State Girls Track and Field: Sancho shatters four-decade school record in open 200 triumph

YAKIMA — What started as a photo finish turned into jubilation for Winlock High School sprinter Victoria Sancho.

Even if the outward expressions were calm and collected. Internally, she was over the moon.

“I am so happy, I am glad this happened,” Sancho said. “I felt a big relief.”

A thrilling Class 2B 200-meter dash battle between Sancho and La Conner eighth grader Faith Jenkins came down to .03 seconds and a last-second lunge by the Cardinals junior earned her the first state title of her career on Saturday afternoon on the final day of the 1B/2B/1A state championships at Zaepfel Stadium.

Sancho clipped Jenkins 25.36-25.39 and it went the exact opposite from the open 100 from the morning session. It was Jenkins that outlasted Sancho by .25 seconds.

“I had to think back to my 100 and I fell out of my form and lost track of what I was doing,” Sancho said. “I tried to stay focused, make sure my knees stayed up.”

For the second consecutive trip to Yakima, Sancho left with three medals. The placements in all three events – 100, 200 and triple jump – were higher this spring. She’s battled through a foot injury that has lingered for the last month.

It never deterred her en route to breaking a 47-year old school record in the 200 and sixth win in the event this season.

“I was a little scared crossing the finish line since Faith was really close to me,” Sancho said.

Jenkins and Sancho were neck-and-neck approaching the turn and stayed that way until the very end. Now, Sancho is ready for her final offseason in preparation for her last year for track and field.

If someone came up to her and told her how her first three years would turn out, she admittedly wouldn't have believed them.

“I would think there is too much competition for me,” Sancho said. “Put in a lot of work.”

Just five minutes later in 1A, Rochester senior Merecedies Dupont captured her highest finish ever at state with a runner-up performance in the 200 in 25.24 seconds, a lifetime best, just behind Castle Rock’s Casie Kleine. It was a chase down effort by the Warriors senior that came up just short of a state title.

No disappointment showed on Dupont’s face, who also crossed the finish line in fifth in the open 100 while battling an injured foot “going for about a “month-and-a-half.”

“It is hard to believe, I genuinely can’t fathom I made it this far,” Dupont said. “Everyone at school is telling me all these great things.”

She qualified in the 100 and the 400 a season ago and just missed finals. She didn’t only want to run for herself, but others for Rochester due to injuries or not advancing to state.

She’ll be taking her talents to Evergreen College next fall for both cross country and track.

“I left it all out there,” Dupont said.

The other runner-up for the girls was Rainier’s Ella Marvin in the 2B pole vault. And the circumstances surrounding her final trip are the same as her penultimate appearance.

When Marvin triumphed in the event in 2024, she mentioned an injury that doctors had no clue what it was or how to heal it. Fast forward a year and it’s the same ailment that still confuses doctors.

The senior tried to have a “glass half-full” thinking afterwards.

“I couldn’t be happier to have someone to compete with,” Marvin said. “I am proud of sticking in there.”

It ended up coming down to attempts between Marvin and Freeman’s Fiona Anderson. Both missed all three chances at 11-feet even and Anderson ended up with a perfect day otherwise. Marvin had one more miss at 10-feet even.

College pole vaulting is up next for Marvin at Concordia University of Irvine, where she’s looking forward to getting into the weight room and continuing her development.

“It is going to be really fun,” she said. “I got good things to come. Got to figure out this injury first.”

Onalaska’s Kiley Talley nabbed fourth in the 2B shot put with a best throw of 36-07.25 that reset her PR by an inch. A year after placing seventh in her first ever state appearance, the sophomore upped her spot on the podium by three.

From a fifth place finish at Chehalis Activators to the end of the season, the sophomore threw over 35 feet in six of her final seven meets.

“I’m really proud of myself; I didn’t really think I could do it,” Talley said. “Now, I just want to be first.”

Rainier distance runner Komaire Robles finished fifth in the 2B 3,200-meter run.

Mossyrock’s Miley Sanders (javelin), Toledo’s Onica Chase (400), Adna’s Sorena Neilson (100 hurdles) and the Pirates’ 800 relay all placed sixth. Napavine’s Haley Gallagher (pole vault), Rainier’s Madison Ingram (800) and Mossyrock’s 800 relay secured seventh.