State 4A/3A/2A track: East Valley’s Cody Lewis wins 2A shot put championship

TACOMA – East Valley senior Cody Lewis captured the 2A boys shot put state title, highlighting the first day of the State 4A/3A/2A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School on Thursday.

Lewis, competing in his second year of track for the Knights, won the competition with a throw of 51 feet, 11 inches, winning by 10 3/4 inches over Ephrata’s Weslee Kriete.

“I worked all season, off-season and really on a year and half of training,” said Lewis, who will throw for Community Colleges of Spokane next academic year. “It was nerve-racking, and I loved the feeling of being here. It feels good.”

Lewis tossed his best throw on his third attempt after hovering around 50 feet on his first two attempts. He then consistently stayed within those marks for his fourth and fifth throws before fouling on his final throw.

“I felt like I did all right today,” Lewis said. “There were a lot of things I did wrong, but also did a lot of things good. I won this for the school, and it feels great to do this for East Valley.”

The Knights added two placing efforts on the girls side as sophomore Logan Hofstee was third in the 1,600 meters, running a personal-best time of 5 minutes, .49 seconds, and sophomore Avy Phillpot was seventh in the high jump with a mark of 4-10.

Lewis and Clark senior Ferris Cline finished as the runner-up in the 4A boys javelin, throwing a personal best of 161-6. LC senior Audrey Thronson took sixth in the girls 1,600, running a personal-best time of 5:00.70. LC junior Evan Bruce was eighth in the boys race in 4:17.77.

Central Valley junior Kaden Harken finished in sixth in the 4A boys triple with a jump of 43-0. CV senior Isabella Carpenter added an eighth-place throw of 115-3 in the girls discus.

Mead senior Emily Hutchinson and junior Cassie Moeller excelled in the 3A girls discus. Hutchinson led the way, finishing second with a throw of 119-11, and Moeller was fifth at 112-4. Mead senior Justin Sands was second in the boys long jump at 22-6 1/4.

Gonzaga Prep senior Emma Van Gemert, competing in the 4A girls triple jump for the second time, placed third jumping 36-7 1/4 on her first attempt. Van Gemert was fifth in 2019 in the same event as a freshman.

West Valley junior Jayden Barta took fourth in the 2A boys long jump in 20-11.