Wildcats advance 4 to Pasco

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Oak Harbor doubled its total of state participants Friday night at the 4A District 1 track and field meet in Stanwood.

Senior Olimar Hunt and sophomore Mietra Smollack both finished in the top three of their respective races to join teammates Rodrick Rumble and Will Hunter May 26-27 at the WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington Star Track Meet in Pasco.

“We are very happy with how the kids performed and that they all stand a chance to place at the state meet,” OHHS co-head coach Jay Turner said.

Hunt became the third Oak Harbor boy to advance to the next level, finishing third in the 400 with a time of 50.21 — just three-tenths behind the first place finisher.

“He has an excellent chance of making the finals and placing…,” Turner said.

Smollack was the only Wildcat female to move on to state, taking second place in the 800. Her time of 2:15.45 was seven seconds faster than her previous best and less than a second from the school record held by 2001 OHHS graduate Molly Bull.

“Mietra had an amazing performance,” Turner said. “She is seeded second in her heat and has a good chance of placing at the state meet and breaking the school record.”

Rumble earned his trip to state last Wednesday, leaping 6-foot-4 in the high jump. That mark is tied with seven other state participants for second best and is two inches shorter than the state leader, Stephan Praast of Tahoma.

“High jump is a very strange event as jumpers sometimes have extremely good days or extremely bad days at state,” Turner said. “You never know what is going to happen.”

Hunter’s shot put throw of 49 feet, 11.75 inches places him 15 of 16 throwers. His personal best of 51.5 feet, however, puts him right in the mix of making the finals.

The Wildcats’ 1,600 relay of Hunt, Rumble, senior Henry Vasquez and senior David Marriott just missed making a state cut. The group ran its fastest race of the year at 3:27.54 and finished just 1.5 seconds off a necessary third place.

As a team, the Oak Harbor boys finished 11th with 28 points. Lake Stevens won with 151 points. The OHHS girls took 13th with 15 points. The Viking girls matched their male counterparts with a first place finish and 151 points.

For Oak Harbor, four athletes is the most it’s sent to a state meet since 2003 when three triple jumpers and one javelin thrower made the trip east of the mountains.

“I just hope that each kid enjoys the experience and does the best that he/she can do,” Turner said. “It’s possible that all four kids could place.”