RAINIER — Thirty eight points separated second-place Elma, 57 points, and 13th-place Montesano, 19, in a competitive Rainier Icebreaker Invitational Saturday, March 22, at Rainier High School.
And then there was Onalaska.
The Loggers soared above the competition with 95 points, 38 points beyond second-place Elma. Four boys won their events, and four more earned second place to go along with a second-place finish for the 4x100 relay team, which crossed the finish line less than a tick behind Eatonville.
Onalaska’s breakout star on a sunny afternoon was freshman Brodey Triana, who scorched the track in both the 400 and 200 meters to set school freshman records. Triana earned first in the 400 with a time of 52.87 seconds, topping a 17-year-old freshman record previously held by Frank Krause, and his 200-meter mark of 23.75 was good for second place in Rainier and another freshman record to his name.
He also helped the 4x100 quartet snag second place, joining Ethan Thayer, Case McGraw and Justice Werner in the near-triumph. In addition to its second-place finish Saturday, the Loggers set the second-highest mark in school history for a 4x100 relay, just missing the 2010 team’s time of 44.56 at the state meet.
Triana believes he made a statement in just his second high school competition.
“That’s what I was going for,” he said. “All the bigger schools were here, and I was trying to show what I could do. I was just focused on long strides and going as fast as I could.”
Triana adds to an already hungry and experienced Loggers team that is confident a high state finish is within reach. The vast majority of last year’s competitors are back for head coach Carla Hoppie’s team.
“We have a young but very talented team that has been working really hard. There’s a lot of things that we still need to improve on, which says that we’re just going to continue to get better,” Hoppie said.
Junior Luke Barrick dominated the pole vault competition, matching his mark in his first meet on March 18. He was millimeters away from clearing the pole at 15’1,” but he still took first place by four feet.
“My run was inconsistent today due to the wind. It threw me off a little bit,” Barrick said of his 15’1” attempt, which would have beat his best mark by an inch. “I want to go 16’4”, which would be five meters. That would get me into any Division I college I want.”
Werner and Thayer were in a league of their own in the shot put and discus, as Werner earned first-place finishes in both events with his teammate one spot behind him. Thayer set a new personal best in the discus by nearly three feet, chucking one 148’6”.
“I’ve been working a lot on my footwork, and I’ve been working out and feeling stronger,” Thayer said.
McGraw set a personal best in the long jump at 19’4” to finish second behind Tenino’s Ashton Moore, 20’7”. He earned a fifth-place finish and another personal record in the 100 meters at 11.68, becoming the sixth Logger to run the 100 meters in under 11.7 since 2009.
It may be late March, but Werner believes the Loggers have what it takes to win a state championship in Yakima in May.
“I think we’re going far. Honestly, for a 2B team, we could possibly win state as a team together. We’ve got sophomores and freshmen coming up,” the senior said. “Overall, the program is probably the best that I’ve seen.”
Toledo, 53.5 points, left Rainier with a fourth-place finish led by senior Treyton Marty’s 1,600-meter victory at 4:37.58 and Adam Kruger’s PR triple jump to take first with a nearly 41-foot leap.
Riverhawks coach Don Schaplow knows the competition in the Central 2B League and District 4 will be stiff, but he expects his team to put the pieces together and be among the contenders for both titles.
“The kids know that our bar is set really high, but there’s other schools coming on. Onalaska was really impressive today,” he said. “What we’re doing is we’re trying to not be satisfied with where we are today. Our goal is to peak mid-May. We feel good with where we’re at right now, but not content.”
Tenino took sixth in the Rainier Icebreaker at 40 points, with Moore’s long jump and Carson Schall’s 110-meter hurdle performances serving as the Beavers’ lone event wins. If not for the Loggers duo of throwers, sophomore Parker Minerich would have second-place marks in both the discus and shot put, but he settled for fourth while setting a PR in discus.
Schall said his offseason work, on top of his indoor season, has helped him get off to a strong start this spring. Although he slowed down slightly in the 110-meter hurdles, his blazing jump at the gun served as the difference.
“My start was pretty good. The last four hurdles of that race is where I’ve been struggling recently, staying aggressive and holding my form,” he said. “I was really looking for a solid season opener, and I ran a 15.68, which was .4 seconds better than my season opener last year.”
Rochester senior Gunnar Morgan led the Warriors to a seventh-place finish at 35 points thanks to two top-three times in the 800 meters and the mile runs. He crossed the finish line six seconds behind Marty in the 1,600-meters to take second. Junior thrower Stanton Smith impressed in the discus with a personal-best throw of 130 feet to place seventh.
Napavine placed eighth with 34.5 points, host Rainier rounded out the top 10 at 27.5 points, and Pe Ell, 22, and Winlock, 17.5, earned top-15 finishes.
