McGillen, Wills have their teams on track

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, April 2, 2003

Katy McGillen and Andy Wills are names athletes on track teams all over the state, and especially in the North Cascades Conference, will be hearing over and over again all year — just like Meridian and Blaine did Thursday.

The reason? The athletes attached to those names combined for seven victories in individual events in the home triangular as both the boys and girls track teams won their first conference meets of the season.

McGillen was the biggest point getter for the girls, winning the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump, the long jump and the javelin. In the hurdles, her time of 17.39 seconds was the fastest in a race that was all South Whidbey, as the Falcons took first through fourth places.

The Falcons dominated almost every other event during the meet, which gave them a 78-point advantage over second-place Blaine by nightfall. In the 100-meter dash, junior Claudia Gil-Osorio was untouchable at 13.19 seconds at the head of a South Whidbey 1-2-3 finish. Catherine East was the team’s other sprint winner, taking the 400 in 50.55 seconds.

Also winning events were freshman Mary Bakeman in the 3,200, Becky Gabelein in the 300 hurdles, Jordan Tobler in the shot put, and Kimery Hern in the discus.

In the boys meet, Wills delivered much of the sprinting power, winning the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes, as well as anchoring the team’s winning 4×100 relay. Also hauling in big points was junior Kyle McGillen, who tied his season-best in the high jump with a winning 6-foot leap, and who won the long jump with a 19-foot flight.

In the longer races, Alex Hoelting took the 800 in 2:12, while freshman JD Peters won the 1,600 in 4:52.6. Junior James Sundquist was a winner in the 3,200, running more than a minute ahead of his closest competition in 10:37.1.