High school track and field: Top teams, athletes to watch in South Sound this spring
With high school track and field in full swing, here’s a look at the top teams and athletes to watch in the South Sound this spring as the postseason approaches.
CLASS 4A
As early as sixth grade, JaiCieonna Gero-Holt was a track-and-field phenom – a showcase of pure athleticism and mastery, shattering Emerald Ridge’s high-school records as a 12-year-old.
The Emerald Ridge junior is still soaring to new heights. She collected her third Arcadia Invitational (Arcadia, California) in the women’s high jump (5-10) last weekend, and will defend three state titles (javelin, 110-meter hurdles, high jump) at next month’s WIAA state championships.
A two-time high jump and 110-hurdles state champion, Gero-Holt assumed the state’s all-time high jump throne on Feb. 16. At the 2024 USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, the University of Illinois commit reached a personal-best 6-2.25 that was second-best among national competition. It eclipsed Issaquah Mary Moore’s all-time state record (6-2) set in 1981, some 43 years ago.
“She’s a much better teammate than she’s ever been right now,” Emerald Ridge track-and-field coach Bob Frey said. “She is more coachable than she’s ever been, and I think in a lot of ways, she’s taken a lot of pressure off herself. She’s already committed (to Illinois) now…
“She’s enjoying the process a little bit more than she has been.”
The Jaguars girls captured the 4A team title in 2023, and Gero-Holt repeated as the 4A 110-meter hurdle champion, at 14.45 seconds. She seeks a three-peat in both the hurdles and high jump next month. Her 5-10 high-jump mark that won last weekend’s Arcadia Invitational matched her state-title-clinching height in 2023, and her 139-3 javelin distance earned her first-ever javelin title at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma.
Emerald Ridge senior Mikayla Gardley owns the state’s best girls 300-meter hurdle time (44.57 seconds) in 2024 and ranks fifth in the 400 meters (57.91). Gero-Holt ranks first statewide in 4A girls shot put (42-1.75), and freshman Iren Derricks sports a top-10 state time in the 100 meters (12.50).
“You take an already pretty-good team and add a girl like (Iren) to the mix, it’s a big boost for us,” Frey said.
Federal Way returns senior jumper Cassandra Atkins, the reigning 4A girls long jump champion who possesses the state’s top long jump (18-5.5) and triple jump (40-2.25) numbers in 2024.
SPSL athletes are scattered across state leaderboards: Curtis boasts the state’s best 4x400 relay time this season (3:25.12), set by Kamil Ross, Isaac Brooks, Xavier Ahrens, and LeRoy Horton at the Curtis Viking Relay Championships last March 23.
Puyallup junior Noah Balzarini clocked a 38.49-second time in the 300-meter hurdles on March 21, 4A’s fourth-best time in 2024. Puyallup senior Josiah Goode ranks ninth in 4A boys 110-meter hurdles (14.84), and Justin Temple Jr. is third statewide in the 4A triple jump (45-7.75).
Olympia’s Cameron Downing, a junior, ranks seventh in 4A javelin (174-8).
CLASS 3A
Yelm stormed to the 2023 3A boys team title behind state-meet triple jump record-holder Trevontay Smith (50-4.5) and trio of field dominators: Jordan Lasher (pole vault), Isaiah Patterson (discus) and top-ranked football recruit Brayden Platt (shot put).
All were state champions in respective events. But Smith graduated last spring, and both Platt (Oregon) and Patterson (UCLA) signed to Big 10 football programs. It leaves Lasher, who again is the state’s best pole vaulter in 2024 and is positioned well for a repeat. He’s the only vaulter to reach 16-0 this season, five inches higher than Camas’ Chase McGee (15-7).
Auburn Riverside returns distance guru Julia Couch, who won consecutive 800-meter 3A titles in 2022-23 and captured her first 1600-meter championship (4:52.04) last May in Tacoma.
Silas’ Addison Kelly is making noise in the triple jump, second in state rankings (38-10) only to Federal Way’s Atkins.
CLASS 2A
Just how fast is Clover Park’s Eli Peters? The Timberwolves junior had the state’s best 100-meter time (all classifications) until April 6, posting a 10.57-second time in Lakewood on March 21. Mead’s Dominick Corley just clocked 10.39 seconds at the Arcadia Invitational last weekend, assuming the top spot.
Still, Peters remains the South Sound’s quickest sprinter in 2024 (10.57), and Spanaway Lake’s Zoom Sands ranks fifth statewide (10.77).
Enumclaw’s McCoy Brooks owns the South Sound’s fastest 3,200-meter time in 2024 (9:09.33), third-best in the state.
And Tumwater’s 4x400 relay of Josh Schlecht, David Malroy, Blake Kirkpatrick, and Jaxon Budd is among 2A’s best (3:28.46).
Tumwater’s girls program won the 2023 team title, headlined by a 4x200 relay that eyes a three-peat at the state championships next month. Cassidy Hedin, Annabelle Clapp, Reese Heryford, and Ava Jones (1:43.55) captured a second title in Tacoma last May, and again owns 2A’s best time this season (1:43.97).
In addition to Peters, Clover Park returns senior Kamila Salanoa, the reigning girls shot put state champion (38-6).
CLASS 1A
Vashon Island’s girls program oozes talent, some of which form the fastest 4x200 relay on 1A state leader boards this season. Kiara Bartel, Annabelle Moeckel, Lena Puz, and Alana Bass (1:49.56) registered the classification’s fastest time this season at the Mar. 30 Kent-Meridian Invitational.
In the Seattle Academy Relays on March 16, Bass clocked the state’s fastest 400-meter time among 1A girls (59.21) and ranks fourth on the 1A 200-meter girls leaderboard (26.52 seconds). Puz sports the fourth-fastest 100-meter girls time in the class (12.92).
SMALL SCHOOLS
Eagles sprinter Nathan Grassell and a pair of 1B’s top hurdlers headline Evergreen Lutheran in 2024.
Jace Lovely (16.65) and Luke Christensen (16.75) are third and fourth on the classification’s 110-meter hurdles leader board. In the 100-meters, Grassell clocked an 11.73-second time at a SeaTac League Meet on March 14, good for fifth-best in 1A.
Eagles miler Alex Walls sports a top-seven 1,600-meter time in 1B (5:00.24), and Pope John Paul II’s Logan Johnson is seventh on the 1B 800-meter rankings (2:15.75).
In 2B, Northwest Christian of Lacey sophomore Isabella Knouff is among the best in the girls 800-meters (2:36.73), currently seventh-quickest.
