Washington state track notes, Day 1: Five Federal Way triple jumpers reach podium
On the first day of the Class 4A/3A/2A track and field state championships, Federal Way High School sent five competitors to the boys and girls triple jump competitions.
All five later climbed the podium Thursday at Mount Tahoma Stadium.
Federal Way sophomore Cassandra Atkins, in her first appearance at the state meet, won her first title in the 4A girls competition, posting a winning jump of 38-1 1/2 on her fourth attempt.
Her teammate, senior Esther Akinlosotu, finished second with a jump of 38-0 1/4, also on her second attempt.
The two Federal Way jumpers were the only two in the competition to post a jump further than 38 feet after leading the state in the event this season.
“We earned it,” Akinlosotu said. “We got this.”
Akinlosotu holds the top mark in the state this spring after jumping a personal-best 40-2 3/4 last month at Oregon Relays, while Atkins posted a personal-best 38-9 3/4 at the same meet, which is the second-longest jump statewide this season.
The teammates are set to compete again in the 4A girls long jump Friday afternoon as the competition’s top two seeds.
Atkins posted the top mark in 4A so far this season with a personal-best 18-11 early on in April, while Akinlosotu ranks second in the classification after jumping 18-0 3/4 at last weekend’s bidistrict meet.
“We push each other so we can do our best,” Akinlosotu said.
“We’ve known each other almost our whole lives, so it’s like basically siblings at this point,” Atkins added.
Later in the evening, the three Federal Way jumpers in the boys competition also finished with top marks.
Eagles junior Jaylon Jenkins — who entered the meet with the best jump in 4A this season after posting a 45-4 1/4 at last weekend’s bidistrict meet — finished second with a jump of 44-8 3/4 behind only Chiawana’s Kade Smith (personal-best 46-0).
Federal Way junior Roman Hutchinson (44-1 1/2) finished fourth, and junior Julian Gene Fortin (43-2 1/2) fifth.
The early points in the triple jump Thursday also have Federal Way leading in both the 4A boys and girls team races through three finals events.
SOUTH SOUND CHAMPIONS
There were 18 event finals completed on Thursday’s opening day, and seven South Sound athletes won individual state championships.
▪ Federal Way sophomore Cassandra Atkins won the 4A girls triple jump at 38-1 1/2.
▪ Bellarmine Prep senior Ella Borsheim won the 4A girls 1,600 at 4:54.17.
▪ Shelton senior Alauna Carstens won the 2A girls 1,600 at 4:58.34.
▪ Olympia senior Ethan Coleman won the 4A boys 1,600 at 4:06.28.
▪ Tahoma senior Gavin Garcia won the 4A boys javelin at 172-11.
▪ Yelm sophomore Brayden Platt won the 2A boys shot put at 61-6.
▪ Tumwater senior Natalie Sumrok won the 2A girls javelin at 126-2.
MEET RECORDS FALL
Two state meet records fell Thursday afternoon on the first day of state competition since 2019.
Squalicum junior Andre Korbmacher was the first to make history, rewriting the 2A boys 110 hurdles record previously set by White River’s Devin Liebel (14.07) in 2013.
Korbmacher, who already entered the week with the state’s top time in the event this spring, cruised by his competitors to win his heat in 14.02 seconds.
Sehome senior Carter Birade, who has the state’s second-best time this spring, matched the 2013 record with a time of 14.07 and won his heat.
The two hurdlers are among the top in the nation this spring — Korbmacher’s personal-best time of 13.63 ranks seventh in the nation this season, while Birade’s personal-best 13.69 is tied for 12th — and also train together during the club season.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Korbmacher said. “Being able to train with him just really makes me be able to push myself to my best and him to his best.”
The final in the event sets up to be one of the most anticipated races of the three-day meet.
“It’s going to be a good race in the finals,” Birade said.
Later on, Selah senior Cooper Quigley raced ahead of the field in the 2A boys 1,600 to top the previous meet record in the event by nearly two seconds.
His personal-best time of 4:08.89 in the race bested the mark set by White River’s Marcus Dickson (4:10.79) in 2012.
LOOKING AHEAD
Three South Sound athletes and three relay teams posted the top qualifying times in their preliminary heats Thursday.
Silas’ Jaylen McCabe has the top qualifying time in the 3A boys 110 hurdles (14.13), while Capital’s Hana Moll is the top qualifier in the 3A girls 100 hurdles (15.17) and Tumwater’s Alyssa Duncan the top qualifier in the 2A girls 100 hurdles (15.04).
The South Kitsap girls 4x200 (1:41.85) and 4x400 (3:57.42) relay teams, and the Tumwater girls 4x200 (1:45.74) team also enter the finals as the top qualifiers.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Washington state track notes, Day 1: Five Federal Way triple jumpers reach podium."
