came Marysville Getchell (46) and Marysville-Pilchuck (26).

“I’m really happy with how the boys performed,” Oak Harbor coach Jay Turner said. “A lot of them really stepped up. The obvious ones were the league champions.”

Taeson Hardin (100), Mac Nuanez (400) and Ozell Jackson (high jump), as well as both relays, won titles.

“Taeson Hardin had a great meet as he was only seeded fourth in the 100 coming into the meet,” Turner added. “The two relay teams had massive PR’s.”

Hardin ran a personal record 11.35 in the preliminaries Wednesday and then won the event with an 11.43 Friday. His top mark was 11.7 coming into the meet.

He joined Andrew Miller, Jordan Washington and brother Dorian Hardin to win the 4×100 relay in 43.49 after an earlier best of 45.32.

Nuanez (50.71) led an impressive Wildcat effort in the 400, as Oak Harbor took four of the top seven spots. Miguel Guzman (third, 51.88), Jackson (fifth, 52.31) and Chris Brown (seventh, 52.43) also placed, and all four ran personal bests.

The four captured the 4×400 relay in 3:28.02, more than six seconds faster than their previous best.

Jackson matched a PR while winning the high jump in 5-10 Wednesday.

The most “surprising” result, Turner said, was Ben Bozeman taking second in the javelin. Bozeman entered the event seeded 12th and threw 151 feet, a 17-foot improvement over his leading mark this year.

Garren Guerrero placed in four events (second, triple jump, 42-10.5; fifth, long jump, 20-03; fifth, 110 high hurdles, 16.49; and sixth, 300 hurdles, 43.82); Miller added a second in the long jump (20-10); Nuanez was fourth in the 200 (23.46); Washington took fourth in the triple jump (39-10); and Dorian Hardin was sixth in the 100 (11.76).

Other automatic district qualifiers were Kyle Nickols (fifth, high jump, 5-08), Isaac Gomez (sixth, shot put, 44) and Weston Whitefoot (seventh, javelin, 1141-03).

Girls Wesco North Championships

Stanwood nipped Snohomish for the girls title 143-140.5, and Arlington grabbed third with 124.5. In a tight race for fourth, Marysville Getchell (78.5) nosed out Marysville-Pilchuck (74) and Oak Harbor (72). Everett tallied 59.5.

“We were happy with how the ladies performed at the league meet,” coach Eric Peterson said. “Julie Jansen was our standout top performer in the discus with a monster throw.

“While we didn’t quality as many athletes as we had hoped for the district meet, we are an extremely young team that is gaining great experience for upcoming seasons.”

Jansen was the only Wildcat to take first, winning the discus Wednesday with a personal best toss of 115-04, an improvement of nearly 10 feet.

Oak Harbor put in a strong showing in the javelin as Cami Bristow (106-01), Lydia Dorsey (102-04) and Samantha Hines (99-09) finished 3-4-6.

In the 100 meters, Amaya Rittierodt (13.36), Maria Dailey (13.84) and Taylor Kesler (13.9) went 3-6-8.

Kaitlyn Chelberg (fourth, 110 hurdles, 16.4; fifth, 300 hurdles, 49.87), Alexis Smith (sixth, 1,600, 5:29.57; seventh, 3,200, 11:58.78) and Jenna Cooley (fifth, 400, 1:01.93; seventh, long jump, 16-01.25) each qualified in two individual events.

Cooley also qualified in two relays. Jennifer Turnek, Alora Caillier, Rittierodt and Cooley placed third in the 4×200 ( 1:49.91); and Turnek, Hines, Kesler and Cooley finished fourth in the 4×400 (4:22.14).

Dailey, Caillier, Kesler and Rittierodt were fifth in the 4×100 (52.07).

Other Oak Harbor results at the North Championships

Eighth, boys: Ben Gasper, 3,200, 10:04.

Eighth, girls: Turnek, 400, 1:02.06; Riley Grace Borden, 800, 2:41.4; Hines, 100 hurdles, 17.27.

Ninth, boys: Miller, 100, 11.62; Dallas Riddle-Stevens, 3,200, 10:06; Michael Fisken, shot put, 40-01.

Ninth, girls: Rittierodt, 200, 27.88; Carolynn Wicker, 800, 2:43.04; Sarah Ulam, shot, 29; Kristina Tirado, high jump, 4-08.

10th, boys: Brown, 200, 24.05; TJ Passmore, 400, 53.95; Gabriel Daggett, 100 hurdles, 18.2; Thomas Gilham, triple jump, 38-06.75.

10th, girls: Caillier, 100, 13.77; Hines, 300 hurdles, 53.09.

11th, boys: Immanuel McLaurrin, 400, 53.99; Jordan Bell, triple jump, 38-05.

12th, boys: Dorian Hardin, 200, 24.11; Brandon McCollough, javelin, 128.

12th, girls: Tirado, triple jump, 31-10.5.

13th, boys: Miller, 200, 24.32; Jackson, triple jump, 38-04.5.

14th, boys: Brown, 100, 11.76; Gasper, 1,600, 4:43; Aaron Fletcher, 110 hurdles, 19.5; Daggett, 300 hurdles, 47.97; Dorian Hardin, long jump, 18-06.

14th, girls: Jessica Vester, 400, 1:07.99.

15th, girls: Caillier, 200, 28.72; Megan Smith, 3,200, 12:51.24; Autumn Coker, long jump, 15-02.

16th, boys: Washington, 100, 11.84; Fletcher, 300 hurdles, 48.21; Keegan Daniels, discus, 96-11.

16th, girls: Suraya Johnson, 400, 1:11.53; Halle Lemme, shot, 27-04.

17th, boys: Passmore, 200, 24.46; Josh Stone, 800, 2:15.13; Nickols, triple jump, 37-04.

17th, girls: Stephany Flores, 800, 2:59.99.

18th, boys: McLaurrin, 200, 24.51; Michael Lym, 1,600, 4:48.97.

18th, girls: Brenna Rothman, 800, 3:07.28.

19th, girls: Vester, 100, 14.04; Isley-Raye Kusnick, shot, 25-05.25.

20th, boys: Gomez, shot, 94-02.

20th, girls: Borden, 1,600, 6:00.85; Ulam, discus, 74-05.

21st, boys: Tyrell Torres, javelin, 118-01; Gilham, long jump, 17-07.

21st, girls: Jansen, shot, 24-06; Isabel Thayer, javelin, 62-05.

22nd, boys: Bell, 100, 12.19; Justin Campbell, shot, 33-09.5; Washington, long jump, 16-10.

22nd, girls: Wicker, 1,600, 6:06.09; Lemme, discus, 57-05.

Julie Jansen throws a PR of 115-04 to win the discus for the Wildcats. (Photo by John Fisken)

Garren Guerrero leaps to second place in the triple jump. The senior placed in four events in the meet. (Photo by John Fisken)

Jenna Cooley crosses the finish line as the Wildcats take fourth in the 4x400 relay. Cooley placed in three other events at the North Championships. (Photo by John Fisken)

Jenna Cooley crosses the finish line as the Wildcats take fourth in the 4×400 relay. Cooley placed in three other events at the North Championships. (Photo by John Fisken)