State boys track and field: Mead’s Evan Berg wins javelin, Lewis and Clark’s Kyle Worthy second in pole vault
TACOMA – Mead senior Evan Berg wanted to hit 200 feet, but he’ll settle for what he did accomplish Friday afternoon at the State 3A track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School.
State champion has a nice ring to it.
Berg heaved the javelin 190 feet, 6 inches to capture the boys state title.
He wanted to top his career best of 199-5 he had in late April, but he’ll take winning by nearly 23 feet.
“I started a little slow, but I knew I had it in me,” said Berg, who was fourth last year and seventh as a sophomore.
Berg popped the winning throw on his final attempt in the prelims. There was a long wait until he came up in the finals when his last three throws tailed off a bit.
“That took too much time and I felt some pain and the adrenaline wore off,” said Berg, who is headed to throw at Washington State next year.
Berg’s body took a toll last year, so he changed up his training regime this spring, throwing two days a week and working on technique the other days.
He thought his final throw Friday was going to crack 200.
“My last throw should have been it,” Berg said. “The wind caught it the last second and shot it down.”
Berg took a moment to put the state title in perspective.
“It’s something I’ve wanted since I started throwing in fourth grade,” he said. “I knew then that I wanted to be a state champ.”
Berg accounted for Mead’s first 10 points. The Panthers should pile up points on the track Saturday in their quest for a team title.
Later in the afternoon, Mead teammate Jaeland Leman took third in the 110-meter boys high hurdles (14.61 seconds).
Other top area medal winners were Mt. Spokane’s Talan Main, who took third in the javelin at 165-0, and University’s Quinn Lipke, fourth in the javelin at 160-9.
4A
Lewis and Clark pole vaulter Kyle Worthy was definitely worthy of being a state champ. He just ran into stiff competition.
Yet when Worthy missed on his final attempt at 16-3 – he barely brushed the bar with his chest – he jumped up with a smile on his face.
Worthy secured second place, matching his career best (16-0). Camas junior Chase McGee put on a show, eclipsing in career best by 5 inches at 16-6.
“He would have cleared 17-6. His hips were well over the bar,” LC pole vault coach Hayley Gonzalez said of Worthy’s last attempt.
Worthy’s improvement from last season, when he essentially just jumped for two weeks after breaking an ankle, was nothing short of spectacular. He went from 13-6 to 16-0 this season.
“I was hoping to PR today and I was over it,” Worthy said. “I just nicked it with my chest. I was going down and I thought, ‘I got it.’ I’m extremely happy. I’ve come a long way. I was hoping to clear 16-3. I’ll take getting my hips way up there as a step to get there.”
Worthy broke out a new pole he hadn’t used for his final attempts.
“I hadn’t touched it until today,” Worthy said. “I was just treating it like any other pole, just trying to get up.”
He plans to compete at the Nike Nationals in three weeks at Hayward Field in Eugene. And he’ll continue his career at Spokane Falls Community College.
Central Valley’s Brandon Gutzwiler took third in the high jump (6-4).
2A
There were no local winners Friday.
Shadle Park’s William Newell took second in the 110 high hurdles (15.45).
West Valley’s Cooper Henkle took fifth in the 2A discus at 155-10. He fouled on three of his final four throws.