ISSAQUAH – Despite 16 first- and second-place finishes by the Mount Si Wildcats at their track meet against Issaquah last Thursday, both the boys’ and girls’ teams lost the meet. The girls lost 105-44, and the boys garnered only 29 points, while Issaquah earned 115 points.

Jessica Scalzo swept the distance events, placing first in the 800-meter, mile and two-mile. Coach Christine Kjenner said her time of 2:34 in the 800-meter was the fastest girls’ time by a Mount Si runner in the last 10 years.

Scalzo was running in sixth place on the first lap of the 800-meter, but quickly pulled ahead of the other runners on the second lap just after the second turn. By the time she finished in first place, she was at least 10 yards ahead of the second-place winner from Issaquah, Annie Cowgill, who finished in 2:35.2.

Scalzo’s win in the mile was well-deserved. She was shoulder-to-shoulder with an Issaquah runner for the entire race, but was able to hang on and squeak out a win in the last few meters by only four-tenths of a second. Her time was 5:44.4. Sheena Kern took third place in the mile with a time of 5:59.

Scalzo finished the two-mile race in 11:55.8. Her fastest time so far this season is 11:54, set March 22 at the meet against Sammamish where she placed first. It is also the third-best time for an Eastside runner this season, according to a compilation by the Eastside Journal. Scalzo’s wins brought home 15 of the team’s 44 points.

Ashley Wiegardt took first place in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 9.5 inches, and she jumped 31 feet, 2 inches in the triple jump, which also earned her first place. Wiegardt ran the 200-meter in 28.2 seconds and took third place, and she ran the 400-meter race in 1:03.3 seconds and placed second. She was passed on the straightaway by Issaquah’s Rita Brown with only a few meters to go. Brown outpaced her by less than a second and finished the race in1:02.5 seconds. Wiegardt brought in 14 points for her first-, second- and third-place finishes.

Kristen Behrndt participated in the 100-meter high hurdles and placed third with a time of 17.7 seconds. Behrndt was fifth in the 300-meter high hurdles with a time of 53.5 seconds. She also placed third in the long jump with a height of 14 feet, 8 inches.

In the throwing events, Mount Si’s Tonya Smart was first in the discus with a throw of 105 feet, 5 inches. Smart currently has the second best record on the Eastside for this event. On March 22, she threw the discus 118 feet, 5.5 inches at the meet against Sammamish. Smart is also listed by the Eastside Journal as one of the top five javelin throwers on the Eastside because of a season-best throw of 101 feet, 6 inches. She did not participate in the javelin throw on Thursday against Issaquah.

Smart threw the shot put 28 feet, 7 inches, which only garnered her one point and a fifth-place finish, but her throw was only two feet behind winner Marci Allen of Issaquah, who threw the shot 30 feet. Ashley Van Oeveren’s throw of 83 feet, 6 inches in the discus was enough for third place, and Tessa Skinner’s 75-foot throw garnered fourth place.

Amber Smith threw the javelin 64 feet, 11 inches and placed fourth. Nikki Belt jumped 7 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault and took second place. Crystal Henry was fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 25 feet, 1 inch.

Nick Verbon and Dan Haakenson were the stalwarts for the boys’ team in this meet. Verbon ran the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.4 seconds, and the 300-meter hurdles in 42.3 seconds, placing first in each event.

Haakenson took first place in the shot put and discus. He threw the shot 41 feet, 9.5 inches, and threw the discus 147 feet, 5 inches. His discus throw was more than 20 feet longer than the throw of his second-place opponent from Issaquah. Haakenson currently leads the Eastside in the discus because of his March 10 throw of 157 feet, 1 inch at the Olympia High School Thrower’s Showcase.

Verbon also participated in the long jump and placed second. He jumped 20 feet, 5 inches, five inches shorter than J. R. Wolform from Issaquah. Nils Bubeck was fourth, jumping 18 feet, 3 inches.

Josh Flores threw the javelin 158 feet, 3 inches and garnered third place.

Todd Barry was third in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 8 inches.

John-Paul Likes jumped 34 feet, 10.5 inches in the triple jump and took second place. Phillip Mangano vaulted 9 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault and placed second. He was only four inches behind the winner, Jon Katayama, of Issaquah.

Eddie Horstman ran the 100-meter race and took third place with a time of 11.4 seconds, and Craig Fanger placed third in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:10.01. Bobby Taylor was fourth in the 400-meter race with a time of 58 seconds.

Mount Si takes on Bellevue at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 5, at Bellevue High School. BHS won the KingCo meet last year on the boys’ side, and was second in KingCo on the girls’ side. Their girls’ team also placed fourth at state.