WASHINGTON STATE MEET

JaiCieonna Gero-Holt Wins Three Events To Help Emerald Ridge Win 4A Girls Title; Rebecca O'Keefe Runs Outstanding Triple

By Cam McCann for DyeStat

Ethan Buck photo

INTERVIEWS

TACOMA - The curtain closed on another year of Washington high school outdoor track with a flurry of meet records and sensational performances at the state championships at Mt. Tahoma High in Tacoma.

Emerald Ridge tallied a whopping 102 points in a historic effort to win the Class 4A girls title, beating the previous high score held by Tahoma of 98.5.

Multi-event standout JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, a junior, drove the big point total for Emerald Ridge. She won the high jump, shot put, and 100-meter hurdles. She also placed second in the long jump for a total of 38 points.

“To represent (Emerald Ridge) is exciting,” said Gero-Holt after her dominating high jump win, where she cleared 5-foot-10 inches on her first attempt. “At the end of the day it’s about ‘did I have fun?’ Really what I’m excited about is cheering on my teammates.”

The future heptathlete will forgo her senior year of high school to graduate early and compete for the University of Illinois by next winter.

Gero-Holt wasn’t the only athlete from Emerald Ridge to have an impressive showing. Wins from freshman Iren Derricks in the 100m, Mikayla Gardley in both the 300-meter hurdles and 200 meters, and the 4x400 relay team asserted the team’s dominance over the rest of the field. 

“This is just an awesome group of students who care about one another, and that makes a big difference,” ER girls head coach Bob Frey said. 

The 4A field outside of the Jags had spectacular performances as well. 

Cassandra Atkins of Federal Way got the fireworks started on Thursday with a 19-9.75 wind-aided jump to edge out Gero-Holt in the long jump.

“I like to win,” Atkins said. “To come out here and demonstrate the work I did and show that it mattered means a lot.”

Atkins went on to win the triple jump as well, for the third year in a row. She plans on competing at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Grace Degarimore of South Kitsap almost broke the meet record in the discus, throwing 164-8.

As for the running events, the best weekend for Class 4A belonged to Skyline’s Rebecca O’Keefe, who won the 1600 meters in 4:45.44, the 800m in 2:11.58, and the 3200m in 10:18.87. O’Keefe’s Spartan teammate, Anna Callahan, was also one of the top distance runners in the state, running Washington state bests in the 1,600 and 3,200 earlier this year, but was sidelined due to an injury. 

“Knowing that she would be right there with me if she could pushed me harder,” O’Keefe said. 

The boy’s 4A crown went to Eastlake high school, their first state championship since 1997. 

“(The season) has definitely had its ups and downs,” Wolves coach Troy Anderson said. 

Eastlake's Matthew Secrist, who broke the school record in the 300-meter hurdles by running 38.88 seconds, and was a hundredth of a second from beating out David Brown from Lake Stevens in the 110-meter hurdles, ran 14.40 seconds in that final. 

Eastlake also got a major contribution from Mason Heisser, who finished second in the long jump with 22-6.50 in the long jump right behind Gavyn Buchanan of Kamiakin, who jumped just a quarter of an inch farther to take home the gold. Heisser also finished third in the triple jump behind Puyallup’s Justin Temple Jr. and Stephen Anderson from Mariner High. 

Multiple Papermakers from Camas finished on top of the award stand, Chase McGee won the pole vault cleared a height of 16-6, a personal record by five inches to keep his undefeated season clean. Ethan Linerud of the Papermakers also won the discus by a whopping 10 feet, throwing 172-7 on his first attempt. 

Moving down to the 3A classification, the trophy for the boys division went into the hands of Mead High School, a historically great distance running program that relied on throws and sprints to win the title.

“Our guys are just fighters, they’ve been resilient all year. I’m just proud of them,” Panthers coach James Lehr said.

Dominick Corley was the standout for Mead, winning the 100 meters in a time of 11.02 seconds (into a stiff -2.8 headwind), placing second place in a heated 200 with Liberty’s Sutton Flint, and an eye-boggling come-from-behind anchor leg in the 4x100 relay to win the race for his team.

Corley kicked down the leaders and brought Mead into first place 10 meters from the finish line. Winning time: 41.84 seconds. 

“Last season we came in third in the four-by-one and this is my last season so I had to get that dub,” said the future USC Trojan, who feels his work on the track extends beyond just a time or placement. “In a way it’s kinda like giving back to the community for me.”

Mead scored big points in the javelin and the discus thanks to the throwing duo of Evan Berg and Simon Rosselli. Berg took home the javelin title with a throw of 190-6, a massive 22 feet farther than silver medalist Bookie Cramer of Arlington. Rosselli won the discus with a throw of 183-9.

