Cheney - The final day of the 1A State Track and Field Championships took place at Eastern Washington University with the finals of the 800 and 3200 meter races. 4 Whatcom County athletes made the podium in their final races of this great track season.
LC's Steiger Breaks His Own 3200 Record to Place 2nd
Lynden Christian senior Eric Steiger closed out his high school career breaking his own school record, again, in the 3200 running a time of 9:35.46 to place 2nd in the final of the 1A 3200 meter race.
Steiger's old school record was set at the King's Invite earlier this season with a time of 9:41.34.
Steiger was determined to run his best race yet when he knew he had a very good chance of finishing 2nd for the Lyncs.
"With Ben Shaw (Riverside) and Dillon Rising (Goldendale) going out hard, I sat right behind Ethan Widlansky (Bush) and we had a pack of 4 for about the first 800." said Steiger. "After that first 800, Widlansky backed off so I decided to go connect with Rising and we just pushed each other a long."
Riverside's Shaw was on his own program for the entire race according to Steiger, but the final stretch came down to the wire as Steiger and Rising were battling for the 2nd place spot.
"With Shaw going on his own, I just stuck with Rising and took him out the last 100 meters to place 2nd."
Teammate Brooks DeWaard finished in 7th running 9:54.06 to also close out his career as a high school runner.
Steiger didn't see this ending of his high school career as a sad moment, he in fact saw the brightness in it.
"Looking back at when I was a freshman and thinking of what could happen in 4 years, it was just really exciting to see everything pay off with all the training I put in and setting the goal of placing top 3 in both races."
Meridian Distance Teams Close Out Historic Season
The Meridian Trojans have a lot to look back on this year after having 6 total distance runners qualify for the state meet, with 2 of them making their way to the podium.
Junior Jenson Ellars placed 7th in the 1A Boy's 800 final with a time of 2:05.79 and senior Ashlee Van Den Top placed 8th in the 1A Girl's 800 final as she completes her final distance race of her high school career.
In 3200, senior Kenny Barnes was one spot away from the podium as he run 10:01.8 to lead the Meridian boy's, which would feature 3 other Trojans in this race. Jaskran Dhatt placed 13th (10:12.12), Nathan Schneider placed 15th (10:16.17) and Abbas Theophilus placed 18th (10:20.34).
The Meridian boy's do return 4 guys for their cross country next fall with Barnes departing.
Nooksack's Alyce Not Thrilled About Race, But Has a lot to Look Back On
Nooksack senior Alyce Harlan ran in her only race at the 1A State Track Championships yesterday in Cheney as she concludes her high school career with a 10th place finish in the 1A Girl's 3200 final.
Harlan battled throughout the entire race with Northwest's Isa Meyers for the 8th place spot, but it was Meyers who used her speed to her advantage to beat out Harlan. Harlan would finish with a time of 11:24.21.
Nooksack Valley Distance Coach Jay Sloane said he was pleased with Harlan's performance despite missing out on the podium. He also mentioned her growth and improvement from her freshman year to her senior year is one he sees as an inspiring story for so many to come in the future of the program.
"Alyce started off as a 30 minute 5k runner her freshman year," said Sloane. "She now holds our school record in the 5k and became a state champion as well. Someone like her comes around rarely, but the work she put in these last 4 years was incredible."
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