State 1A/2B/1B boys track: Lakeside’s Annanie rides like the wind, wins 1A javelin

On a Friday with throwing conditions at Eastern Washington University that his coach called brutal, Lakeside sophomore Zach Annanie kept getting frustrated.

His first javelin throws kept measuring in the 160s. Then on his last throw, Annanie said he tried to increase his speed and aggressiveness. It worked. He threw 183 feet, 7 inches for not only a school record but a State 1A boys title at the 1A/2B/1B championships.

“On that last throw, the wind died down a little bit,” Annanie said. “With that one throw, I got my personal record, a school record and first place at state. I feel really good with that.”

At the beginning of the season, Lakeside coach Tia Gibson said she had Annanie write his javelin goal on a piece of paper. He wrote 190, but then immediately told her he meant to write 180.

“We’ve been working for that one all season long,” she said of Zach’s winning throw. “The school record (176-8) was always the goal.”

Annanie had also been working the past year with Brian Hill, who noted that Annanie had been throwing too high in practices leading up to the state championships.

“After three throws, he was getting frustrated. After a 165 throw, I told him a different wind and it’s a 180,” Hill said.

And on the final throw, after trailing the entire event, Zach focused on his technique in a stiff wind that was both in his face and gusting from the right.

“The wind affected it a little bit,” he said. “I tried to keep it down and give as much twist as I could, and it worked.”

After two days, Deer Park was tied for the lead with Chelan in the boys standings with Lakeside fourth. Northport was tied for fifth in the 1B team standings, and Davenport was tied for fourth in the 2B team standings.

In the 1B discus, Northport’s RJ Plum started his day by eating at IHOP. He apparently found the correct fuel.

Plum threw some 14 feet past his personal best and won a title with a throw of 141-7.

“I’ve been practicing all week. Hard work paid off,” Plum said. “I wanted to go all out and start with a good mark. I then tried to throw harder each throw. It worked.”

In the 2B high jump, the field was whittled down to a pair of rivals: Davenport’s Layne Smith and Kettle Falls’ Casey Hamilton.

They were the only two jumpers to clear 6-2. Both failed in all three attempts at 6-4, but Smith, a sophomore, won the title because he took one fewer attempt to clear the lower height.

“Is this for real right now? This is so amazing to be No. 1 in state,” Smith said. “I didn’t even place last year. I told my mom at the beginning of the year that I was going to win state. I’m going to go give her a big hug.”

Hamilton, a junior, said he had the height but not the arch needed to beat Smith. Hamilton’s previous best was 6-5 and the pair traded off beating each other in meets coming into state.

“It was definitely awesome, competing against someone I knew,” Hamilton said. “Next year, I’m holding myself to get 7 feet. We’ll see if I can get it.”

In the 1A discus, Deer Park’s Jared Boswell finished in third place (158-2), only two places behind Chelan’s Jose Padilla, who set a WIAA all-classes record with a throw of 195 feet.

Padilla’s throw broke the 37-year-old WIAA record of 193-8 set in 1979 by Clarkston’s Gary Leffler. The throw also broke the 1A record (178-6) set by Fife’s Fred Swendsen in 1968.

In the 1B triple jump, Oakesdale’s Tanner Dingman came into the meet with the longest jump, but he finished in third place at 40-5 1/2. St. John-Endicott’s Cooper Lundberg finished seventh (39-1).

In the 1B javelin, Odessa-Harrington’s John DeWulf, a junior, finished second with a throw of 157-9. Inchelium’s Tarren Meusy finished fifth at 149-9.