Newport 1st, Freeman 2nd in State 1A

For a few moments Saturday morning, light smoke from a nearby controlled burn drifted above Eastern Washington University’s Woodward Field.

It was seemingly symbolic, because on the track the Newport High boys team was doing its own version of a controlled burn. The Grizzlies, with their red-dyed hair, looked like fire in motion as they streaked to their first state championship.

Newport, in its return to Class 1A this year, piled up 98 points as the State 2A/1A/B boys meets concluded under sun-drenched skies. Freeman took second (66).

Nine area athletes captured state titles – some defending gold medals and others winning by photo finishes.

1A

Appropriately, Newport hurdled into first in the meet’s first event Saturday – the 110-meter high hurdles, and the Grizzlies not only stayed atop the heap thereafter but put considerable distance between themselves and Freeman. The Grizzlies scored 19 points with three medalists, led by the 1-2 finish of senior Ian Weber and junior Justin Emel. Weber’s time of 15.08 seconds just edged Emel (15.43).

Emel turned the tables later when he nudged past Weber in the 300 intermediate race as the Grizzlies padded their lead with 18 more points. Emel broke the tape in 40.21 to Weber’s 41.02.

“I got the 110’s so I let him have the 300’s,” Weber quipped. The teammates share mutual respect in a healthy competition that went back and forth all season in both races.

The estimated crowd of 5,000 saw the biggest splash of Newport red when Emel and Weber teamed with the Yeaw twins, Tony and Sam, to earn gold in the 400 relay (43.88).

“We wanted people to know who we are,” Weber said of the dye job.

The Grizzlies’ feats alone distinguished themselves, and the red hair added a nice accent.

The fastest streak of red was provided by Tony Yeaw, who captured state titles in the 100 (11.35) and 200 (22.84). That gave him a piece of three gold medals to go along with a medal for sixth in the long jump.

“It was pretty good for the wind being in my face,” Yeaw, a senior, said of the 100. “I was a little nervous, but after yesterday (the prelims) I was completely confident.”

Yeaw leaves with school records in the sprints and a share of the school mark in the 400 relay.

“I couldn’t wait to get to state this year,” Yeaw said. “I’m just stoked.”

Yeaw had to hold off Phillip Berry of Seattle Academy in the 200.

Newport coach Barry Sartz said his team never lost sight of its goal.

“We started going for this 53 weeks ago today,” Sartz said, alluding to the fact that state last year was a week sooner and the Grizzlies knew they were dropping to 1A. “Their motto is they expected to win this. They didn’t come in with a swagger or anything. They just performed.”

Freeman senior Kevin Hatch added a third state title, winning the long jump (22-8). Teammate Malcom Soelberg took second (21-8¼), providing much-needed points for the Scotties’ second-place trophy.

A gold medal in the long jump had eluded Hatch before. He finished a disappointing 11th last year after scratching on two of his three jumps in the prelims.

“I finally completed the three-jump trifecta,” said Hatch, who defended state titles Friday in the high jump and pole vault. “Last year was real disappointing. It was in the back of my mind. But having Malcom behind me, pushing me, helped a ton.”

Soelberg took second in the 100 (11.71) and third in the 200 (23.25).

Just one other meet record was set. John Clevenger of Wishkah threw 179-6 in the javelin.

B

Chad Butorac of Northport completed the sprint trifecta, defending state titles in the 100 (11.16) and 200 (22.07). North Beach’s Devin Timpson, who finished runner-up Friday to Butorac in the 400, did so again in both sprint finals Saturday.

But the 100 was as close as Butorac has been pushed in a while as Timpson was just .03 behind. Butorac prevailed by .09 in the 200.

Butorac was a stride-and-a-half behind Timpson with 20 meters to go in the 100.

“I’ve had some problems with my starts, but my start was pretty good,” Butorac said. “He just exploded out of the blocks. I just gritted it out.”

Northport finished tied for fifth with 31 points, three points shy of fourth and a team trophy. Northport’s Franklin Chambers, the defending champ in the javelin, finished eighth.

One of the more inspirational stories was that of Josh Grewe of Northwest Christian. Grewe, who had two knee surgeries in the past year, literally nosed past Matt Vander Ark of Mt. Vernon Christian for gold in the 300 hurdles. Grewe finished in 40.09, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Vander Ark.

A photo of the finish line showed Vander Ark’s arms ahead of Grewe. But officials ruled Grewe had leaned over the tape first before Vander Ark dove through the finish.

Adam Thompson of Springdale captured the triple jump (45-8), tying the meet record on his final attempt.

The other B area winner Saturday was Sam Stone of Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia in the 800 (1:57.54).

Mount Vernon Christian grabbed the team title with 56 points, followed by Tacoma Baptist (42), North Beach (38) and Trout Lake (34).

2A

The way Pullman coach Mike Hinz had it mapped out, his Greyhounds could finish no better than second if they performed as expected. Hinz had it pegged.

Pullman scored 43.5 points, finishing behind King’s (56).

Junior Ashton Gant guaranteed the Greyhounds second when he prevailed in the long jump (21-8) after the closest of runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 to Ben Tugend of Eatonville. Gant added a fourth medal on Pullman’s third-place 400 relay. Gant was responsible for 27.5 of Pullman’s points, the most of any 2A male athlete.

Kahel Smith of Lakeside finished second in the discus (155-10).