McGillen sisters smash track conference foes

"Girls runaway winners, boys third "

“They may be the best sister act in Washington track and field and last Thursday, they were almost a team of their own.Senior Andrea McGillen and her freshman sister, Katy McGillen, almost single-handedly dismantled six track teams Thursday in an North Cascades Conference meet at Lakewood High School, winning five individual events between them and going 1-2 in the girls long jump. With those wins, the Falcons soared to 205.5 points, winning over second-place Kings (169) and Lakewood, which was a distant third with 79 points.Andrea McGillen won the long jump (16-8 1/2), triple jump (34-1 1/2), and pole vault (8-6), while her sister scored wins in the 100 hurdles (17.03 seconds) and the high jump (5-0). Katy McGillen was also one-fourth of the Falcons’ winning 4×200 team. She shared the glory of that win with teammates Dail Bates, Lindsey Binford, and Nicole Mock.One other Falcon, freshman sprinter Claudia Gil-Osorio, joined the McGillens at the top of the podium when she blasted to the first 400 victory by a Falcon in recent memory. Her time was 65.62. Also shining for the Falcons were Dail Bates in the 200 (second) and 100 (third), Karen Schwager in the 800 (second) and the 1,600 (third), Hayley Gabelein in the javelin (fifth), Melissa Poolman in the shot put (fourth), and Sarah DeGraaf in the 3,200 (second). The Falcons’ 4×400 and 4×100 relay teams also found success, each placing second in the meet.Boys win events, lose meetThe contest was much closer in the boys meet. Though South Whidbey picked up five event wins, the could not get past Kings and Lakewood and wound up third in the team competition. Senior Braden Giswold led the way for the Falcons, winning the 800 in 2:01 and the 3,200 in 10:07. Andy Wills continued as the Falcons’ dominant sprinter, winning the 200 in 23.59 after taking third in the 100. Providing the surprise win of the meet was distance runner Brett Perkins, who took a springy step left over from the basketball season to the field to win the high jump with a leap of 6-0. Perkins also placed third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200. To finish the meet, Perkins, Giswold, and Wills teamed with sophomore Brandon Bilyeu in the 4×400 relay to win the race in a solid 3:39.22.Other performers for the Falcons were Stuart Bowers in the long jump (fourth), Zach Taylor in the 400 (third), Brandon Bilyeu in the 800 (second) and Joe Candelario in the 800 (third).The Falcons’ next meet will be be a North Cascades home contest Thursday. The meet starts at 4 p.m. at Erickson Field. “