Track: Three Oak Harbor individuals, two relay teams qualify for state

Oak Harbor will send three individuals and two relay teams to the state track meet at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma May 27 through May 29.

The Wildcats qualified for state by finishing in the top three at the Northwest District 1 4A meet last week in Snohomish.

For the Oak Harbor girls, Naomi Walker won both the 100 (12.38) and 200 (25.86) at district, while Shantae Young took the long jump (17-00.5) and triple jump (36-01.25).

Nicole Mowbray earned a state trip by finishing second in the high jump (5) and third in the triple jump (35-01.5).

Walker and Young teamed up with Janessa Ramos and Christina Alexander to win the 4x100 relay (49.62).

Coach Jay Turner said Walker and Young won even though they were "very sick." Walker made a trip to the hospital the night before the meet and Young was on antibiotics.

He added that Mowbray's efforts were "absolutely amazing" because this is her first year of track and her events are highly technical.

The Wildcat boys 4x100 relay team of Donovan Hunt, Jason Curles, Aaron Boesch and Josiah Miller placed third (43.77) and qualified for state.

Turner said, "The boys shocked everyone with their performance (they were seeded sixth coming into the event). Josiah Miller just got cleared on Tuesday to run after coming back from 13 stitches."

Hunt was the tough-luck performer in the individual events, missing state by one place in two events by finishing fourth in the long jump (20-11.75) and triple jump (43-05).

The Wildcat girls finished third out of 14 team with 105 points. Stanwood won with 118, followed by Arlington with 108, as the Wesco North took the top six spots.

In the boys team race, Oak Harbor finished 13th with 27 points. Jackson won with 106; the next six teams were all from the North.

Other Oak Harbor girls who finished among the top eight and scored for the 'Cats:

Young (fifth, 100, 12.95), Ramos (sixth, 100, 13.05), Maura McKole (seventh, 400, 1:01.89), Adrianna Royal (fourth, 800, 2:17.58), Walker (fifth, long jump, 15-11.5), Mowbray (eighth, long jump, 15-09.25), 4x200 relay (fifth, Janelle Yoshimoto, Alexander, Ramos, McKole, 1:48.32) and 4x400 relay (sixth, McKole, Christina Wicker, Allison Duvenez, Royal, 4:13.08).

Placing for the boys:

Curles (sixth, 200, 23.5), Matt Bolte (sixth, 800, 2:03.06) and Josh Higbee (eighth, long jump, 20-01).

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.