Track records fall in Stanwood

"It was the final meet of the regular season and no one really needed to run or jump too hard.But even with this Thursday's North Cascades Conference championship meet looming, South Whidbey's boys and girls track and field athletes gave it their all at Saturday's Stanwood Invitational. More than a half -dozen Falcons notched personal bests in their events, while two - sophomore Andy Wills and senior Andrea McGillen - set school records.Wills, the Falcons' most promising boy sprinter in more than a decade, erased a 3-year-old school record in the 200 meter dash. He ran a time of 22.6 seconds on his way to third place in the big-school meet, eclipsing the mark set by John Steiner in 1999.Meanwhile McGillen, the springiest girl on the track team, added 3 inches to the pole vault record she set earlier this year, soaring over a 10-foot, 3-inch crossbar.These two performances headlined a solid Saturday for both South Whidbey track teams. The boys placed second on their side of the 14-team invitational, finishing 67 points behind winner Lake Stevens. The girl Falcons placed fifth as a team.The boys registered a number of performances that distinguished them during the meet. In the 4x400 relay, the Falcon team of Wills, Joe Candelario, Braden Giswold, and Brett Perkins scored a runaway win. Candelario was also successful on his own, running within a few 10ths of a second of South Whidbey's quarter mile record with a personal-best time of 50.8 seconds. Giswold also had a banner day, running his fastest open mile of the year, covering 1,600 meters in 4:21. Other Falcon placers were Bruce Hymas (second, 3,200), Brandon Bilyeu (fifth, 1,600), Brett Perkins (third, 800), and Tim Gathings (second, triple jump).On the girls side, McGillen used the momentum from her pole vault win to take the triple jump and to place second in the long jump. Her younger sister, Katy, also earned a place on the podium with her third-place finish in the high jump. On the track, junior Karen Schwager had the best day of all the runners in the Falcon distance corps, placing second in the 1,600 with a 5:34 season-best time.The Falcons compete next at the NCC championship Thursday and Friday at Lynden Christian. "

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