State track and field meet at a glance, Day 2

EVENT TO WATCH

2A boys 110-meter hurdle

Lakewood’s Andrew Stich begins his quest to sweep the 2A boys hurdle events Friday when competes in the 110-meter hurdles in the 2A state track and field championships at Mt. Tahoma H.S.

Stich enters the event as the favorite after finishing 10th at state a year ago. He set a school record with a time of 14.57 seconds in the Whidbey Island Jamboree on March 20 and is the only competitor in the event to break the 15-second mark.

Stich hasn’t run as fast as he did more than two months ago, but he won the 110 hurdles at last week’s 2A Northwest/SeaKing Bi-District Meet with a time of 14.74.

Stich gets his shot at a state title in the 300 hurdles on Saturday. Like the 110 hurdles, Stich has the best time in the state in 2A in the 300 hurdles, but his competitors are a little closer on his heels than the ones in the 110. The best time of Kingston’s Garrett Rouser is just seven-hundredths of a second behind Stich’s best time of 38.47 seconds, which he recorded last Friday to win a bi-district title. Burlington-Edison’s Brandon Grandy, Sammamish’s Zen Moore and West Valley’s Mac Baxter all have personal-bests just above 39 seconds.

Stich, though, is focused on the clock.

“For me, the goal is mostly the time, whatever that brings me,” Stich said earlier this season. “If that wins state, fine. And if that gets me eighth place, I’d be happy with that, too.”

Stich will also compete in the javelin Friday. His best throw of 169 feet, 5 inches is ranked sixth in the state in 2A.

Other events to watch

4A 110 hurdles: This event is stacked with local talent. Cascade’s Kaleb Dobson and Arlington’s Jared Alskog are threats to win and Jackson’s John-Robert Woolley and Edmonds-Woodway’s Justin Gunn could place. Dobson, whose time of 14.34 seconds is the second best in the state in 4A, has an outside shot at taking down Rogers’ Eric Simpson and his best time of 14.11. … 3A long jump: Marysville Pilchuck’s Austin Joyner, who could win state titles in three events, gets his first shot Friday in the long jump event. In all three events, Joyner will be squaring off with Bellevue’s Budda Baker. Both Joyner and Baker are primarily stars on the gridiron (Baker is headed to UW and Joyner is committed to Washington State), and the long jump is the event Joyner is particularly looking forward to competing against Baker. Baker’s personal-best jump of 23-7, which he recorded at last week’s bi-district meet, is the best in the state in 3A and 5 inches further than Joyner’s best. … 3A girls long jump: Mountlake Terrace’s Chinne Okoronkwo is looking to three-peat at state as well this year. She is a heavy favorite in the long jump. Okoronkwo’s furthest jump this year of 18-9.75 is 8.75 inches further than the next best competitor. Her teammate Barbara Biney has the third-best jump in 3A this season at 17-9.5. … 4A girls shot put: Arlington’s Lyndsay Leatherman has the second-best throw in the state in 4A (42-9) behind Skyview’s Aubrey Ward-El (44-10), who finished second last year, one spot ahead of Leatherman. … 3A boys discus: Not many competitors can keep up with Nathan Hale’s Winston Hallam-Eames, whose best throw this season of 185-9 is nearly 20 feet further than any other thrower in the state in 3A. Marysville Pilchuck’s Corbin Ferry has the fifth-best throw in 3A and Glacier Peak’s Mason Braun (161-11) has the seventh-best (149-1) and both have a shot at a top-three finish.

2A/3A/4A Track and Field Championships, Day 2

When: Friday, 9 a.m.

Where: Mt. Tahoma H.S., Tacoma

Finals: 2A boys—110 hurdles (Andrew Stich, Lakewood); High jump (Giovonni Williams, Antonio Rivas, Sultan); Javelin (Stich, Dylan Daviscourt, Archbishop Murphy, Michael Poyner, Granite Falls); Pole vault (Tysen Campbell, Granite Falls); Shot put; Triple jump (Brett Bustad, Lakewood); 2A girls—100 hurdles; Pole vault (Bailey Parish, Cedarcrest); High jump (Kristi Bartz, Archbishop Murphy); Javelin (Kathryn Smith, Cedarcrest; Jordyn Kirchgessner, Archbishop Murphy); Shot put (Smith, Yulissa Bautista, Reille Jones, Lakewood); Triple jump; 3A boys—110 hurdles (Chris Diaz, Shorewood; Chris Grant, Meadowdale, Logan Coleman, Glacier Peak; Discus (Corbin Ferry, Marysville Pilchuck; Brett Potter, Mountlake Terrace; Mason Braun, Glacier Peak); Javelin (Taz Frazier, Shorewood; Griffey Lytle, Everett; Juan Ventura, Marysville Pilchuck); Long jump (Austin Joyner, Dante Fields, Marysville Pilchuck; Michael Liddell, Mountlake Terrace); 3A girls—100 hurdles (McKenna Hunt, Mountlake Terrace; Maya McFadden, Glacier Peak; Sophia Viviano, Shorecrest); Long jump (Chinne Okoronkwo, Barbara Biney, Mountlake Terrace; Ali Anderson, Stanwood); Discus (Hailee Malins, Mountlake Terrace; Onyie Chibuogwu, Shorecrest; Ndey Sonko, Meadowdale); 4A boys—110 hurdles (Kaleb Dobson, Cascade; Jared Alskog, Arlington; John-Robert Woolley, Jackson; Justin Gunn, Edmonds-Woodway); Triple jump (Michael Forster, Arlington); Discus (Theo Lebesis, Edmonds-Woodway; Andrew Katzenberger, Lynnwood); High jump (Travante Robinson, Jackson); Pole vault (Chase Reid, Lake Stevens; Gabe Ohlsen, Snohomish; Alskog); 4A girls—100 hurdles (Madison Lichter, Snohomish; Claire Popke, Edmonds-Woodway); Shot put (Lyndsay Leatherman, Jayla Russ, Justean Landis, Arlington; Paris Flenoy, Cascade); Long jump (Jessica Ludwig, Sidney Trinidad, Arlington).