By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
Track and field athletes from all over the North Peninsula will be competing in districts this weekend for the opportunity to qualify for state track and field championships later this month.
Forks
Forks will open districts at the 1A District 4 meet today. The top three finishers in each event qualifies for the state 1A meet at Eastern Washington University in Cheney that will be held from May 25-27.
Forks does very well in various distance events, led by Marissa Bailey and Enid Ensastegui.
One all-around athlete in particular to watch is Cole Baysinger, who has won 14 field events this season. Baysinger came in first in the discus and the high jump at the subdistrict meet last weekend.
Neah Bay, Crescent, Clallam Bay
The three 1B schools compete in the Tri-District meet in Coupeville today, with the top five in each event qualifying for the state 1B meet at Cheney on May 25.
There are several great athletes at all three schools who should move on to state.
Neah Bay’s Cameron Buzzell dominates in the sprints, with 17 first-place finishes this season. Buzzell won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter runs at the Olympic 1B Subdistrict meet last weekend. Buzzell’s teammate Isaac Jay Brunk won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs and has 10 first-place finishes this season.
The Clallam Bay girls have a large track contingent and have been outstanding all season in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter relays. The Bruins’ 4-by-100 quartet of Atokena Abe, Molly McCoy, Miriam Wonderly and Jennica Maines came in fifth at state last year and this year have the third-fastest time (54.54) in the state at the 1B level.
Port Angeles, Sequim
Port Angeles and Sequim will both compete in the West Central 2A District meet at Renton Stadium beginning Friday. The top six in each event will qualify for the state 2A meet, which will be held at Mount Tahoma High School beginning on May 25.
Sequim has a strong all-around team, while the Port Angeles girls are strong, particularly in the distance events.
One athlete to keep an eye on will be Port Angeles’ Gracie Long, who has won an astounding 22 events so far this season, mostly in distance events and the high jump. Long finished first in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Olympic subdistrict meet last weekend and in fact, the Port Angeles girls had eight finishes in the top five in the three distance events (800-, 1,600 and 3,200-meters).
Long beat Sequim’s Morgan Bingham in the 1,600 and 3,200. Morgan’s brother Murray is another athlete to watch. Murray Bingham has 14 first-place finishes of his own this season and won the 800- and 1,600-meter runs at the Olympic subdistrict last weekend.
Other Sequim kids who won their events at subdistricts were Riley Martin the 300-meter hurdles, Riley Cowan in the javelin and Elizabeth Sweet in the pole vault.
Port Townsend, Chimacum
Port Townsend and Chimacum will also compete at Renton Stadium beginning Friday in the West Central 1A meet. Like Forks, they must qualify in the top three slots to automatically make it to the state 1A meet at Cheney.
Port Townsend has a strong all-around team, and has two athletes to watch — Seren Dances and Aubry Botkin.
Dances has 19 first-place finishes this season, and won the 110-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and long jump at hte Olymplic 1A subdistrict. He also has the top 300-meter hurdles time in the state at the 1A level (40.06 seconds, a half-second better than second place) and the longest long jump in the state at 23 feet, 1 inch, nearly 11 inches better than the No. 2 jump in the state.
Another Port Townsend kid to watch is Aubry Botkin. She won the 100-meter hurdles and the triple jump at the Olympic 1A subdistrict. She also has the second-fastest 100-meter time (15.36) in the state.
