Top teams, track and field athletes in 2019 in the Olympia area

TOP TEAMS

Black Hills: The Wolves finished fourth at 2A state meet and return Camille McCullers (sprints), Maggie Wood-Richardson (middle distance), Anna Zeldenrust (middle distance, jumps), Kaitlyn McCullers (hurdles), Devin Herbert (throws) and Hannah Reynolds (throws, hurdles).

Timberline: Just outside the top 10 at 3A state meet last year, the Blazers feature Ashley Babkirk (sprints), Abigail Pedro (throws), Jessica Neal (jumps), Ariana Bush (jumps) and Destinee Robertson (jumps).

W.F. West: Finished 11th in 2A in 2018. The Bearcats top competitors in 2019 include Courtney Bennett (sprints), Megan Nowells (hurdles), Kelly Robertson (hurdles), Taya McCallum (throws), Megan Pallas (throws), Maliyah Lockwood (jumps), Megan Flexhaug (pole vault), Gracie Ericson (jumps) and Isabella Landers (jumps).

Northwest Christian (Lacey): The defending 2B state champions have Tosin Faleke (sprints, middle distance), Gretchen Stottlemyre (middle distance, throws), Ava Schackell (distance), Nina Fraser (hurdles, jumps), Becca Sowers (throws), Whitley Stepp (jumps), Jamie Lier (jumps).

Yelm: The Tornados rely on Judy Malich (sprints), Katelynn Strate (distance), Isabelle Wright-Cloran (hurdles), Carissa Stovall (throws) and Kaitlyn Hillemann (jumps).

TOP ATHLETES

Jessica Neal Timberline: Western Washington signee has equaled her PR in the high jump (5-6) this season, which is tied for third among all prep girls in the state. The senior is second in the South Sound Conference in the triple jump behind teammate Ariana Bush with a 34-6 mark.

Ava Shackell, Northwest Christian: Shackell stands ninth in the all classifications rankings in the 1600 meters (5:09.23). She has a wide lead in the 2B 800 meters (2:21.73). She also has a PR in the 3200 meters (11:30.9), set last week at a Pacific League regular-season meet in Elma.

Kyra Skipworth, Capital: Ranked sixth across all classifications in the 300 meter hurdles with a PR of 47.41, Skipworth also has posted a 17.75 mark in the 100-meter hurdles. She finished seventh in the 400 meters at 3A state in 2018 as a sophomore but has yet to run the 400 this season.

Carissa Stovall, Yelm: Stovall holds two top 10 rankings across all classifications, third in the discus (127-0) and eighth in the shot put (39-7). Last season, she was fourth at the 3A state meet in the shot put (41-1.5) and fifth in the discus (121-8). Her PRs are higher than any of those marks: 42-6 in the shot put and 137-1 in the discus, both accomplished during the 2018 regular season.

Taylor Woodworth, River Ridge: Ranked fourth across all classifications in the 400 meters (59.20), Woodworth has also run a 200 meter PR (26.76) this season. Last season, her PR (58.18) in the 400 was good for third place in the Class 2A state meet.

— Dave Weber

This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 1:32 PM.