State track notes, Day 1: Yelm triple jumper surpasses 50 feet to break 3A meet record
Yelm senior Trevontay Smith will wrap up another high school sports season as a state champion.
Last spring, Smith took home his first track and field state title, winning the Class 3A boys triple jump.
Last fall, he played cornerback for the Tornados’ undefeated 3A state champion football program.
Thursday afternoon at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma, he added another title, repeating as the 3A triple jump champion with a leap of 50 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
“My senior year — amazing,” Smith said. “I’m so happy with my senior year.”
The winning distance was a personal-best for Smith, who entered the meet as the overall state leader in the event.
“I’m so happy,” Smith said of surpassing 50 feet. “I knew I had it in me this whole season. I’ve been saying it since the start of the season, but I’m happy I did it at state. It’s great.”
It was also a 3A state meet record, resetting the previous state-best of 49-11 3/4, posted by West Valley of Spokane’s Rashad Toussaint back in 2005.
Eastside Catholic senior Branden Ganashamoorthy led Thursday’s event early on, jumping 48-0 on his second attempt. Ganashamoorthy also entered the weekend second in the overall state rankings, just behind Smith.
The Crusaders standout was a familiar opponent for Smith, who played opposite him in the 3A state football championship game in December.
Yelm rallied past Eastside Catholic in a thriller to win, 20-13, in the program’s first championship game appearance.
Smith’s third jump in his preliminary flight eventually earned him his repeat title on a sunny afternoon at Mount Tahoma.
“I was in second at the time, so I knew I had to get a good jump because obviously I wanted to win state,” Smith said. “So, I really locked in, closed my eyes, got the adrenaline pumping, got that clap going and just jumped.”
Smith quickly popped up from the sand after the record-breaking attempt, clapped and gave high-fives to spectators standing along the fence.
He is one of 10 jumpers in the nation to surpass 50 feet this season, and currently ranks eighth overall.
Smith will have the chance to complete his high school career with one more state title Friday afternoon in the long jump. He is currently ranked ninth statewide in the event (22-7 1/2), while Ganashamoorthy is ranked second (23-8) and enters as the top seed.
GERO-HOLT ADDS ANOTHER TITLE
Emerald Ridge sophomore JaiCieonna Gero-Holt added a 4A javelin title to her state championship tally — which is now at four.
Last season as a freshman, she won three of the four events she competed in, topping the podium in 4A in the 100 hurdles, high jump and long jump.
The title defense for those events will begin Friday afternoon.
She also reached the podium in the javelin as a freshman, placing seventh, but Thursday opened the 4A state meet with a win in the event.
Gero-Holt trailed Richland’s Baylee Wroble (personal-best 136-9) until her final attempt, and threw a personal-best 139-3 to secure the title.
“It’s very exciting,” she said.
Particularly because she did not finish the event last season, only throwing in her preliminary flight before competing in the long jump on the other side of the stadium at the same time.
“I didn’t get a chance to really go out there and do my best, and to get that opportunity again, I wanted to take advantage of that,” Gero-Holt said.
Gero-Holt also won her heat in the 4A girls 100 hurdles preliminaries, posting a 14.46 to enter Friday’s final as the top qualifier.
She is ranked No. 1 statewide in both the 100 hurdles and high jump this season, and ranks second in the long jump.
SOUTH SOUND CHAMPIONS
There were 18 event finals completed on Thursday’s opening day, and nine South Sound athletes won individual state championships.
▪ Rogers senior Isaac Briggs won the 4A boys 1,600 with a personal-best 4:13.19.
▪ Emerald Ridge senior Jacob Lane won the 4A boys shot put with a personal-best 56-11.
▪ Federal Way senior Jaylon Jenkins won the 4A boys high jump at 6-8.
▪ Emerald Ridge sophomore JaiCieonna Gero-Holt won the 4A girls javelin with a personal-best 139-3.
▪ Federal Way junior Cassandra Atkins won the 4A girls triple jump at 40-8 1/2.
▪ Yelm senior Trevontay Smith won the 3A boys triple jump with a personal-best and 3A state meet record 50-4 1/2.
▪ Auburn Riverside sophomore Julia Couch won the 3A girls 1,600 with a personal-best 4:52.04.
▪ Lincoln senior Pray’Cesslily Kamuta won the 3A girls shot put at 41-11 1/4.
▪ Spanaway Lake senior Atreonia Garner won the 3A girls high jump at 5-3.
MEET RECORDS FALL
Two more state meet records fell Thursday on the first day of state competition in Tacoma, bringing the weekend’s total to three so far.
Central Kitsap senior Roderick Schenk reset the 3A state meet record in the javelin, posting a personal-best 219-1 on his first throw of the competition.
The distance broke the previous 3A meet best of 211-0, set by Bellevue’s Robert Hintz in 2009.
Yelm junior Brayden Platt was the runner-up in the event this season, and also would have reset the previous record with a personal-best 216-0 on his fourth attempt.
Schenk now ranks second nationwide in the javelin this spring, while Platt ranks third.
Squalicum senior Andre Korbmacher broke his own 2A state meet record in the 110 hurdles, winning his preliminary heat in 13.8 seconds.
Korbmacher, the defending state champion in the event, ran a meet-best 13.83 in the finals last season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Two South Sound athletes and two relay teams posted the top qualifying times in their preliminary heats Thursday.
Gero-Holt has the top qualifying time in the 4A girls 100 hurdles (14.46), while Lincoln’s Jonathan Frazier has the top qualifying time in the 3A boys 110 hurdles (14.13).
Curtis’ 4x200 relay team of Lenice Walston, Noelle Lordahl, Azariah Miller and Ava Simms enters Saturday morning’s finals as the top qualifier after posting a 1:42.67.
Tumwater’s 4x200 relay team of Annabelle Clapp, Cassidy Hedin, Reese Heryford and Ava Jones ran a season-best 1:44.26 to take the top qualifying time into Saturday’s finals.
