Sequim's Waverly Shreffler

Sequim's Waverly Shreffler

STATE TRACK AND FIELD: Perfect run, painful jump yield championships for Sequim’s Shreffler, Clallam Bay’s Willis

Everything was perfect for Waverly Shreffler.

Every jump was painful for Clayton Willis.

The North Olympic Peninsula’s two state track and field champions had different experiences on their trips to the top of the podium Saturday.

For Shreffler, the Sequim senior, the 800-meter run couldn’t have gone better at the Class 2A state championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

“I couldn’t have scripted it better,” Wolves coach Brad Moore said.

Shreffler said she has been “imagining and picturing winning all season.” She also tracked her state opponents throughout the year.

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“Most of them are good long-distance runners but don’t have very fast 400 splits,” Shreffler said.

“When they have a good race, it’s because they run perfect splits. When I run a good race, it’s because I have good splits but a faster finish.

“My strength was in my finish.”

Shreffler took first in Friday’s preliminaries with a time of 2 minutes, 19.43 seconds, the second-fastest time she had ever run in the event.

Then, in the finals Saturday, Shreffler went even faster, setting a new personal record (2:19.11) and claiming the state title by more than a second.

“The way that a couple of girls tactically ran the race, it played right in to her hands,” Moore said.

The other runners took it easy the first lap, so all Shreffler had to do was stay with them.

And it was windy, so they had to face that while Shreffler drafted behind them.

Moore said the Sequim coaches were confident that Shreffler would win if she was close coming down the stretch.

She was, and then she found a crease on the left side.

“She just sprinted right past them,” Moore said. “It wasn’t even close.”

When Shreffler realized that she was about to win, it was like she was back thinking about it again, like she had all season.

“When I was finishing, it felt like a dream,” Shreffler said.

Shreffler also was part of setting a school record. She ran the first leg of Sequim’s 4×400 relay that placed fifth at state Saturday.

In Thursday’s preliminaries, Shreffler, Mercedes Woods, Gretchen Happe and Kiara Pierson ran a 4:06 in the event.

That time beat the 4:06.13 run in 2007 by Anna LaBeaume, Stephanie Marcy, Allison Cutting and Morgan Shattuck.

“Three of those kids went on to be state champions,” Moore said, referring to LaBeaume, Marcy and Cutting.

Shreffler said the record felt especially good for she and senior Happe, who have been chasing it for most of their careers and nearly broke it last year.

Shreffler, Happe and Woods also placed fifth in the 4×400 relay at last year’s state meet, along with Heidi Vereide.

Pierson, a sophomore, was a newcomer to the track and field team this season. She ran the anchor leg.

“Kiara’s amazing,” Shreffler said. “She just started track this year and she’s our anchor, and that’s a lot of pressure for her.”

Overall, it was a good weekend.

“I don’t think it could have gone any better,” Shreffler said.

Willis jumps to title

“I can barely walk on it,” Clayton Willis said Sunday morning as the Clallam Bay Bruins drove back from the Class 1B state championships at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

Willis’ state championship hopes were nearly derailed Friday when he pulled a quad during the 400-meter preliminaries.

He had already placed fourth in the triple jump earlier Friday, but he still had the 400 finals and the long jump Saturday.

“We were pretty worried about it,” Clallam Bay coach Aaron Burdette said.

“We did the ice bath, the whole deal. He said he felt good going into Saturday.”

In the 400, though, it hurt too much.

“I had to shut down my run,” Willis said.

He ended up placing eighth.

Less than two hours later, Willis had to compete in the long jump, which he was favored to win.

“I could definitely feel it hurt when I was jumping,” he said.

His first jump was 18 feet, 11 inches. Then 20-01.25. Then a personal-best 20-05.

Willis had two more jumps, but figured he had the title.

“I’d broken my PR and everyone else’s,” he said.

Willis is Clallam Bay’s first state champion since Jay Mendoza won the 100 in 2008.

The girls 4×100 nearly ended the drought before Willis.

Atokena Abe, Molly McCoy, Miriam Wonderly and Jennica Maines were ranked first after Friday’s preliminaries.

The ended up placing fifth in Saturday’s finals, but their time of 53.12 seconds was itself an accomplishment.

“We crushed the school record by over a second,” Burdette said.

