Frustrating finish for Murphy’s Westlund in the 400

TACOMA — Until the final step, Archbishop Murphy’s Isaac Westlund thought he was going to win the 400-meter dash at Saturday’s Class 2A boys state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School.

As he rounded the last curve and headed down the straightaway in the lead, Westlund figured he could hold off Ephrata’s Jonathan Green, who was closing on Westlund’s right shoulder. But as Westlund was keeping an eye on Green, River Ridge’s Dejuan Frye was drawing up on Westlund’s left.

Even then, the Archbishop Murphy junior still looked likely to win — until Frye made a desperate lunge at the finish line.

Frye ended up sprawled on the track, but he had edged Westlund by .03 of a second. Frye finished in 47.72 and Westlund in 47.75, leaving the latter shaking his head with frustration.

“I’m just disappointed that I was beaten by pure willpower (from Frye),” Westlund said. His rival, he added, won with “a swan dive.”

It was probably little consolation that Westlund’s time would have easily won the Class 4A and 3A races. Bothell’s Ryan Croson was the 4A winner in 48.61 and Ingraham’s Jacob Hostetler was the 3A winner in 48.91.

“Going into the race,” Westlund said, “I was just trying to beat Jonathan Green. Once I passed him, I thought I had free sailing. And then I heard (Frye) on my left, just breathing, and then I see him at the last second.

“When it’s that close (the disappointment) is not as bad, especially because I PR’d by like a second. But it still hurts. I was looking forward (to a state championship).”

Despite the disappointment, Westlund still had his sense of humor. “Maybe I should’ve swan-dived, too,” he said with a smile.

Several Snohomish County boys reached the finals on Saturday, but there were no winners in the three classes. Two other athletes also placed second individually — Jackson’s Wesley Love in the 4A 400 (48.68) and Lakewood’s Andrew Stich in the 2A 300 hurdles (38.69).

Stich, who won the 110 hurdles on Friday, called it “a good race. I’m very happy with it. I knew going into it that it was going to be a tough race and it definitely was. But I was coming into it with first or second (in mind), so I’m happy with second.”

The Lakewood senior had been aiming for two state championships, “which would’ve been awesome,” he said. “That was like the big goal, but I’m still happy.”

The 4A 300 hurdles was a race of disappointment for a strong contingent of Wesco athletes. The grief began Friday when Arlington’s Jared Alskog, one of the state leaders in the event, was disqualified by a meet official for an infraction in his qualifying race. According to Arlington coach Judd Hunter, the official ruled that Alskog’s leg had gone around one of the hurdles instead of over. It was also a decision that could not be appealed, Hunter said.

In Saturday’s final, Jackson’s John-Robert Woolley, who had the fastest qualifying time on Friday in 38.94, fell going over the final hurdle (he was back in the pack at the time) and finished last. Cascade’s Kaleb Dobson, who had the second fastest qualifying time in 39.04, finished fifth.

There was a better showing for Wesco hurdlers in the 3A 300, with Glacier Peak’s Alec Albrecht placing third (39.84), teammate Logan Coleman fourth (40.16) and Marysville Getchell’s Brent Hafenscher sixth (40.88).

Two Wesco relay teams nabbed runner-up finishes. In 4A, Jackson’s 1,600 team chased Eastlake through the final two legs, but could never quite catch up, finishing in 3:19.84 to Eastlake’s 3:18.68. And in the 3A race, Marysville Getchell had the lead on the first two legs, lost it on the third, got it back on the anchor leg, but then fell behind Bellevue down the stretch for second in 3:23.59, to Bellevue’s 3:23.04.

Noah Wallace of Lake Stevens had a notable showing in the 4A 800. Wallace, just a freshman, finished fourth in 1:54.43.

Two future Pacific-12 Conference football players put on a speedy show in the sprints. Isaiah Brandt-Sims of Wenatchee, headed to Stanford University, won the 4A 100 (10.76) and 200 (21.38), while Bellevue’s Budda Baker, who will play this fall at the University of Washington, was first in the 3A 100 (10.77) and 200 (21.87), and ran a leg on the winning 400 relay team (41.79).

In the team competitions, Jackson was the highest Snohomish County finisher in 4A in 11th place, Marysville Pilchuck was tops in 3A in a tie for 10th, and Lakewood came in fifth in 2A.

4A Boys State Meet

At Mt. Tahoma H.S.

Team scores: 1. Federal Way 73, 2. Eastmont 45, 3. Wenatchee 40, 4. Eastlake 38, 5. Richland 37, 6. Mead 36, 7. Rogers-Puyallup 32, 7. Garfield 32, 9. Gig Harbor 28, 10. Tahoma 26, 11. Jackson 23.5, 18. Cascade 13, 21. Lake Stevens 8.5, 27. Kamiak 6, 29. Arlington 5, 38. Snohomish 2, 42. Edmonds-Woodway 1.

