Frontier’s Lone Crown Fits Cheney’s Zimmer

AA track

After Friday evening’s girls’ 3,200-meter race at Star Track XIII, Cheney High School’s Jeannette Zimmer had seen enough of third place.

“I think I decided I’d better get serious,” the freshman Zimmer said after fighting off a homestretch challenge from Enumclaw’s Deeja Youngquist to win the 1,600 meters Saturday.

“I saw her next to me and thought, ‘No way, you’re not doing that,”’ Zimmer said. “I wasn’t in the mindset to let her beat me.”

Youngquist actually tried twice on the final lap to pass Zimmer, who led from gun to tape.

The first challenge came 300 meters from the finish, but was short-lived. On the final straightaway, Youngquist again inched beside Zimmer, who responded with a determined, victorious sprint to the finish.

Zimmer’s time of 5 minutes, 3.69 seconds was .18 seconds faster than Youngquist’s. Lakeside’s Ann Ramsey, who won the 3,200 meters Friday, was third in 5:04.38. Youngquist was second in both distance races.

None of the Frontier League teams factored heavily in the team championship races, won by Gig Harbor’s girls with 48 points and O’Dea’s boys with 60. But there were plenty of interesting individual efforts.

Pullman’s Chad Schwendiman had a busy day; he took second in the long jump, fifth in the 400 meters and eighth in the 200 meters.

Stanwood’s Greg Snyder won with a jump of 22 feet, 1 inch. Schwendiman jumped 21-8 3/4.

Teammate Ricardo Colon, a sophomore, finished third, while East Valley’s Pat Ferguson rounded out the Frontier League’s trio in the event with a fifth-place finish.

Girls

West Valley continued its strong showing in Tacoma with fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the shot put and a third place in the 800-meter relay. As a team, the Eagles finished ninth overall with 27 points.

In the morning, West Valley senior Kaci Stansbury put the shot 40-11 1/4, with teammate Aimee Almendorf right behind at 40-8. Gig Harbor junior Becky Potter won with a toss of 43-0 3/4.

“I don’t feel bad (finishing fourth) because the winners were up at 43 feet,” said Stansbury, who was third in the discus on Friday.

The three seniors on West Valley’s 800 team, who were part of a program that won 25 straight Frontier League girls’ meets over four years and three straight league titles, were satisfied with third, behind Ellensburg and Garfield.

“We’re really happy,” said senior Ruth Gerber. “We couldn’t have done any better, I guess.”

Boys

West Valley javelin thrower Mike Schroder, a sophomore, finished third with a toss of 188-5. Highline’s Breck Ivy won the event with a 199-10 throw - 11 feet better than second place.

Schroder’s third was a four-spot improvement over his 1994 seventh-place finish, when he threw the javelin 174 feet.

The Frontier League also left its stamp on the girls’ 300-meter low hurdles. Clarkston’s Jennifer Herbert, a freshman, finished third in 46.6 seconds and East Valley’s Christal Nicholson was fifth (47.12). Shay Nielson of Hanford won in 45.33 seconds.

Herbert’s older brother Brent twice finished second in the state 300 meter hurdles championship race.

“I guess it’s kind of a family tradition,” said Jennifer, who could have three more tries. “It was a good race. For a freshman finishing third, I’m really happy.”