ARLINGTON The Chuck Randall Relays throw a number of curveballs at its competitors. Athletes do not compete in such unusual events as the 3×400 meter hurdles at state, like Tyler Varnell did on March 24.
It was kind of an eye-opener for him, said Arlington head coach Judd Hunter.
The Eagle boys and girls teams combined for 210 points, placing second to Burlington-Edisons 262 team points, followed by Cascades 186, Mountlake Terraces 115, and cellar-dwellers Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon with 67 and 62 points respectively.
Kjersten Jensen threw well in the shot and discus. She PRed in discus and almost PRed in shot, Hunter said of the juniors 124 and 37-2 foot throws. She was a leader and our girls team did well in the shot.
Senior Shaina Prause contributed to team rankings in the shot and long jump, throwing nearly 30 feet in the shot and jumping 14-10. Prauses jump, along with senior Brook Holtons 16-11, helped lead the girls to a win in the long jump.
Brook jumped well in the long and triple jump, at 16-11 and 35-2, Hunter said, adding that both figures were close to the school records Holton set her sophomore year, in 2005. She was four feet from her triple record.
Arlington thrower-jumper Sam Welch had early season personal records during the Eagles invitational as well, tying her best pole vault jump at 8-6 and nearing her best javelin throw with a 93-foot toss.
Arlington track had a field day when they traveled to Lake Stevens to compete against Marysville and the host team March 21.
As a team, both the boys and girls squads placed third, but strong field results distinguished several Arlington athletes.
Once again, Jensen blew away the competition, snagging first-place finishes in shot put and discus by considerable margins over the opposition. Her best throw in the shot put, for 37-8, was 47 inches better than the next throw from Lake Stevens Leah Grassl, while her 120-foot discus toss was the only one on the girls side in triple digits.
Hunter held his index finger and thumb together as he said of Jensen, She is this close to breaking school records in (shot put and discus). Shes going to obliterate them this year.
The girls teams only other first-place finish was a 16.6 sprint from Holton in the 100-meter hurdles, well ahead of the next four finishers, including Arlingtons Shane OPorowsie, all within .2 seconds of one another. Holton, who was missing in action most of her junior campaign with a foot injury, returned to place second in the long jump with a 15-9 leap. Behind her was fellow senior Prause, whose 14-10 jump was good for fourth place.
The boys fared a little better with six top-two finishes in the field, including a first-second-fourth finish in the discus, courtesy of Jeff Boyden (132-6), Garret Potter (121-6) and Kurt Hampton (120). Bryan Mack and Varnell placed first and second in the triple jump, Macks best jump of 41-1 edging teammate Varnells 40-9.
Jensen and Holton were not the only Eagles to excel in more than one event Prause had Arlingtons best female javelin toss of the day, taking second to Lake Stevens Brit Aanstad with a 116-4 throw. Varnell was took first in the boys 110 hurdles with a slew of teammates not far behind him, Kevin Berrior in second, Ryan Schimpf in fourth and Derek Warby in fifth.
Schimpf cleared a 6-1 high jump as well, good for second place to Marysville-Pilchucks Duane LaPeyri.
Ginny Wilson made a 4-10 high jump herself, good for fifth place.
Ginny Wilsons 4-10 should be top in any other meet, Hunter said, adding that Wilsons finish was a credit to the competition.