“And we get everybody back that’s on that’s 4×100 next year.”

In the final 1B girls field event of the meet, Maines and Abe earned medals in the triple jump, Maines taking fourth and Abe finishing fifth.

In the final 1B girls track event of the meet, Wonderly, Abe, Kaylin Signor and Kendra Anderson placed seventh in the 4×400 relay.

Bruins earned 10 medals, the largest state haul of the Peninsula’s eight teams.

Crescent and Sequim each claimed five medals, Port Townsend had four, Port Angeles grabbed three, Neah Bay took home two and Chimacum earned one.

Medals are won by the top eight finishers in each event.

Here is a rundown of the medals won by area athletes:

■ Clallam Bay girls: Maines, fourth in triple jump; Signor, sixth in 3,200; McCoy, fourth in 100 hurdles and eighth in high jump; Abe, fifth in triple jump; 4×100 relay, fourth; 4×400 relay, seventh.

■ Clallam Bay boys: Willis, first in long jump, fourth in triple jump and eighth in 400; Alan Greene, eighth in javelin.

■ Sequim girls: Shreffler, first in 800; 4×400 relay, fifth.

■ Sequim boys: Jackson Oliver, sixth in high jump and eighth in 800; Oscar Herrera, third in 110 hurdles and fifth in 300 hurdles.

■ Crescent girls: Grace Baillargeon, fourth in 400; McKenzie Brannan, seventh in javelin.

■ Crescent boys: Jordan Scott, seventh in 110 hurdles; Wyatt McNeece, sixth in javelin; Neil Peppard, seventh in javelin.

■ Port Townsend boys: Koby Weidner, seventh in 100; Seren Dances, fifth in 100 and sixth in long jump; 4×100 relay, second.

■ Port Angeles girls: Gracie Long, sixth in 1,600 and eighth in high jump.

■ Port Angeles boys: Jacob Kennedy, eighth in shot put.

■ Neah Bay boys: Cameron Buzzell, fifth in 100 and fifth in 200.

■ Chimacum boys: Sam Golden, fifth in 300 hurdles.

2A State Championships

At Mount Tahoma High School

Area Results

Boys

800—8, Jackson Oliver (Seq) 2:02.35. 110H—3, Oscar Herrera (Seq) 15:10. 300H—5, Herrera (Seq) 39.87. 4×400—14, Sequim (Logan Habner, Curtis Gorr, Herrera, Silas Isenberger, Oliver, Kane Stoddard) 3:33.84. Shot Put—8, Jacob Kennedy (PA) 47-05.75. Discus—11, Paul Van Rossen (PA) 129-09. High Jump—6, Oliver (Seq) 6-0. Pole Vault—11, Ari Athair (PA) 13-0.

Girls

800—1, Waverly Shreffler (Seq) 2:19.11; 9, Audrey Shingleton (Seq) 2:22.88. 1,600—6, Gracie Long (PA) 5:14.47. 3,200—9, Long (PA) 11:32.68. 4×200—11, Sequim (Gretchen Happe, Mercedes Woods, Kiara Pierson, Shreffler, Emma Beeson, Telicia Busby) 1:48.86. 4×400—5, Sequim (Shreffler, Woods, Happe, Pierson, Shingleton, Emma Beeson) 4:06.89. High Jump—8, Long (PA) 4-10. Pole Vault—Elizabeth Sweet (Seq) 10-0.

1A State Championships

At Eastern Washington University

Area Results

Boys

100—5, Seren Dances (PT) 11.53; 7, Koby Weidner (PT) 11.60. 200—8, Dances (PT); 9, Weidner (PT) 23.35. 400—15, Austin Pegram (Forks) 54.08. 800—21, River Yearian (PT) 2:14.96. 1,600—10, Alan Ensastegui (Forks) 4:40.38; 16, Jake Vande Griend (PT) 5:07.34. 3,200—12, Josue Lucas (Forks) 10:31.15; 13, Ensastegui (Forks) 10:35.75; 16, Vande Griend (PT) 11:05.67. 110H—13, Sam Golden (Chim) 17.41. 300H—5, Golden (Chim) 41.87. 4×100—2, Port Townsend (Kyle Blankenship, Dances, Carson Marx, Weidner) 43.05. 10, Chimacum (Ryan Caldwell, Jadyn Roberts, Eoin Hartnett, Domenick Zack) 44.72. 4×400—FS, Port Townsend (Blankenship, Yearian, Marx, Vande Griend). Shot Put—16, Trevon Noel (Chim) 41-03.25. Discus—11, Cole Baysinger (Forks) 128-10. Javelin—12, Chris Sevilla (Chim) 138-0. High Jump—10T, Baysinger (Forks) 5-10; 13, Matt Torres (Chim) 5-06; Long Jump—6, Dances (PT) 21-01.

