SEATTLE — Four North Olympic Track Club athletes advanced to the regional round in the Pacific Northwest Association Junior Olympic Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
Gracie Long, fresh off an extremely successful season in high school track, continued her dominant season by winning the steeplechase and the 1,500-meter run. She also placed second in the high jump.
“Many distance runners don’t have the flexibility, strength, or athletic ability to transfer into the steeple, but Gracie makes it seem easy,” says club coach Greg Halberg.
Riley Pyeatt placed second in the 400 meters with a personal record 1 minute, 0.67 seconds. She also won her heat of the 100 meters Saturday with a time of 13.14, also an all-time best. Pyeatt ended up sixth in the finals running 13.16.
Eve Burke had an outstanding meet, placing second in the high jump with a new all time best of 4 feet, 9 inches. She placed second in her heat of the 100 meters with a personal record of 13.17, breaking her previous best of 13.50 that she ran two weeks ago. She followed that with another personal record in the finals with a time of 13.13 for fifth place overall.
“We finally had a chance to work on her block starts last week and that made a huge difference for her,” Halberg said. Burke also placed fourth in the long jump with an all-time best of 15-3.
Amelia Long placed second in 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:10, an eight-second improvement over a couple of weeks ago. She also placed seventh in the high jump.
The top eight in each age group event qualify for the regional round, so every local athlete that competed qualified in each event against competition from all of western Washington.
The club continues preparing athletes for all sports, with training starting today at Peninsula College (http://athletics.pencol.edu/community-events/pc-summer-athletic-performance-program). Track event specific instruction will follow at 10 a.m. at the Port Angeles High School track. Athletes younger than 12 will have workouts at 11 a.m. at the PAHS track. For more information, contact Greg Halberg at (360)-477-3015.
Peninsula Daily News
