The Federal Way High School boys and girls track teams pulled of a rare two-peat this past weekend in Tacoma.
The boys brought home the gold as a team 73-45 over second place Eastmont High School, while the girls grabbed the gold as a team with a 72-48 effort over Camas. This two-peat by both boys and girls is the second time ever it’s happened, with Garfield achieving the feat in the 1984-85 seasons.
Boys
Sophomore Tyson Penn brought home the only two individual titles for the boys, taking the gold in both the triple jump and high jump. In the triple jump, his mark of 49-02.00 was nearly a foot longer than the second-place finisher from Garfield High School. Penn was joined on the podium by teammate Keenan Curran, who snagged a bronze with a jump of 47-11.75. Fellow Eagle Mason Salle rounded up Federal Way dominance of the event with a fifth-place jump of 45-1.50.
Penn out-jumped the competition in high jump with a height of 6-9.00, an inch higher than the second-place finisher from Eastmont.
Federal Way High School just missed out on the podium for the long jump, with Chico McClatcher and Curran taking fourth and fifth place, respectively. Junior McClatcher recorded a distance of 22-11.00 while Curran recorded a jump of 22-07.75 in the final event.
In the track events, Curran also managed a sixth-place finish in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 39.65. Curran’s teammate, Mitch Stewart, also recorded a sixth-place finish in the 800 meter run, with a time of 1:54.77. Sophomore Jason Palmer also added to Federal Way’s hardware by nabbing a bronze in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.26.
The two boys relay teams had a mixed weekend, with the 4×100 team of McClatcher, Palmer, Damani Thomas and Josh Dawson being disqualified because of a botched baton exchange. The 4×400 team rebounded with a bronze medal performance. The team of Palmer, Marcus Tate, Curran and Stewart recorded a time of 3:20.47.
Girls
Familiar names graced the girls team success in Tacoma this past weekend. Hannah Cunliffe was a dominant force, winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes, along with being part of the championship 4×100 relay team. Cunliffe easily handled the 100 meter field with her time of 11.96, which was a half-second greater than the second-place finisher from Bothell. Teammate Gabriela Pelogi also netted points for the overall team score in the 100 meters, with her fifth-place time of 12.65.
The senior speedster replicated the feat in the 200 meter dash, her time of 24.66 nearly a half second faster than Eastmont’s Rebecca Tarbert. Cunliffe was joined by teammate Karis Cameron in the 200 meter finals, with Cameron recording a 25.56 in the event.
On the 4×100 team, Cunliffe was the anchor for teammates Cameron, Pelogi and Ta’Mara Richey. The 4×200 team of Pelogi, Cameron, Richey and Mariyah Vongsaveng followed up with a first-place finish as well.
Junior Vonsaveng also had a busy weekend, bringing home a first place title in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.24, while finishing in seventh place in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 44.98.
Rounding out the girls competitors, Richey took home a second place in the long jump with a distance of 17-11.50, while junior Tia Thomas snagged a seventh-place finish in the pole vault with a height of 10-06.00.
