La Conner High School’s Nora McCormick and Yondel Rosales-Rojas each won multiple events, two of the Braves’ girls’ relay quartets took top honors, and the hosts’ boys’ and girls’ teams each placed in the top three of a season-opening 11-school track meet in La Conner on March 19.
McCormick, a freshman, swept the girls’ 100 and 300 meter hurdles and ran a leg of La Conner’s winning entry in the sprint relay. She also placed fourth in the long jump.
Rosales-Rojas, also a freshman, topped the field in the boys’ 100 meters and triple jump.
McCormick clocked 16.86 in the 100 hurdles and went 52.90 in the 300s. She joined her sister, junior Maeve McCormick, eighth grader Faith Jenkins, and senior Lydia Grossglass to post a winning time of 53.92 in the 4×100.
Rosales-Rojas captured the 100-meter dash in 11.95. He clinched the meet’s triple jump crown with a 36-11.5 effort and added a second-place finish in the long jump at 19-8.
As a team, the La Conner girls finished second on the leaderboard to Mount Vernon Christian. The La Conner boys were third in team standings behind Coupeville and Mount Vernon Christian.
La Conner High School Head Track-and-Field Coach Peter Voorhee said an infusion of young talent is helping the Braves offset losses to graduation of Tommy Murdock, who captured state 2B boys’ hurdles crowns the past three years, and girls’ standout Morgan Huizenga.
Faith Jenkins bore that out by running first in the girls’ 100 meters, hitting the tape in 13.55. Maeve McCormick took second in the 100 with a 14.33 finish.
Faith Jenkins also added a third-place leap (4-4) in the high jump and her sister, freshman Kiana Jenkins, was second in the 200 (29.07) and 400 meters (1:04.85), respectively.
In addition, Kiana Jenkins was also a member — along with Grossglass, Maeve McCormick, and Faith Jenkins — of the La Conner 4×200 meter relay entry that claimed first place in 1:32.41.
La Conner freshmen Reese Bird and Finley Hancock and junior Izzy Villard enjoyed strong debuts as well. Bird was third in the javelin (85-3) and fifth in the discus (71-4), Hancock was second in the 3200 meters (14:01.17) and third at 1600 meters (6:26.63) and Villard was sixth in the shot put with a heave of 21-11.5.
On the boys’ side of the meet, La Conner junior Flint Huizenga joined Rosales-Rojas in the Winner’s Circle with a toss of 138-4 in the javelin. That was 20 feet farther than the next best throw among 39 contestants.
Huizenga also placed third in the shot put (35-10.5) and fourth in the discus (111-7).
Senior Simon Bouwens, junior Marlin Bralens, and sophomore Josh Dowry added to the La Conner boys’ team total. Bouwens was third in the 110-meter hurdles (18.60) and Bralens finished third in the triple jump (35-0.25). Dowry was fourth in the pole vault at 8-6.
The La Conner track teams resume action with a short road trip to Mount Vernon High School on March 26. Events start at 3:30 p.m.
Team Results for March 19 2B/1B Meet
| Girls | ||
| 1. | Mount Vernon Christian | 144.5 |
| 2. | La Conner | 129.5 |
| 3. | Coupeville | 100.67 |
| 4. | Friday Harbor | 81 |
| 5. | Providence Christian | 64 |
| 6. | Lopez Island | 48.33 |
| 7. | Cedar Park Christian | 33 |
| 8. | Grace Academy | 28 |
| 9. | Orcas Island | 26 |
| 10. | Shoreline Christian | 5 |
| 11. | Concrete | 1 |
| Boys | ||
| 1. | Coupeville | 182.5 |
| 2. | Mount Vernon Christian | 88 |
| 3. | La Conner | 87 |
| 4. | Lopez Island | 73 |
| 5. | Cedar Park Christian | 67 |
| 6. | Orcas Island | 63 |
| 7. | Friday Harbor | 40.5 |
| 8. | Grace Academy | 30.5 |
| 9. | Providence Christian | 15.5 |
| 10. | Concrete | 7 |
