Neale wins 1,600

TACOMA — Last week Amy-Eloise Neale was racing against the clock. This week she faced legitimate live competition.

And Neale proved too much to handle for both types of opponent.

The Glacier Peak High School sophomore continued her mastery of Washington state distance running Saturday afternoon, using a late kick to win the 1,600 meters at the Class 3A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School.

Neale’s victory completed a sweep of the 1,600 and 3,200 for the second straight year.

“I felt really good about it,” Neale said about her double-double.

“Coming into this event I was a little more relaxed after the 3,200 on Thursday,” added Neale, who’s also the two-time 3A cross-country champion. “I just came out here to see what happened.”

Neale’s time was a new 3A state meet record, besting the previous record of 4:51.05 set by West Valley-Yakima’s Lisa Olander in 2007. However, it was three seconds short of the personal-best time of 4:43.34 she ran last week at districts — at the time the third-fastest time in the nation — when she was all alone out front.

“My plan this year was to take it out, but I didn’t,” Neale said. “My laps were a little slower than I wanted today. It was the same thing as last year, I just didn’t have quite the confidence to take it out earlier in the race.”

The main reason for Neale’s slight dip in time was the nature of the race. Saturday’s contest played out exactly like Thursday’s 3,200, with Neale, North Central’s Katie Knight and Shadle Park’s Kendra Weitz heading straight to the front in a pack of three. And just like Thursday, Neale was forced to run on the outside shoulder of one of the Spokane products, this time Weitz taking the early lead. The close competition forced Neale to run a more-tactical race.

For the second time in three days Neale and Knight found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder entering the final stretch. But with 70 meters to go Neale kicked into another gear and pulled away to win by two steps.

“We do a lot of different things in my workouts when we’re running, we do some speed work,” Neale explained about her strong kick. “I just try to go as hard as I can.”

Neale’s season isn’t quite over as she’s headed to national meets in the coming weeks. She’s competing in the Jim Ryun High School Dream Mile on June 11 in New York, and the following weekend heads to Greensboro, N.C., for the New Balance Nationals.

Medals were hard to come by for the rest of the area’s 3A girls.

Everett’s 400 relay team of juniors Lindsey Gipson and Renee Hudson and freshmen Tenika Wentworth and Calea Carr placed eighth in 50.96.

Oak Harbor had two placers. Senior Allison Duvenez finished fifth in the 300 hurdles in 46.15, and senior Adrianna Royal placed sixth in the 800 in 2:17.01.

At Mt. Tahoma H.S.

3A girls

100–1. Chantel Jaeger (West Valley-Yakima) 12.25; 3. Miriam Mboya (Shorewood) 12.43.

400 relay–1. Kamiakin (Rebecca Neal, Kadidja Toure, Kyra Brannan, Ellie Heiden) 48.46; 8. Everett (Tenika Wentworth, Lindsey Gipson, Renee Hudson, Calea Carr) 50.96.

300 hurdles–Michelle Stolz (Highline) 43.43; 5. Allison Duvenez (Oak Harbor) 46.15.

800–1. Madeline Rathbun (Lakeside) 2:12.58; 6. Adrianna Royal (Oak Harbor) 2:17.01.

800 relay– 1. Kamiakin (Neal, Toure, Brannan, Heiden) 1:42.62.

Shot put–Adara Winder (Bonney Lake) 44-4.75; 9. Mickey Greenburg (Shorecrest) 35-8.75; 10. Calea Carr (Everett) 34-4.

Pole vault–1. Jennifer DeBellis (Columbia River) 12-6.

2A girls

100–1. Necy Wade (River Ridge) 12.44.

800–1. Summer Hanson (Interlake) 2:15.32.

1,600–1. Marina Roberts (Kingston) 5:05.53; 8. Cara Strodel (Cedarcrest) 5:15.42.

300 hurdles–1. Reagan Colyer (North Kitsap) 44.56.

400 relay–1. North Kitsap (Kamina Flemming, Reagan Colyer, Kristin Brown, Indigo Williams) 48.49.

800 relay–1. Sehome (Kendra Thomas, Sarah Dolese, Shannon DeBacker, Zoe Moller) 1:42.74.