While Ballard's boys' squad finished tied for second with Roosevelt in the Seattle City Meet May 7, there is a bit of optimism as the championship season gets under way with next week's KingCo Championship meet.

Host Garfield won both the boys' and girls' competition Thursday afternoon at the Southwest Athletic Complex, scoring 85 points in the three way meet, with the Beavers tied with Roosevelt at 42.

Senior long jumpers Julian Montante and Carlos Stanley took advantage of a trailing wind to finish first and second in the event with personal bests.

Stanley, who played quarterback for the Ballard High School football team last fall and had not picked up a javelin until a few weeks ago, parlayed his throwing skills to win the javelin with a personal best toss.

The most unexpected personal best of the day belonged to senior Nolan Kozu, who only began turning out for track this spring.

Kozu, who had only run the 400 in competition once this season, won the event and put himself in the mix in the KingCo Conference, as his time puts him in the top 10 heading into next week's championships.

In the girls' meet, junior Clara Amorosi in the 400 and senior Lauren Hammerle in the 3200 were the only Beavers to score victories.

Ballard will announce its entries into the KingCo Championship meet on Monday May 11.

The KingCo Conference championships will be held May 13 and May 15 at Eastlake High School in Sammamish.