Wildcat track gets set for postseason meets

The final regular season meet for the Mount Si track and field team proved to be a good one last Thursday, May 6, as the Wildcat girls rolled to an easy win and the Mount Si boys barely missed making it a sweep, falling by just one point in the three-team competition against Valley rival Cedarcrest and league rival Mercer Island.

The final regular season meet for the Mount Si track and field team proved to be a good one last Thursday, May 6, as the Wildcat girls rolled to an easy win and the Mount Si boys barely missed making it a sweep, falling by just one point in the three-team competition against Valley rival Cedarcrest and league rival Mercer Island.

Mount Si’s girls ran away with things, scoring 106 points, with Mercer Island taking second with 44 points and Cedarcrest placing third with a score of 26.

“We’re sitting where we want to be going into league,” a pleased Wildcat coach Dave Clifford said.

A large number of event wins for Mount Si was key. Leading that effort was senior Hannah Hasbun, who won four events for the Wildcats. Hasbun scored victories in the 100 meter hurdles (15.6 seconds) and 300 meter hurdles (47.0), the 200 meter race (26.3) and as part of the 4×100 relay with Natalie Opsvig, Sophie Rockow and Claire Larsen (50.7). The 200 meter race win led a top-three sweep by Mount Si in that event, with Rockow and Opsvig also in the top three.

Rockow also won the 100 meter race in a time of 13.1 seconds. Meanwhile, the throwing events were also solid, with a top-four Wildcat sweep in the shot put, led by the winning throw of Molly Meyers, which went 36 feet, 10 inches. Kelly Besmer, Corina Linder and Emily Ferree also were in the top four. Linder won the discus with a throw of 103 feet, six inches, and Besmer took the javelin with a toss of 130 feet, 10 inches. Linder fared well despite still nursing an ankle injury which kept her out for several weeks; she has only recently returned. The senior’s desire to compete despite still being injured has resonated with other athletes.

“When I went to Shelton, it meant a lot to me,” Linder said. “A lot of girls came up to me saying that I was their hero because I came out with a broken ankle and if they did, they would have never competed.”

There was a top three Mount Si sweep in the triple jump, with Leslie Stevens leaping 33 feet, 9.5 inches to get the victory, with Aubrey Larion and Sally Miller also finishing well. Other event winners included Christina Volken in the 800 meter race, Kendall Maddux in the 3,200 meters, Georgia Reynolds in the pole vault, and Miller in the long jump.

The Wildcat boys fell 66-65 to Mercer Island, with Cedarcrest rounding things out with 50 points.

Shelby Williams took two events, the 100 meter (10.9 seconds), 200 meter (23.4) and was part of the winning 4×100 relay team with Tyler Button, Nick Beck and Kaleb Huerta. For his part, Button, a freshman, had a better time in the 200 meter, clocking 23 seconds flat, but his result didn’t count as part of the official varsity results. But he did set the freshman record, and he is excited about what lies ahead.

“It feels pretty good. It’s good to know that I’m setting myself up to be successful in the future,” Button said.

Mount Si dominated the throwing events once again, with Dylan Woll leading the way. The senior won both the shot put and discus events, throwing 47 feet, 5.5 inches to win the shot put and tossing the disc 123 feet, five inches to take the discus.

Zach Storm won the javelin with a throw of 163 feet, four inches. Beck took the triple jump with a leap of 39 feet, 11.5 inches.

Mount Si competes at league meet this week at Eastlake. Boys coach Gregg Meyers wants some solid results.

“I hope to see a couple boys make it into the postseason in pole vaulting. It sounds like some of my throwers are PR-ing right now, so that’s a good thing,” Meyers said.