100—1. Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Wenatchee) 10.76; 400 relay—1. Eastmont 42.13, 6. Jackson (Gavin Basuel, Cordell Johnson, Travante Robinson, Nick White) 43.29, 7. Arlington (Anthony Dill, Anthony Parra, Noah Andal, Max Gray) 44.35; 400—1. Ryan Croson (Bothell), 2. Wesley Love (Jackson) 48.68, 4. Chris Moreton (Kamiak) 49.51; 300 hurdles—1. Eric Simpson (Rogers) 37.78, 5. Kaleb Dobson (Cascade) 39.63, 8. John-Robert Woolley (Jackson) 41.61; 800—1. Drew Schreiber (Eisenhower) 1:51.75, 4. Noah Wallace (Lake Stevens) 1:54.43, 7. Kyler Sager (Snohomish) 1:55.78, 9. Tyler McArthur (Lynnwood) 1:56.82; 200—1. Brandt-Sims 21.38; 3,200—1. Cameron Stanish (Garfield) 9:00.10, 7. Aaron Roe (Jackson) 9:20.11, 8. Miler Haller (Edmonds-Woodway) 9:26.49; 1,600 relay—1. Eastlake 3:18.68, 2. Jackson (White, Johnson, Matt Morrison, Nathan Pixler) 3:19.84; Long jump—1. Brian Burt (Eastmont) 23-6, 8. Jacob Kraus (Kamiak) 22-2.25, 12. Travante Robinson (Jackson) 21-2, 13. Michael Forster (Arlington) 21-0.25, 16. Josiah Steele (Monroe) 18-10.75; Javelin—1. Denham Patricelli (Tahoma) 204-6, 8. Tevin Gray (Lake Stevens) 171-7, 14. George Spady (Arlington) 154-9, 16. Tyler Webley (Kamiak) 137-8.

3A Boys State Meet

At Mt. Tahoma H.S.

Team scores: 1. Bellevue 73, 2. Nathan Hale 59, 3. Lincoln 52.5, 4. Hanford 44, 5. Prairie 43, 6. Mt Spokane 30, 7. Seattle Prep 27, 8. North Central 26, 9. Ingraham 21, 10. Mercer Island 17, 10. Marysville Pilchuck 17, 17. Glacier Peak 11, 17. Marysville Getchell 11, 17. Shorewood 11, 27. Meadowdale 7, 32. Stanwood 5, 37. Oak Harbor 4, 42. Shorecrest 3.

100—1. Budda Baker (Bellevue) 10.77, 4. Margaryonta Kilcup (Meadowdale) 11.03, 7. Deion Stell (Marysville Pilchuck) 11.12, 8. Austin Joyner (Marysville Pilchuck) 30.74; 400 relay—1. Bellevue 41.79; 400—1.Jacob Hostetler (Ingraham) 48.91, 6. Dejon Devroe (Oak Harbor) 50.49; 300 hurdles—1. Therron Randle (Lincoln) 38.15, 3. Alec Albrecht (Glacier Peak) 39.84, 4. Logan Coleman (Glacier Peak) 40.16, 6. Brent Hafenscher (Marysville Getchell) 40.88; 800—1. Max Leach (Nathan Hale) 1:54.44, 8. Devan Kirk (Shorewood) 2:01.33; 200—1. Baker 21.87, 6. Will McNamara (Shorecrest) 22.70, 7. Kilcup 22.76; 3,200—1. Joe Hardy (Seattle Prep) 8:55.11, 8. John Rodeheffer (Oak Harbor) 9:22.49, 11. Omar Abdulla (Shorecrest) 9:37.31, 14. Keenan Stephens (Shorewood) 9:43.80; 1,600 relay—1. Bellevue 3:23.04. 2. Marysville Getchell (Erik Cisneros, Codey Voss, Eugene Marcus, Antonio Larson) 3:23.59; High jump—1. Amari Hill (Franklin) 6-6, 4.Carlton McDonald (Stanwood) 6-2, 11. Josh Hoverson (Shorewood) 5-10, 14. Aubry Victor (Shorecrest) 5-8; Triple jump—1. Ahmaad Rorie (Lincoln) 47-2.75, 9. Clifford Paulk (Marysville Pilchuck) 41-5.5, 10. Chikodi Ezeokeke (Meadowdale) 41-3, 11. Malik Braxton (Meadowdale) 40-7; Shot put—1. Dallon Grinder (Hanford) 53-10.5, 5. Juan Ventura (Marysville Pilchuck) 49-11.25, 9. Owen Reinecke (Stanwood) 47-8.75, 10. Justus Blair (Shorewood) 47-1.

2A Boys State Meet

At Mt. Tahoma H.S.

Team scores: 1. Olympic 52, 2, East Valley 44, 3. River Ridge 38, 4. Sehome 36, 5. Ephrata 35, 5. Lakewood 35, 7. Squalicum 25, 7. Capital 25, 9. Steilacoom 23, 10. West Valley 22.5, 19. Cedarcrest 13, 23. Archbishop Murphy 11, 31. Sultan 6.

100—1. Jonathan Green (Ephrata) 10.61 seconds, 7.Josh Dickey (Lakewood) 11.27; 400 relay—1. River Ridge 41.49; 400—1. Dejuan Frye (River Ridge) 47.72, 2. Isaac Westlund (Archbishop Murphy) 47.75; 300 hurdles—1. Garrett Rouser (Kingston) 37.97, 2. Andrew Stich (Lakewood) 28.69; 800—1. Chais Sugden (Squalicum) 1:54.53; 200—1. Zachary Smith (Olympic) 21.59, 6. Westlund 22.75; 3,200—1. Scott Kopczynski (East Valley) 9:14.67, 4. Logan Orndorf (Cedarcrest) 9:24.74, 7. Douglas Davis (Lakewood) 9:34.56, 15.Mitchell Darrah (Lakewood) 10:14.66; 1,600 relay—1. Steilacoom 3:24.52; Discus—1. Jacob Laird (Ephrata) 176-11.