Seventeen Lakewood athletes emerged from the state-qualifying district championships meet in Bellingham May 16 and 18, and five of them will compete at state in multiple events.
Freshman sprinter Devon Smith leads his teammates with four berths, including a leg of the boys 4×400-meter relay that broke Lakewood school records in the May 18 district finals meet.
Smith and senior Kyle Hayton ran legs of Lakewoods two state-qualifying relays, the 4×100 and 4×400. Third-place finishes also qualified Smith for state competition in the boys 200- and 400-meter dashes.
Smith and Haytons 4×400 teammate Terrence Ordonez also qualified for state in a second event. Top four finishers in each event automatically earned a spot at state, and the juniors fourth-place finish in the 800 1:57.43 broke the previous Lakewood school record in the event.
In addition to Smith, another Lakewood freshmans debut season continues all the way to state. Nathan Hessleman took second in the high jump and qualified for state by clearing 5-10.
A trio of distance runners joins Ordonez in his run to state: junior Sarah Dunn also broke a Lakewood record in the 800, on the girls side. Senior Corrine Gogert qualified for state in the 1,600 and 3,200 with a Lakewood record-breaking fifth-place finish in the 1,600 and a fourth-place finish in the 3,200. Though outside of the top four, Gogerts finish in the 1,600 met a state-qualifying time, sending her on in the event. On the boys side, freshman Taylor Guske took sixth in the 3,200 during the finals meet.
The fifth Cougar with two state slots is senior Michelle Howe, who edged the competition to claim the district championship in the girls 100-meter hurdles. She took second place in the 300 hurdles finals.
Three Lakewood athletes will compete at state in the javelin Cameron Hess will compete for the boys after a fourth-place finish, and Tawyna Hulslander and Emily Hayton will compete for the girls after placing third and fourth respectively.
A final school record was set May 18. The Lakewood girls 4×400 team of Gogert, Danielle Osti, Erin Diereckx and Dunn set a new Cougar standard, but the team fell short of the criterion for a state appearance.