Falcons girls team takes second place

Two South Whidbey track stars shrugged off injuries and rose to their full potential at the Cascade Conference championships last week.

On Friday, sprinter Lauren Sandri kicked up her performance several notches, taking first in the 100-meter dash with 12.96 seconds and first in the 200-meter event with 26.51.

Sandri, after dealing with an early-season tonsillectomy, said she feels stronger every day.

“I think my legs are getting better and overall, I’m in better shape,” she said. “And I’m really pleased by the efforts of our relay team; it seems we’re just clicking in perfect synch.”

Cayla Calderwood placed first for South Whidbey in the girls high jump two days earlier, flying over the bar 5 feet, 1 inch, then triple jumped 35-7.75 for another first place during the first day of track championships at Cedarcrest High School in Duvall.

“Cayla has been off for more than two weeks with a quad injury, took only one jump in the triple and decided not to take her other five attempts,” Falcon coach Doug Fulton said. “Her high jump was a season personal best, giving us a solid first day.”

Calderwood admitted she was feeling a little pain.

“But my goal has been and is to qualify for state, so I’m going to do whatever it takes,” she said.

Overall the girls placed second with 142 points behind King’s at 157.5. The boys were third with 81 points behind Kings with 211.5 points and Lakewood with 187 points.

McKenzie Walker was second at 13.25 and 26.98; Gwen Bakke took fifth in the 100-meter with 13.60 and seventh in the 200 at 28.17.

In the 400-meter run, Laurie Robinson placed fourth with 1:04.77 and Courtney Bosman was eighth at 1:07.74.

Emily Martin set a career PR by 31 seconds in the 3,200-meter distance run for seventh place at 12 minutes, 7.51 seconds. Caroline Habel placed ninth in 12:16.10.

The Falcon girls – Gwen Bakke, Sandri, Walker and Laurie Robinson – won the 400-meter relay in 1:46.49. In the 800-meter run, the girls team – Caroline Habel, Emily Martin, Robinson and Erica Johnson – won with 4:24.29.

Laura Barrow, Martin, Robinson and Erica Johnson took fourth in the 1,600 relay in 4:24.29.

Johnson said competition really revs up at league and districts, noting the high-tech track at Cedarcrest was both good and bad.

“The distance people like it because it doesn’t pound their legs so hard,” she said. “But the sprinters can’t get up to speed as fast as they’d like.”

Nikki Enters was sixth in shot put with a throw of 27 feet, 9.75 inches. Kelsey Engstrom placed seventh with 27-02.25. Enters was fifth in the discus at 93-10.

In the javelin, Martha Gil-Osorio was third at 94-11, Calderwood fourth at 93-02, Ann Hefflinger sixth with 83-10 and Enters seventh at 80-03.

Hefflinger placed sixth in the pole vault at 8 feet exactly and Autumn Walker was seventh at 7-06.

Calderwood took a second place in the long jump with 35-7.75.

On the boys side of the ledger, Jon Poolman placed third in the tough 100-meter dash at 11.55. Hisashi Sanda placed eighth in 12.29.

Poolman was second in the 200-meter dash at 23.41.

Nick Rovang was sixth with 53.28 in the 400-meter run, while Scott Stallman had a PR of 1:58.69 in the 800.

The boys 400-meter relay team – Eric Stallman, Jon Poolman, Chandler Thompson and Hisashi Sanda – took first place honors in 43.99.

“We beat our season high by eight seconds because the transfer from one to the other has been getting much smoother,” Poolman said.

The Falcons – Poolman, Kyle Asay, Jasper Tyler and Eric Stallman – took third place in the 800-meter relay in 3:31.87.

Andy Bennett won the 300-meter international hurdles in 41.33 and had a career PR in the long jump while placing third at 20-09.50. Bennett also had a third-place finish for the triple jump with 42-3.75.

Bennett had been competing in the shadow of track star Jason Fitz for a couple years.

“I had Jason and his rivals in front of me in the intermediate hurdles,” Bennett said. “But now I feel I’m lined up for state; I really want to bring home a medal for the school.”

Both Zach Idso and Jackson Engstrom had PR’s in the discus, throwing 121 feet, 4 inches and 120-05 respectively. David Monell was fifth in the shot put at 43-04.

“We had a lot of good things happen and, though Sehome and Burlington-Edison may have more depth, I expect good things at districts,” Fulton said.

The boys and girls track team travels to Cedarcrest again this week for District One and the chance to qualify for state finals on May 23-24 in Tacoma.