Arlington’s Landis, Terrace’s Okoronkwo win state track and field titles

TACOMA — Arlington track coach Judd Hunter said a reporter asked him in March what his favorite memory of senior thrower Justean Landis is.

“When she wins the state championship later this year,” Hunter said he replied.

Turns out, Hunter is quite the prognosticator. Landis won the state championship in the discus at the 3A state meet on Friday with a throw of 135 feet, 6 inches.

“I’ve been working for this for so long,” Landis said. “I just wanted to do well for my team because that’s what is really important to me is that we place well here (at state). It’s always been a dream watching my teammates do well and having them push me to do better. It’s really made me better and I just really wanted to do this for them.”

Landis’ victory makes it back-to-back state championships for Arlington in the discus. Lyndsay Leatherman, who graduated last June, won the championship last year with a personal-best throw of 142 on her final attempt.

“I keep teasing my other coaches, ‘This is easy stuff, right? Back-to-back…how about next year, too?’ It’s all her,” Hunter said of Landis. “She works hard in training and in the weight room and she’s a student of the event and she works her butt off. She’s reaping the benefits of all that hard work.”

Landis didn’t save the drama until the final throw as Leatherman did, but she wasn’t far off. Her winning throw, which like Leatherman’s was a personal best, came on the second to the last throw of the competition.

“I think what really did it for me is that I’m a senior and this is my last time throwing in high school and throwing discus,” Landis said. “I just wanted to make it the best that it could be and I think I did that today.”

Landis wasn’t the only Arlington thrower in the top-five. She was joined by junior teammate Jayla Russ, who finished fifth with a throw of 125-4 — a personal best by nearly 12 feet.

“I’m so excited for her,” Landis said of Russ. “She’s worked so hard.”

Both girls supported each other throughout the event, helping lead to the success.

“I think Jayla just really helped me by telling me, ‘You’ve got this. You just need to relax. You just need to do your thing. I’ve seen you do it a million times,’” Landis said. “I think Jayla and I just really helped each other today, just trying to get past that uncomfortable sense of just anxiousness.”

Russ will have a chance to become the Eagles’ third consecutive state champion in the event next year.

Perhaps Russ will find similar inspiration from Landis that Landis found from Leatherman.

“I remember last year, it was Lyndsay’s last throw and we had talked about it and mentally prepared for this — visualizing and doing all that kind of thing,” Landis said. “She just had this look in her eye. It was just really inspiring to see her. I think we all just kind of knew. And then she just popped it out there at 142 (feet) and I will never forget the look on her face when she walked out of that ring.

“I think I just wanted to have that moment.”

Okoronkwo wins back-to-back long jump titles

A lingering injury didn’t stop Mountlake Terrace’s Chinne Okoronkwo from repeating as the 3A state long jump champion.

Okoronkwo has been bothered by an ankle injury throughout the season, but brushed it aside to jump an even 18 feet in the finals, over seven inches better than Auburn Riverside’s Brittni Williams, who finished in second place.

“I haven’t really done a full-out jump this whole season,” Okoronkwo said. “It’s getting better.”

The injury has forced Okoronkwo to jump off her left foot for much of the season.

“It’s a lot of pressure for the left side, especially since that’s my non-dominant side,” Okoronkwo said.

It doesn’t seem to matter what foot Okoronkwo jumps off of, she just keeps winning. After becoming a back-to-back state long jump winner on Friday, she goes for her third consecutive state title in the triple jump — her signature event — on Saturday. Okoronkwo will also compete in Saturday’s 3A pole vault finals, an event she hopes to win her first state championship in after two straight second-place finishes.

Pair of Shorecrest girls win state titles

Shorecrest’s Wurrie Njadoe and Katherine Taylor both won individual state championships at the 2A state meet on Friday.

The junior Njadoe took first place in the high jump, defeating North Kitsap’s Rebecca Darrow by one inch. Njadoe’s victory wasn’t a big surprise. She entered the state meet tied with Darrow and Ellensburg’s Miah Perez for the top 2A jump in the state this season at 5-5, the same height she jumped on Friday.

Taylor, a senior, won the javelin with a throw of 136-8, over 12 feet better than Cheney’s Rylie Pease who finished second. Pease entered the meet with the top 2A throw in the state this season at 134-4. Taylor was second with a season-best of 127-5. When it mattered most, Taylor was over nine feet better than her season-best throw, while Pease was exactly 10 feet short of hers.

Njadoe’s victory figures to be the start of a busy weekend. She will compete in the 100- and 200-meter races on Saturday as well as the long jump. She is ranked first of all 2A competitors in all three events.

4A State Meet

At Mount Tahoma H.S.

Friday’s Finals

100 hurdles—1. Brandi Hughes, Skyline 14.10. Local placers: none

Shot put—T1. Ginny Mehl, Tahoma 42-5½, T1. Hadassah Ward, Gig Harbor 42-5½. Local placers: none

Long jump—1. Brittany Woke, Kentwood 18-0¼. Local placers: none

3A State Meet

At Mount Tahoma H.S.

Friday’s Finals

100 hurdles—1. Heather Donais, Kamiakin 15.08. Local placers: 4. McKenna Hunt, Mountlake Terrace 15.52

Long jump—1. Chinne Okoronkwo, Mountlake Terrace 18-0. Local placers: 4. Bianca Acuario, Marysville Pilchuck 17-2½; 7. Jessica Ludwig, Arlington 17-0

Discus—1. Justean Landis, Arlington 135-6. Local placers: 5. Jayla Russ, Arlington 125-4; 7. Hailee Malins, Mountlake Terrace 120-11.