Idle this week due to spring break, the La Conner High School track teams did double duty leading up to their brief respite.
The La Conner boys won an April 1 league meet hosted by Mount Vernon Christian while the Braves’ girls placed second in their half of the 11-school trials.
Two days later, the La Conner girls were sixth and the Braves’ boys fourth at the Trojan Twilight Invitational in Meridian, also an 11-school affair, but which drew several teams from Whatcom County programs with larger enrollment.
The two meets were held under totally different conditions. The Mount Vernon contests were marred by frigid temperatures and steady rain. At Meridian, a springlike vibe prevailed.
“It was a good meet,” La Conner High head track coach Peter Voorhees said of the Meridian venue. “The weather was great and the kids really responded to that.”
In the girls’ half of the Trojan Twilight meet, La Conner produced five first place finishes.
Faith Jenkins ran away with the 100-meters in a 12.9 clocking. Nora McCormick won the 100-meter hurdles at 16.31. Maeve McCormick set a new personal best in the pole vault with a 10-0 effort.
The McCormicks joined the team’s other set of sisters — Faith and Kiana Jenkins — to claim the 4×100 meter relay in 51.44. The Jenkins and McCormick sisters also topped the field in the 4×200 meters by clocking a 1:49.81 finish.
On the boys’ side, senior thrower Flint Huizenga led the Braves with a second place in the javelin (159-1) and fifth in the discus (126-8).
Meanwhile, the Braves’ Yandel Rosales-Rojas established a new personal mark in the 100 meters, posting a time of 11.52 while finishing third.
The La Conner 4×100 relay team of Kale Navarrete Higgins, Ryan Reynolds, Rosales-Rojas and Maxwell Page took fourth in 46.12. Rosales-Rojas, Page, Reynolds and Vireo Angell placed fourth as well in the 4×400 relay with a 3:51.36 clocking.
Angell took fourth in the 300 hurdles at 47.18 and Rosales-Rojas was fifth in the 200 meters with a 23.87 finish.
At Mount Vernon, the La Conner boys outpointed runner-up Mount Vernon Christian 128-101. The two schools flipped positions on the team leaderboard in the girls’ half of the meet with Mount Vernon Christian enjoying a 166-113.5 margin.
Huizenga was a dual winner by sweeping the javelin (160-8) and discus (132-0), Josh Dowry (8-0) and Colin Wigal (7-6) went 1-2 in the pole vault, and Rosales-Rojas won the 100 meters (11.70) to lead the Braves’ boys.
Despite running on a wet, slick surface, Faith Jenkins clocked a 13.3 to win the girls’ 100 meters. She finished second in 28.21 to Stella Carli of Friday Harbor (26.62) in their latest 200 meters duel.
Nora McCormick won the 100-meter hurdles (16.71), Reese Bird took the discus with a toss of 81-11, and Maeve McCormick placed first in the pole vault (9-0) to give the La Conner girls four solo titles on the day.
The Jenkins and McCormick sisters teamed to mine gold in the 4×100 relay in 52.45. Maicy Bowles, Maeve McCormick, Kiana Jenkins and Faith Jenkins were first in the 4×200 relay (1:52.09) as well.
The La Conner track teams resume action April 15 with a league meet at Coupeville. The first events are set for 3 p.m.
The Braves follow up by traveling on April 18 to the Cashmere Invitational, a 150-mile road trip.