Girls

100—14, Jada Trafton (Chim) 13.52. 3,200—18, Ally Bradley (PT) 13:21.84. 100H—DQ, Aubry Botkin (PT). 300H—15, Botkin (PT) 50.53. 4×100— Port Townsend (Brenna Franklin, Ari Winter, Botkin, Eileen Leoso) 52.51. 4×200—16, Chimacum Trafton, Bailey Castillo, Juliet Alban Vallat, Sammy Raines) 1:53.25. Discus—11, Shenoa Snyder (PT) 101-04. Javelin—15, Castillo (Chim) 100-07. Triple Jump—12, Leoso (PT) 31-0.75.

1B State Championships

At Eastern Washington University

Area Results

Boys

100—5, Cameron Buzzell (NB) 11.87. 200—5, Buzzell (NB) 23.94. 400—8, Clayton Willis (CB) 55.72. 800—16, Jamari Signor (CB) 2:19.50. 110H—7, Jordan Scott (Cres) 17.94. 300H—9, Scott (Cres) 44.65; 15, Jakob Baillargeon (Cres) 47.36. 4×100—12, Neah Bay (Anthony Bitegeko, Chris Tageant, Logan Halttunen, Buzzell) 48.52. 4×400— 13, Clallam Bay (Signor, Martin Cummings, Alan Greene, Willis) 3:55.33; 15, Neah Bay (Tageant, Bitegeko, Buzzell, Isaac Jay Brunk) 4:01.97. Shot Put—9, Wyatt McNeece (Cres) 40-04.5; 15, Neil Peppard (Cres) 37-0. Discus—6, McNeece (Cres) 126-08; 7, Peppard (Cres) 119-0. Javelin—8, A. Greene (CB) 139-07; 16, Phillip Greene (NB) 112-03. High Jump—11, Bitegeko (NB) 5-02. Long Jump—1, Willis (CB) 20-05; 11, Baillargeon (Cres) 19-05. Triple Jump—4, Willis (CB) 40-04.25.

Girls

100—9, Jennica Maines (CB) 13.83; 13, Miriam Wonderly (CB) 14.29. 400—4, Grace Baillargeon (Cres) 1:03.31. 800—10, Leonie Hofmann (Cres) 2:48.13. 3,200—6, Kaylin Signor (CB) 14:04.80. 100H—4, Molly McCoy (CB) 18:20. 4×100—4, Clallam Bay (Atokena Abe, McCoy, Wonderly, Maines) 53.12; 12, Crescent (Hofmann, Tena Ward, Hannah Lee, Baillargeon) 56.76; 13, Neah Bay (Cassie Dias, Hannah Olson, Kayla Winck, Cheyanna Svec) 57.48. 4×200—DQ (finals), Clallam Bay (Maines, Wonderly, Kendra Anderson, McCoy); 13, Crescent (Hofmann, Ward, Lee, Baillargeon) 2:00.84. 4×400—7, Clallam Bay (Wonderly, Abe, K. Signor, Anderson) 4:51.33. Shot Put—16, McKenzie Brannan (Cres) 26-06.75. Discus—9, Zeria Signor (CB) 94-04; 13, Winck (NB) 85-10; 16, Ashara Dodson (Cres) 80-11. Javelin—7, Brannan (Cres) 102-10. High Jump—8, McCoy (CB) 4-10. Long Jump—9, Olson (NB) 14-11.25; Svec (NB) 11, 14-06.25. Triple Jump—4, Maines (CB) 31-10;5, Abe (CB) 31-03.75; 13, Winck (NB) 28-03.25; 14, Dodson (Cres) 27-10; 17, Kristin Frantz (Cres) 25-09.5.

________

Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.

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