Federal Way dominates, Jefferson record broken at all-city meet

Published 6:11 pm Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Top city honors were on the line as Decatur, Federal Way, Thomas Jefferson and Todd Beamer all faced off at the all-city track and field meet on Wednesday.

It was the first meeting for Federal Way and Todd Beamer this season, and Thomas Jefferson and Decatur faced off for the first time as well.

Federal Way’s boy and girls teams both posted the highest team scores on the day.

The most anticipated race of the day was the boys’ 100-meter dash, which featured the second meeting between Federal Way’s Alex Taylor and Decatur’s Kemuel Santana. The two currently hold the top times in 4A, according to athletic.net.

On April 21, the two went head-to-head in one of the most thrilling races of the season. Taylor edged out Santana by 0.01 seconds to win with a time of 10.91.

“I see Kemuel and I get nervous; he’s a really good athlete,” said Taylor. “I try to focus on my race. Kind of zone everyone out and just run. Sometimes in the past, when I was younger, I used to try to catch everyone, which I shouldn’t have been doing. I should just stay to my race and trust my speed.”

Taylor was able to focus during the race, besting Santana by a stride to win the event with a time of 10.88, his second-best of the season and a time that would still be second-best in the state.

Santana did not run his best race of the year, but he still finished second with a respectable time of 11.11, a half-second faster than the next closest runner.

“These last few weeks have been hard for me,” Taylor said. “I kind of struggled at Oregon. There was a lot of good competition. After Oregon it’s been good for me. I ran 10.79 last meet and 10.88, that’s a good time too. It’s the training, really. Just coming to practice and getting on the track running. You can’t get slower if you’re working out.”

Taylor said he’s preparing for a run at the state title and is excited to run against competition from the area in the upcoming South Puget Sound League meet and West Central District meet. Currently, 10 of the top 20 times in the 100 belong to SPSL runners.

While Santana was unable to win the 100, he bounced back in the 200 with a time of 22.10, his best of the year. It moved him closer to the current best mark in 4A, 22.07, held by Izaiah Fields from Curtis.

Jefferson’s Jenna Appleton was another athlete with a lot to celebrate after the all-city meet. Not only did Appleton shatter her previous best of 10-0 in the pole vault, she vaulted her way into the top spot of Jefferson’s all-time record books as she cleared 11-01. The junior is now tied for the seventh-best mark in 4A.

Claire Hansen, already one of the top hurdlers in the state, improved her time in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.93. She now holds the fifth-best time in 4A. The competition between Hansen and Kent-Meridian’s Jaleesa Taylor and Caila Tongco is one to watch at this week’s SPSL meet: they hold the sixth- and seventh- best times in 4A in the 100 hurdles.

Beamer’s Malik Messiah improved upon his already top-1o time in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.64. He now has the seventh-fastest mark in 4A.

Though Santana, Malik Malutama and Jason Palmer own the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-best marks in 4A in the 400 currently, only Federal Way’s Palmer ran at the all-city meet. He cruised to victory with a time of 50.80.

The Federal Way boys’ 4×100 relay team blazed their way to victory with a time of 43.08. It’s not their best time of the year, but it would still be the fifth-fastest mark in the state currently.

Decatur’s boys’ 4×400 relay team pulled off the biggest comeback of the day. After falling behind Federal Way by over 20 meters, they rallied on the last two legs of the race to win with a time of 3:31.79.

Although she didn’t top her current bests, Decatur’s Parris Watson won both the discus and shot put events with distances of 129-10 and 36-1 1/2. Her teammate, Gabrielle Boyd, did find her way into the top 10 in 4A discus with a throw of 118-1. She finished second at the meet in both discus and shot put.

Jefferson’s Taylor Sterling maintained her dominance in the high jump, clearing a height of 5-2 to edge out Hansen. Both Sterling and Hansen have cracked the top-1o in the event. Sterling cleared 5-4 on April 13, tying her for first in 4A, while Hansen is tied with 14 others at 10th after clearing 5-2 on April 16.

The SPSL League Championships are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, at French Field in Kent. Day two of the championships will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 13.

Those who qualify from the league championships will advance to the West Central District Championships which begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 19.