LHS Has Three New State Track & Field Champions!!!!
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will, but the will must be stronger than the skill.” — Muhammad Ali
Three athletes left their marks in the track and field annals at Lakeside High School, returning from the 2011 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires 1A Track & Field State Meet at EWU in Cheney on May 27 and 28 as STATE CHAMPIONS!
Anandae (Clark) Egland, Paul Thomas, and Trevor Wood all had a desire, a dream, a vision deep within that manifested itself into them being perched atop the awards stand with a gold medal dangling around their necks.
Senior Paul Thomas reigned supreme in the boys' discus with a toss of 165'02”. Thomas also competed in the high jump (9th place), javelin (10th place), and shot put (13th place). Thomas plans to attend Washington State University in the fall and will compete on the Cougar track and field team.
Junior Anandae (Clark) Egland three-peated as a state champion in the girls' pole vault. Egland began vaulting at 10-feet, a height at which all of the competition was already out. She eventually cleared 11'06” to win the event. Egland was crowned girls' pole vault state champion in 2009 and 2010, as well. Teammate Davina Carr received the silver medal and cleared a height of 9'06” to stand next to Egland on the podium. Both girls are also award-winning gymnasts at LHS.
Junior triple-jumper Trevor Wood claimed his state champion hardware on the second day of competition with a leap of 44'5.75”, a remarkable improvement over his 6th place finish at last year's State Meet with a jump of 40'06”.
The LHS boys' track and field team finished in 8th place overall behind league rivals Freeman (3rd) and Newport (4th). Kings High School won the meet with a score of 74 over Hoquiam with a score of 48. Other Eagles contributing to the 8th place finish were Joe Blazek, Jimmie Day, Cody Little, and Demetrius Watson with a sixth place finish and time of 44.11 seconds in the 4x100m relay. Senior Ryan Rojeski placed 6th in the 3200m with a personal record time of 9:52.34. Long-jumper Kyle Powell rounded out the state placers with a jump of 21'8.5”, almost a foot improvement over his 5th place finish at the 2010 State Meet.
Other Eagles competing but not placing at the meet include Jimmie Day who just missed the finals in the 100m and finished in 9th place; Ryan Rojeski, 9th place 1600m; and Ryan Coffman, 11th place, 1600m, and 9th place 3200m.
The LHS girls' track and field team finished in 12th place overall. League rival Newport placed 3rd behind first place Bellevue Christian with a score of 61 and second place Kings with a score of 49.
Senior Jessica Coffman ended her career as a Lady Eagle with sixth place finishes in both the shot put and discus events. Coffman hurled the shot 36'3.75” and the discus 115'01” to become one of the most decorated field athletes at LHS. Coffman attended and placed at the State Meet all four years of high school. As a freshman and sophomore, she placed 8th and 5th, respectively, in the shot put. She also placed 5th in the discus her junior year. Coffman plans to train with the US Coast Guard in Mobile, Alabama, in the fall.
The Lady Eagle 4x100m relay team consisting of Davina Carr, Anandae (Clark) Egland, Morgan Wear, and Jenna Widman placed 10th overall with a time of 52.59 seconds.
Although the combined teams will graduate 16 seniors, several multi-talented underclassmen stand ready to resume Eagle dominance on the track and on the field in 2012.