Emotions running the gamut from elation to heartbreak were experienced by Edmonds School District prep athletes Thursday during Day 1 of the WIAA State Track & Field Championships in Tacoma.

Edmonds-Woodway’s Vernice Keyes, teammate Matthew Park and Mountlake Terrace’s Matt Guardiano earned runner-up finishes to lead local athletes on Thursday. Keyes earned her second place medal in the 3A girls discus, Park was nosed out by Mt. Spokane’s Hayden Dressel by .05 seconds and had to settle for second in the 3A boys 1600 meters, and Guardiano finished second in the boys’ shot put ambulatory event.

Terrace’s Madison Sadler grabbed a strong finish on Thursday with a fourth place in the 2A girls’ discus.

Three Edmonds School District runners made it to the podium of the 3A girls 1600 meters: Lynnwood’s Malia Pivec finished fifth in the event, E-W’s Olivia Meader-Yetter followed in sixth place while teammate Yukino Parle came in eighth. The Warriors’ Stephanie Wroblewski also competed in the event, finishing 13th.

The biggest disappointed experienced by local athletes on Thursday came in a preliminary heat of the 3A boys 110 meter hurdles. District 1 3A 110 meter hurdles champion Aaron Richardson of Edmonds-Woodway was leading after the final hurdle but fell before he reached the finish line; the junior picked himself up off the track and completed the race, but finished last in his heat and did not qualify for Friday’s final.

The Edmonds-Woodway girls accumulated the most team points among local squads during the first of three days of competition at the state meet with 12, good enough for second place behind Bonney Lake’s 13 points. The E-W boys have eight team points and are tied with Arlington for fifth place in the 3A boys’ team race; thanks to Sadler’s finish in the 2A girls’ discus, the Hawks have four team points.

To view all the results from Day 1 of the WIAA 2A, 3A, 4A State Track & Field Championships, click https://wiaa.com/results/track/2017/2A3A4A/index.htm.

Prep Track: WIAA 2A, 3A, 4A State Track & Field Championships Day 1, May 25 (ESD results)

Edmonds-Woodway
Vernice Keyes, 2^nd place in the 3A girls discus final, 132-09
Matthew Park, 2^nd place in the 3A boys 1600 meters final, 4:15.99
Rita Sakharov, 3^rd place in the 3A girls 100 meter hurdles preliminary, 15:15
Olivia Meader-Yetter, 6^th place in the 3A girls 1600 meter final, 5:04.59
Yukino Parle, 8^th place in the 3A girls 1600 meter final, 5:06.37
Morgan Davis, Ella Spillane, Hannah Hicks, Gaby Chappell, 9^th place in the 3A girls 4×200 relay preliminary, 1:46.23
Emily Houng, 13^th place in the 3A girls high jump, 5-00.00
Stephanie Wroblewski, 13^th place in the 3A girls 1600 meter final, 5:13.31
Sam McCloughan, 13^th place in the 3A boys 1600 meter final, 4:29.54
Lucas Lacambra, 16^th place in the 3A boys 1600 meter final, 4:35.30
Aaron Richardson, 23^th place in the 3A boys 110 meter hurdles preliminary, 17:12

Lynnwood
Malia Pivec, 5^th place in the 3A girls 1600 meter final, 5:02.36
Eli Edwards, 6^th place in the 3A boys 110 meter hurdles preliminary, 15:00
Jerry Pham, 11^th in the 3A boys long jump, 20-08.75
Jerry Pham, 13^th place in the 3A boys 110 meter hurdles preliminary, 15.48
Connor Bjornson, 13^th place in the 3A boys javelin, 155-09

Mountlake Terrace
Matt Guardiano, 2^nd place in the boys shot put ambulatory final, 30-04.75
Madison Sadler, 5^th place in the 2A girls discus final, 104-11

Meadowdale
Charlotte Jones, 15^th place in the 3A girls discus, 98-04

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski