ADNA – There’s plenty of depth. There’s star power at the top. There’s a good level of camaraderie within the Adna High School track and field program.
Whether or not the Pirates can compete in bigger meets and high-level competition on the boys and girls side once the calendar flips to May remains to be seen. For now, Todd Penman is more than pleased with the early returns.
“Very proud,” Adna’s head coach said. “A lot of first-timers. We’re a fun, young team. Couldn’t have asked for a better day.”
Karsyn Freeman tallied three victories and a host of others finished inside the top-five that allowed the Pirates to total 156 points to stave off Kalama. The boys final points tally were not finished by press time.
Freeman, a transfer from Raymond-South Bend, is coming off triumphing in the discus at the Class 2B state meet. She clipped teammate Lillian Boyd by seven inches to win the discus in her first meet donning the blue and white.
“I was happy, you never get this chance of (nice) weather,” Freeman said.
The junior swept the hurdles, claiming the 100-meter hurdles in 17.46 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 52.49 seconds. Adna had the top-four finishers in both hurdle races.
“Definitely deeper,” Freeman said of the Pirates’ hurdling crew. “I was nervous, but just focusing on yourself really helps.”
The Pirates bring back all four members off their three state-qualifying relays and kicked off the season with second-place finishes behind Kalama. Olivia Medina won the 800-meter run for Adna while Megan Price was second in the open 200.
Centralia’s Desiray Crockett placed third in the 100 in a time of 14.04 seconds. There was a delay due to the automatic timing system going down and the opening heat of the event had to be re-run.
“I had to run up the stands, get my spikes and the other girls were already at the line,” Crockett said.
The sophomore also anchored the Tigers to a third-place finish in the 800-meter relay. It is Crockett’s first year running track after suffering a broken ankle last year. Thursday marked her first competitive meet in two years.
“My ankle is still sore so I hope I can get better and get back to where I used to be,” she said.
Centralia picked up a win in the 1,600 from Ruth Gonzalez and Toledo’s Lydnzie Filla claimed the javelin.
On the boys side, Adna’s Jordan Stout led wire-to-wire in the 1,600 to kick off his final track season with a time of 4:45.08, outlasting Toledo’s Treyton Marty by four seconds.
Stout got out to a sizable lead, then dug deep over the final two laps to hold on. He anchored the Pirates to second place in the 1,600-meter relay.
“I felt like I wanted to start out with a good, solid time,” Stout said. “I wanted to have a good run to gauge where I was at in my fitness. When I finished, I had the ability to give more.”
After getting two state medals in the 800 and 1,600 last season, Stout is hungry for an individual state championship. He ran the distance triple (800, 1,600, 3,200) plus the 1,600 relay in Yakima.
He nor Penman are sure what the future holds for this state meet run.
“Us coaches watch him run and how he’s feeling,” Penman said. “Just see how the season goes. We’ll get his thoughts (and) see what it looks like.”
Still, it is in Stout’s head to get the chance to take first place in any of his races.
“I’ve always wanted to win an event (at state),” he said. “I want it so bad. To have that under belt would be such a rewarding experience for all my years of hard work.”
Adna’s Kolton Moon (110 hurdles) and Gavan Muller (300 hurdles) picked up individual wins as well as being the first two legs of the victorious 400 relay.
Toledo’s Jordan Mckenzie won the open 400 in 54 seconds flat and placed top-five in the 100 and 200. He, along with Trevin Gale and Marty, are the core coming off its top-five team finish at state.
There’s an expectation to keep the Riverhawks high in the standings.
“It is always about getting better if you’re returning and rebuilding our teammates,” Mckenzie said.
Gale won the 200 and Marty secured the 3,200. Centralia’s Adam Leon triumphed in the 800 while Onalaska’s Justice Miller claimed the 100 and discus. The Loggers also won the 1,600 relay.
