To start with, it was a very cold day for a track meet, but according to the calendar it was spring. It hailed, it rained and it was windy. All those things that would normally keep you inside, at least it would for me. But there were five track teams scheduled to compete at Highline Memorial Stadium on Thursday, March 21.

Evergreen, Hazen, Highline, Kennedy Catholic and Tyee were the teams that took the field. For these athletes, track is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of the relay races. I have always enjoyed watching the camaraderie between athletes, not only with their own teammates, but also with the athletes from other schools. They are all out there competing against each other, but when all is said and done; they show great sportsmanship by congratulating each other after their event. It is times like these a person learns how to win and how to lose, and doing both gracefully. In the words of Vince Lombardi, "Winning isn't everything-but wanting to win is."

Here are some of the highlights from the girls' events. Whitney Diggs of Highline showed her speed by winning the 100 meter and the 200 meter dash. In the 4x200 meter relay it could not have been much closer. Highline’s time was 1:55.14 while Kennedy Catholic’s was 1:55.19, a difference of only 5 hundredths of a second between first and second place. Kennedy Catholic’s Danielle Carnahan won the pole vault and teammate Amanda Shioyama took the triple jump. As for Evergreen, Mailelei Faletogo won the shot put and the javelin throw with teammate Maria Martinez winning the discus throw. In the 1,600 meter run Tyee’s Alexis Sata took second place.

Now for the highlights from the boys events. Kennedy Catholic’s Jason Cowan won the 100 meter dash and was second in the 200 meter dash. Kennedy Catholic’s Nick Dorsett won the 1,600 meter run and the 3,200 meter run. Alebachew Shiferaw of Tyee placed third in the 3,200 meter run. Highline’s Vladimir Vasic won the 110 meter hurdles and Evergreen’s Pedro Diaz won the 300 meter hurdles. The shot put and the discus was won by Evergreen’s Steven Dang while the javelin throw was won by Kennedy Catholic’s Roth Leahy.

Some confusion happened during the boys 4x400 meter relay near the end of the meet. For some reason the starting pistol, which had been used in the previous races, stopped working. It was explained to the runners that a whistle would be used instead to start the race. It’s necessary to note that for this event the runners' lineup staggered on the track, so they all run the same distance to the finish line. Because of that the Kennedy Catholic runner who was in lane six in this six team event, could not see the other runners because he is in front of them. Well, I suspect that Kennedy Catholic runner expected to hear the sound of the starting pistol, not the whistle. He did not start running until he saw the other runners passing him. Needless to say the time of that relay team was not what it could have been, that is if they had started at the same time as the other runners. I’m sure it was very disappointing for them. To understand how this happened please see the last photo in the slideshow.

Team scores for the meet are as follows.

GIRLS RESULTS:
Kennedy 96.00 - Highline 47.00
Hazen 117.00 – Tyee 8.00
Hazen 80.66 - Kennedy Catholic 65.33
Hazen 98.00 - Evergreen 24.00

BOYS RESULTS:
Kennedy 84.00 - Highline 46.00
Hazen 120.00 – Tyee 16.00
Hazen 84.00 - Kennedy Catholic 56.00
Hazen 97.00 - Evergreen 40.00

For complete results from the meet please go to: http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=182591