Other notable men’s performances include Everett high jumper Shukurani Ndayiraglje, who leaped a height of 6-8, and Jordan Lasher of Yelm, who won the pole vault, clearing 16-6.

The 3A distance runners also made waves at the meet, with Owen Powell of Mercer Island leading the way in both the 1,600 meters and the 800 meters, running 4:07.90 and 1:52.33, respectively.

The 1,600 final was a tight race between Powell, Jack Henzke of Seattle Prep, Vincent Recupero of Bishop Blanchet and Kade Brownell of Mount Spokane, with the athletes finishing within a window smaller than two seconds. 

“Coming in after last year, I kind of felt like I had the target on my back, but I was glad I was able to defend my title today,” Powell said. 

Henzke won the 3,200 meters in , running a meet best 9:02.49, and was closely followed by Recupero at 9:03. 

As for the girls, the Walla Walla Blue Devils came out on top thanks to a tremendous performance on Saturday, getting crucial wins in multiple relays to help push them into first. 

Ashlyn Nielsen of the Blue Devils had maybe the most star-studded final day out of everyone at the meet, coming home with four first-place finishes, anchoring for both the 4x200 relay and the 4x100 relay as well as finishing first in the 100 meters and 200 meters (12.27/24.92). 

“I don’t think our school has had (a performer) like Ashlyn Nielsen,” Walla Walla girls coach Eric Hisaw said.

In the field events, Ella McRitchie from Bainbridge showed an amazing performance in the pole vault, clearing 14-3 on her first attempt.

Silas High’s Addison Kelly took home the crown in the long jump and triple jump.

Alexa Matora ran a blistering 2:09.5 in the 800 to place first, but wound up in second after a tough battle in the 1,600 with freshman Sophia Rodriguez of Mercer Island, who added a second victory in the 3,200, winning by 14 seconds. 

The 2A boys champion became a plural term after a tie was reached between Columbia River and Anacortes, two teams that had multiple close calls in a points race that could have gone either way. 

“It was a great competition between all the schools here, Anacortes has a great team and I’m just happy for both teams,” Columbia River boys head coach Art Sandison said. 

A fittingly close race that could have decided the tie broke out in a heated 3200m final between Parker Mong of the Seahawks and Jacob McManus of the Rapids. 

Mong led the pack for just about the entire eight laps until McManus made his move with 300 meters to go, taking a strong lead, but was ultimately outkicked by Mong in a grueling final straightaway. Mong won it in 9:03.9.91 time, just four seconds off of the meet record that’s been held for more than a decade by Conner Johnsen of Sehome.

The Seahawk distance specialist also claimed the crown in the 1,600, finishing with 4:10.62, which was also a couple seconds off of the state record.

Zakeius Hawkins of Anacortes won the gold in the high jump, winning with his first attempt clearance at 6-4. Micah Schoeder of Aberdeen and Aaron Paul of Tumwater also made 6-4, but not on their first tries.

On the flip side, Revac Banfield of Columbia River came through as an underdog to win both the 100 and 200 for the Rapids on a blustery Saturday.

“My team’s relying on me right now,” said Banfield right after his second win. “I have to get as many points as possible, we’re right there, I had to finish strong for them.”

East Valley (Yakima) Red Devils broke a state meet record in the 4x400 relay with 3:18.62.

For the 2A girls, East Valley (Spokane) finished on top thanks to an incredible distance performance from Logan Hofstee.

“There’s never been a female athlete in our school as talented as her,” East Valley girls coach Shane Toy said. “She is the most dedicated girl I have ever coached.”

Hofstee won the 1,600 in a meet record 4:51.29, came in a close second in the 800, and shattered the previous meet record by 12 seconds in the 3,200 by running 10:28.66. The record was previously held by Jessica Frydenlund, who is currently running for Gonzaga. Hofstee is set to become her college teammate in the fall. 

“I’m sad that my high school career has come to an end but I wouldn’t want to cap it off any other way,” said the future Bulldog. “The state record was just a cherry on top.”

Hofstee wasn’t the only Knight from East Valley that took home the gold, however. The 4x100 relay team won and Veronica Garcia added a title in the 400 meters.  

“I’ve been coaching almost 40 years and this is East Valley girls’ first state championship ever,” Toy said. “I was going to retire when Logan (Hofstee) was an eighth grader, and I made her a promise that if she turned out to be a distance runner I’d see her through her four years.”

CLASS 2A/3A/4A RESULTS

Baker Bests Own State Record, Wins 4 More State Individual Titles At Small School Championships