Gig Harbor High boys, girls both win 3A team state track titles
The night before the Class 3A state track finals at Mount Tahoma High School, Gig Harbor High School senior Kellen Gregory, part of the Tides 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, didn’t sleep much.
He estimates he finally got some shut-eye around 3 a.m. on Saturday morning.
“All these thoughts were going through my head,” Gregory said. “I was looking at these times trying to see where all the points would lay out for everyone and I just couldn’t sleep. I was so worried just thinking about today and just so anxious to get out here.”
If he — or any of his teammates — were tired during Saturday’s finals, it didn’t show. In the final day of the Class 3A state track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School on Saturday, everything went right for the Tides — the boys and the girls.
Gig Harbor earned a sweep of the team titles, with the boys cruising to the top spot with 72 points. The girls won also, coming in with 55.5 points, edging out North Central (49) and Mercer Island (46).
For Gig Harbor, it’s the first time the boys and girls have won titles in the same year since 2007, when Gig Harbor was a Class 4A school.
Across the board, Gig Harbor delivered win, after win, after win.
“This was like a wildfire,” said longtime Gig Harbor track coach Kevin Eager. “I told them, I’ve been on teams before, going back to when I coached at PLU, teams that would go to conference or nationals and they would feed off each other. It’d just be like this, now it’s my turn, now it’s my turn, now it’s my turn. And instead of getting nervous, and having all those nerves, they start to look at it as opportunity, not pressure. That’s what you saw today. It’s hard to do that and have nothing go wrong. It’s remarkable.”
The Gig Harbor boys had several dominant performances during the three-day meet. Junior Jurrian Hering kicked things off on Friday, winning the 110-meter hurdles title, clocking in at 14.21 seconds.
"It feels great," Hering said. "I finally got the time I knew I could get."
Hering could tell it was going to be a good race, after getting off the starting blocks quickly.
"I feel like I really executed my start, which I've been working on. I'm happy and it went well. That start sets up your entire race. I've been focusing on trying to be tall going into that (first) hurdle. I think I did that, and the result was a state championship."
Gig Harbor won the 4x400 relay late in the day on Saturday. The team of Kellen Gregory, Peter Smith, Ian Steuk and Mark Kimball came in at 3:19.24.
“We were nervous for it,” Steuk said. “We wanted to get under 3:20. We were happy with how we did.”
Having Gregory — despite his restlessness the night before — coming out for the track team for the first time, as senior, as well as relay member Peter Smith transferring from Virginia last fall, pushed the Gig Harbor relays over the edge.
“It’s not just one person,” Steuk said. “It’s all of us. We were all important.”
One of the day’s most intriguing races was also one of the longest. The 3,200-meters featured one of the nation’s top distance runners in Lincoln’s James Mwaura, who set a state record in the event, clocking in at 8 minutes, 46.87 seconds — which is also the fastest time in the nation this year, per athletic.net. Peloquin came in second with a personal record 9:04.91. After the race, Peloquin was keeled over a trash can, having exerted a maximum amount of effort in the race.
“I just gave it everything I had,” Peloquin said. “My goal was to get second. I knew James is really good.”
The crowd knew Mwaura was going for the state record, and the crowd energy and noise was palpable during the event.
“I was using the energy from everyone in the race,” Peloquin said.
Peloquin, a junior, has a great deal of respect for Mwaura, but from a competitive standpoint, won’t be heartbroken to see him graduate this spring.
“I’m glad he’s gone, because I actually have a chance at winning state now,” Peloquin said, with a laugh.
Peter Smith, a teammate of Peloquin’s on the cross country team last fall, also had a strong showing at the meet. He took second in the 800 at 1:51.65, third in the 1,600 at 4:13.02 and was a relay contributor. He came in just behind Kennewick’s Johan Correa in the 800, and was a bit disappointed to come in second.
“I felt like it was a good, strategic race,” Smith said. “There were definitely a lot of competitors in there. I did the best I could. You get good days, bad days, good weeks, bad weeks. You’ve got to push through it, either way. I was a little disappointed. … (Correa) was just the better athlete today.”
Senior Mark Kimball, who has been through a lot in his life, took fifth in the 400-meters, with a time of 50.30, and was a relay contributor, as well.
“I felt pretty good (about the 400),” Kimball said. “I knew I wasn’t the top guy going in. but I just wanted to give it all I had. I’ve been working this whole year to be get to this spot. We’ve earned this spot in state.”
On the girls side, senior Hadassah Ward won her third-straight title in the shot put. She threw a lifetime best 45 feet, 5.50 inches — in her final throw of her high school career.
“My coaches just reminded me that it was my final throw of my high school career, so I just went all out on that one,” Ward said. “I got really amped up and ready to throw and started preparing myself. Once it left my hand, I knew it felt good enough to be PR. It feels amazing.”
The biggest star of the show for the Tides was Hannah Carroll, who won the 400-meters at 55.38; the 200-meters at 25 flat, and was part of Gig Harbor’s 4x100 (first) and 4x400 (fourth) relays.
“It’s been amazing to know that I can contribute to the team,” Carroll said. “It’s individual, but having those girls, they’re my biggest fans. If I’m happy, having a great day or sad, having a hard day, they’re just there for me, so knowing I can help them get a team title is just outstanding. It’s indescribable.”
Carroll was stellar, but still needed the help of her teammates. Tatum Griffin ran the anchor in the 4x100 relay for Gig Harbor, which clocked in at 48.67 and a first place finish for the Tides. She held off some stiff competition from Shorecrest, which finished 48.69, and Ballard, which finished 49.29. In the final stretch, Griffin had to give it her all to secure the win for the Tides.
“I knew it was going to be a close race,” Griffin said. “I try not to get super nervous. I just wanted to get excited and hyped up so that I didn’t get super anxious running that last stretch. It was crazy tight. I didn’t expect how close it would be. I knew I just wanted to push through and I really wanted this win for us, because we’ve been working toward it all year.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Gig Harbor High boys, girls both win 3A team state track titles."